The Karnak Temple complex, located in Egypt’s Luxor province and serving as a great testimony to the remarkable history of ancient Egyptian civilization, is visited by thousands of tourists each year.
The Karnak temple complex contains exceptional examples of reliefs depicting various aspects of life in ancient Egypt.
Karnak is a village in Upper Egypt, on the right bank of the Nile, about 2.5 kilometers from Luxor. Its name was given to the northern half of the ruins of Thebes (the ancient “Heavenly City” that existed about 3.200 years before the new era), which represents the largest ensemble of temples from the pharaonic era of Egypt. The Karnak temples have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 1979.
Karnak is considered the largest ancient religious site ever built and represents an incredible combination of the achievements of many Egyptian rulers. The temple at Karnak consists of three main temples, a smaller enclosed temple, and several outer temples.
One of the most famous structures of Karnak is the hypostyle hall with 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows in the Column Hall, covering an area of 5.000 square meters. Of these, 122 columns are ten meters high, and the remaining 12 are 21 meters high with a diameter of over three meters. The architraves (main beams) on top of the columns weigh as much as 70 tons.
The Column Hall was built by Pharaohs Seti I and Ramses II. The temple has as many as ten pylons – monumental gates separated by palaces and halls.
Construction of the complex began in the 16th century BC, and around 30 pharaohs contributed to the building of Karnak, leaving their mark on the temples.
Karnak is divided into three sections separated by walls and dedicated to different gods. The central and largest part is dedicated to the god Amun. There are also the Temple of Aten and the Temple of Amenhotep IV (which was demolished after his death).
The Karnak Temple complex is the second most visited tourist attraction in the country, preceded only by the pyramids of Giza.
