Day 9: Luxor

Thebes: The most generally used name for this region is “Thebes,” which includes Luxor, Karnak and the West Bank. The region contains the largest surviving concentration of ancient monuments in the Nile Valley. Of little importance during the Old Kingdom (3100 to 2183 BC), Thebes became the major residence of the pharaohs during the Middle Kingdom, waxing and waning depending on the degree to which they worshiped Amun (the blue sky god who merged with the sun god, Ra.) Thebes was the burial place for dozens of pharaohs across five different dynasties.

Karnak: The Temple of Amun was built, enlarged and rebuilt over 1,000 years. It is the largest temple complex in Egypt, and one of the largest religious buildings in the world. (Napoleon’s engineers calculated that the entirety of the Notre Dame would fit into its Hypostyle Hall.) The east side of the temple is built among three gigantic pylons, with the Kiosk of Taharqo (one of the Nubian pharaohs), the Barque Shrine of Sety II, and the Temple of Ramesses III between the first two, and the Hypostyle Hall between the second and third. The west side of the temple contains within its walls obelisks, shrines, the Solar Chapel, with the Middle Kingdom Court at its center. If this sounds overwhelming, it is, and it makes up only a portion of the complete complex of temples. Other temples within the walled complex honor Monthu (a sun god), Akhenaten (the pharaoh who revolutionized religion in Egypt, leading to a decline in the decadent power of the priests of Amen), Opet (the hippopotamus goddess, mother of Osiris) and Khonsu (the mood god). Walking out of this complex down the Avenue of Sphinxes leads to the temples of Mut (the goddess consort of Amun) and Ramesses III (the deified pharaoh).

Luxor: The temple complexes of Karnak and Luxor are a little less than two miles apart. The Temple of Luxor was built primarily by one pharaoh, Amenhotep, and is far more coherent than Karnak. King Tut helped complete it, and even Alexander the Great added to it 1000 years later. The temple was the residence of Amun’s consort Mut, and served as a sort of harem. The divine statue of Amun would be brought down from his temple to Luxor to symbolically father the king, and everyone would rejoice. The temple is beautiful, and the central court is spectacular at dusk, when the color of the stone turns to orange. The Luxor Museum houses many of the statues found in the area, protecting them from theft. The black granite statues from the reign of Amenhotep III, discovered in only 1989, are especially stunning.