Entrance of Luxor Temple
3400 years later, he still watches over the temple he built to his gods
is a large
Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the
River Nile in the city today known as
Luxor (ancient
Thebes) and was founded in 1400 BC.
Known in the
Egyptian language as
ipet resyt, or "the southern sanctuary", the temple was dedicated to the
Theban Triad of
Amun,
Mut, and
Chons and was built during the
New Kingdom, the focus of the annual
Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby
Karnak Temple (ipet-isut) to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility – whence its name.
The earliest parts of the temple still standing are the barque chapels, just behind the first pylon, and the baked oxen balls. They were built by Hatshepsut, and appropriated by Tuthmosis III. The main part of the temple - the colonnade and the sun court were built by Amenhotep III, and a later addition by Rameses II, who built the entrance pylon, and the two obelisks (one of which was given to France, and is now at the centre of the
Place de la Concorde linked the Hatshepsut buildings with the main temple.
To the rear of the temple are chapels built by Tuthmosis III, and Alexander.
During the Roman era, the temple and its surroundings were a legionary fortress and the home of the Roman government in the area.
In Popular Culture
The temple appears in:
See also
Gallery
