Last updated on March 15, 2024.

After some free time in Luxor, the next stop on the tour was the Karnak Temple, part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Luxor.

 

Visiting

If you’re not on a guided tour in which admission is included, adult admission for foreigners is E£450 (as of March 2024).

 

Museum

We started by quickly walking through the museum, where in the center there’s a scale model of the entire complex.

Scale model of the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Scale model of the temple

Sem Sem told us that Karnak was the largest religious complex in the history of the world (although we know Angkor Wat is bigger). The complex was started by Senusret I around 1950 BC and many pharaohs made major additions throughout the years. We would only be able to see a small part of the complex because there are several areas not open to the public.  It’s still being excavated and reconstructed. I would love to come back in 25 years or so to see the progress.

 

Entrance to the Temple

We walked towards the entrance to the temple, stopping to admire a small obelisk and mosque built among the ruins before coming to a row of sphinxes situated on both sides of the path to the gates.

Obelisk
Obelisk
Mosque
Mosque
Row of sphinxes at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Row of sphinxes

 

Precinct of Amon-Ra

Behind the huge walls is the largest part of the complex, the Precinct of Amon-Ra, dedicated to the god Amon-Ra. It contains some small temples as well as many statues. It’s the only part of the complex that’s open to the public.

Walking to the Precinct of Amon-Ra at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Walking to the Precinct of Amon-Ra
Precinct of Amon-Ra at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Precinct of Amon-Ra
Statues in the Precinct of Amon-Ra
Statues
Precinct of Amon-Ra
Precinct of Amon-Ra

Immediately to the left through the entrance is the Temple of Seti II, where Sem Sem gave a short lecture. To the right is the Temple of Ramses III.

Temple of Seti II at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Temple of Seti II
Inside the Temple of Seti II
Inside the Temple of Seti II
Temple of Ramses III at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Temple of Ramses III

 

Hypostyle Hall

From there, we walked through the imposing Hypostyle Hall. The hall has an area of 5,000m² and contains 134 columns. 122 of the columns are 10m tall and 12 are 21m tall. It was started by Seti I and completed by Ramses II.

Hypostyle Hall at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Hypostyle Hall
Hypostyle Hall at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Hypostyle Hall
Looking up at the columns in the Hypostyle Hall
Looking up at the columns

If you pay close attention, there are lots of colorful hieroglyphics to be found among the columns.

Hieroglyphics in the Hypostyle Hall
Hieroglyphics
Hypostyle Hall at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Hypostyle Hall
Hieroglyphics in the Hypostyle Hall
Hieroglyphics

What’s very interesting is the temple was once submerged underwater. Sem Sem pointed out a black line on a wall that indicates the level of the water in 1887.

The black line above Sem Sem marks the water level in 1887 at Karnak Temple
The black line above Sem Sem marks the water level in 1887

After the Hypostyle Hall, we spotted an obelisk and a column depicting papyrus.

Obelisk at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Obelisk
Papyrus column
Papyrus column

 

Festival Temple

Wandering further in, we came to the Festival Temple of Tuthmosis III. It was built in honor of the jubilee of Tuthmosis III.

Festival Temple of Tuthmosis III at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Festival Temple of Tuthmosis III
Hieroglyphics in the Festival Temple of Tuthmosis III
Hieroglyphics
Columns in the Festival Temple of Tuthmosis III
Columns

When Egypt was under Roman rule in 356, Emperor Constantius II outlawed all pagan temples. The Festival Temple was then used by early Christians as a church. You can still see icons painted on the columns and a broken statue that early Christians may have believed was a crucifix.

Icon at Festival Temple of Tuthmosis III at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Icon
Crucifix?
Crucifix?

 

Sacred Lake

Finally, we stopped at the Sacred Lake. Priests would purify themselves with the holy water from the lake before performing rituals. There’s also a very large scarab statue built by Amenhotep III. Legend has it that if you walk around it three times your wish will come true.

Sacred Lake at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt
Sacred Lake
Scarab statue
Scarab statue

After our detailed tour of Karnak Temple with Sem Sem, we were given about 45 minutes to wander around the complex freely.

Author

Owner of Paisadventure. World traveler. Chicago sports lover. Living in Colombia.

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