Karnak Temple Egypt

Karnak temple is the biggest temple in Egypt owing its monumental size to 1300 years of construction. It was started by XII dynasty's Sesostris I. After that every pharaoh down to the Ptolemic period tried to stamp his authority by outdoing the previous one in his (or her) contribution. Karnak actually encloses three separate temples, the biggest being the temple of Amun, the biggest God of the new kingdom.

The temple used to be connected to its counterpart, the Luxor temple, via an avenue of sphinxes most of which except a few yards outside each temple are destroyed by now.

Karnak - The Center of Ancient Thebes
By Rob J Pettifer

One of the most important historical and cultural areas of Egypt is Luxor, with its high concentration of ancient sites. Luxor is located in Upper (southern) Egypt and is easily accessible by train from Cairo. Standing upon the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, there are many fantastic things to see in the Luxor area, such as the Temple of Hatshepshut, the Valley of the Kings and Queens, the Colossi of Memnon, and plenty of others. The Luxor area is absolutely a required part of anyone's Egypt experience. But one site in particular stands out from the bunch, and that is the Karnak Temple compound, located inside Luxor city.

This is the temple of Ipet-Isut (as it was once known by the ancient Egyptians), which was the central focus of the ancient capital city of Thebes. Starting from 1900 BCE when the Temple of Amun was built inside the Karnak complex, Thebes became the capital of ancient Egypt for about 1500 years. This was not only a place of worship of the Theban holy trinity of Amun-Re, Mut and Khonsu, but also the offical residence of the Pharaohs, and the administrative centre of the kingdom.

Karnak's status as not only a temple compound but also as the city center and major hub is what makes it so overwhelmingly massive. In person, its size is quite overwhelming. One of the halls, the Great Hypostyle Hall, is comprised of 134 massive pillars, with each one measuring from 15 meters (50 ft) to 21 meters (69 feet) tall. The pillars are so thick that six people are needed in order to reach all the way around its outside edge. If you can envision the statues of the pharaohs that were once situated in this hall amongst the pillars, then you can easily imagine the scale of Karnak's glory.

It is easy for travellers to reach Karnak, since it is just a short walk from the town center. The opening time is six o' clock in the morning, when the complex is beautifull lit up by the light of dawn. During the evening a different type of illumination can be seen, as Karnak Temple puts on a sound-and-light show, which has been known to hypnotise visitors with its stunning effects set upon such a mystical backdrop.

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