Karnak
๐ Location: Luxor East Bank, 3 km north of Luxor Temple ย ยท ย ๐บ Period: Middle Kingdom to Roman ย ยท ย ๐๏ธ Tickets: ~450 EGP foreign adults
Karnak is not really one temple but a cumulative city of temples covering some 80 hectares โ the largest sacred precinct of the ancient world. Successive pharaohs from Senwosret I (c. 1950 BC) to the Ptolemies and Romans added pylons, courts, chapels, shrines and obelisks to glorify Amun-Ra, the supreme god of Thebes, and his consort Mut and son Khonsu.
The single most overwhelming space is the Great Hypostyle Hall in the central precinct of Amun โ a forest of 134 sandstone columns, the tallest 22 m high, originally painted in rich colour and roofed in stone. Beyond it stand the obelisks of Hatshepsut and Thutmose I, the Sacred Lake, the giant scarab statue that visitors circle for luck, the open-air museum of dismantled chapels, and the elegant Temple of Khonsu at the southern gate. The smaller, separate Mut precinct is rarely visited and worth the extra walk.
A Sound-and-Light show runs three times nightly in several languages.
Highlights
- Great Hypostyle Hall โ 134 columns, the unmissable centrepiece
- Obelisks of Hatshepsut (29 m) and Thutmose I
- Sacred Lake and the Scarab of Amenhotep III
- Open-air museum of reconstructed chapels
- Avenue of Sphinxes โ re-opened in 2021, links Karnak to [Luxor Temple]
Visiting
- Opening hours: 6 am โ 5 pm; Sound-and-Light after dark
- Tickets: ~450 EGP foreign adults; Sound-and-Light separate
- Best time: morning for cooler air, or last hour before closing for golden light
- Nearby: Luxor Temple, Mummification Museum