Luxor Temple was constructed around 1400 BC, in the New Kingdom, on the east bank of the Nile at Thebes. It is built of sandstone from Gebel el-Silsila. Amenhotep III built chapels at the rear, and Tutankhamun and Ramesses II built other parts. It was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu, and to the cult of the Royal Ka.
An avenue of human-headed sphinxes about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) long linked it to Karnak. Two obelisks of different heights flank the entrance, and the temple layout creates an appearance of equal height. The smaller, western one now stands at the Place de la Concorde in Paris. In the annual Opet Festival, a cult statue of Amun was carried by river from Karnak to stay with Mut at Luxor.
In the Roman period the temple was a legionary fortress. The active Abu Haggag Mosque stands within it on the ancient columns. UNESCO listed it in 1979.
Comments