The Karnak Temple
The temples of Karnak are the largest temples in all over the World. The complex contains a group of Temples such as the Great Temple of Amon-re, The Temple of Khonso, The Ipt temple, The temple of Ptah, the temple of Montho and the temple of god Oisiris. All these buildings were surrounded by a huge mud brick enclosure wall (20 m in height).
* The Temple Of Amon-Re At The Karnak
This great temple of Amon was known during the time of the Middle Kingdom as Ipt-Swt which means the Selected Spot; it was also called Pr-Imn which means the House of Amon. The name Al Karnak in Arabic was derived from Karnak which means fortified village, probably because the Arabs found many temples and buildings in the area when they entered it for first time. On your way towards the entrance you will find a ram- headed avenue of sphinxes, leading to the entrance of the temple , this ram- headed avenue of sphinxes were built to protect the temple, There are 20 rams on each side extending from the small harbor to the 1st Pylon.. The 1st Pylon was built during the time of king Nektanebo I (dynasty XXX). When you cross the first great pylon it takes you into an Open court (100 m. L and 80 m. W) It was built during the dynasty XXII, containing rows of bud papyrus columns. On the right side of the 1st Open Court there are 3 chapels built by King Seti II for the triad of Thebes. On the Right hand site there is the Temple of Ramses III, consisting of a small pylon, an open court and Hypostyle hall, followed by the sanctuary. In the middle of the Open court, there is a huge column ,it is 21 M high had has a bud papyrus capital. This part is known as the kiosk of Taharqa who ruled during the 25th dynasty.
Actually there is one column left from a colonnade that once had 10 columns. The second damaged Pylon was built by king Hor-Mohep (the 18th dynasty) and it was completed by Ramses I, the founder of the 19th dynasty. From the 2nd Pylon we enter the Great Hypostyle Hall, It measures 103m in length and 52M in width and it contains 134 papyrus columns, each column is about 22 M in height and 3.5 in diameter. It was built by Amenhotep III and it was decorated by Ramses I, Seti I, and Ramses II, while King Seti I erected the other 122 columns in 14 rows. The ceiling in the center is higher than the laterals. And it allows light into this spot which was the processional avenue of the triad during the festival of the Opet. The scenes of the Hypostyle Hall represent King Seti I in front of different deities, making offerings, while the Southern wall is decorated with scenes of Ramses II making offerings to the different deities or worshipping the triad of Thebes. The Hypostyle Hall leads to The 3rd Pylon which was built by Amenhotep III, it is remarkable that stones of previous ages were found incrusted in that Pylon such as the marble alabaster of Amenhotep I. Beyond the 3rd Pylon is a rectangular court which is known by the court of Tuhtmosis I. In that open court Tuthmosis I erected 2 obelisks as most probably that area was the main entrance of the Temple at the reign of Tuthmosis I. Unfortunately, only one obelisk has survived and it is 19 m high and around 310 tons in weight.
From the Court of Tuthmosis we reach the 4th pylon which was built by Tuthmosis I and beyond it he built a colonnade. When Hatshpesut ascended to the throne she built 2 obelisks in that rectangular colonnade, the left one is still in its original place. It is 29.5 m in height and 322 tones of weight. It was made of red granite. After the death of Queen Hatshepsut, king Tuthmuses III built a high and long wall around these 2 obelisks to hide them. The 5th Pylon is damaged and it was built by Tuthmosis I, on both side of the entrance of this Pylon Tuthmosis III built two small rooms. We then reach to the 6th Pylon which was built by Tohtmosis III. Beyond the 6th pylon Tuthmosis III built his famous hall which is known by the ancestral Room. The original Sanctuary was built by Tuthmosis III. The actual sanctuary was built by Philip Arrhidaeus , the half brother of Alexander the Great. This sanctuary was built of granite and it was dedicated to the sacred boat of Amon. Behind that sanctuary there is also a court dating back to the time of the Middle Kingdom which is a wide open courtyard, badly damaged now, most probably this spot was the origin of an old Temple dating back to the time of the Middle Kingdom, basically where Karnak started as a temple. At the end of the Middle Kingdom Courtyard, there is another Hall known as the Akh-Mnw or the Festival Hall of Tuhtmosis III. The hall in the north in the area called The Botanical Room, because the walls were decorated with scenes of plants, animals and birds which were brought to Egypt from Syria by the king. From the open court we enter the Courtyard which precedes the 7th Pylon, known as the Court of the Cachet where a discovery in 1902 by the French Egyptologist Legrain discovered a very precious collection of statues hidden in the ground of this court. The 7th Pylon is badly damaged; and built by Tuhtmosis III.
Once entering from the entrance of the 7th pylon to the court visitors can see 2 statues of Ramses II and Tuhtmosis III. The 8th Pylon was built by Hatshepsut and decorated by Tuhotmosis III it was restored by Seti I. The scenes on the facade of the Pylon represent Hatshepsut with the different deities, and there are religious scene represents Tutmosis III.On the left side of the Court between the 9th and the 10th Pylons are remains of the the Heb-Sed Shrine which were built by Amenhotep II and decorated by Seti I. The 9th Pylon is badly damage and was built by Hormohep. A large number of stones were found inside, they were used as a filling and they belong to Aton temple. We finally reach the 10th Pylon, damaged as well, and again built by King Hormohep. In front of this Pylon there are remains of the sphinxes avenue which were built by Hormohep and it extends to the gate of Ptolemy II in front of Mut Temple.
Before leaving the Temple of Amon at Karnak you should visit the Sacred Lake which goes back to the time of Tuhtmosis III. It measures 80 m in length and 40 m in width. Near the Sacred Lake there is a scarab which is considered the biggest scarab left from Ancient Egypt. It dates back to the reign of Amenhotep III.
The scarab was called Khepry by the Ancient Egyptians and it was the symbol of the Sun god. The word itself means to create; it was thought to bring to the sun in the early morning.
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