Luxor Temple
History
The Luxor Temple is on the eastern bank of the River Nile in Luxor, Egypt. In the past, this site was the famous city of Thebes (the City of a Hundred Gates). The old capital of the ancient Egyptian kingdom was on the banks of the Nile with six temples (two on the eastern bank and four on the west).
Amenhotep III (1390-52 BC) built this temple but later completed by Tutankhamun (1336-27 BC) and Horemheb (1323-1295 BC) and then some additions by Rameses II (1279-13 BC). At the entrance of the temple, once hundreds of sphinxes once lined the road to all the way to the Karnak Temple.
In the ancient times, this temple was surrounded by the mud houses and shops but none of them survived the test of time. This site was also used as the Coptic church during the Christian era and Luxor Temple was buried beneath the streets and houses.
Entrance of Luxor Temple
There used to be two granite obelisks at the entrance but only one stand today, the other one stands in Paris. The four sacred baboons who greet the morning sun are carved on the pedestal at the entrance of the temple.
The main entrance to the temple complex was originally flanked by six colossal statues of Ramesses. Wall inscriptions on the First pylon depict the victories of Ramesses II, this pylon is 70 feet in height. Through the pylon, a gateway leads into a peristyle courtyard, also built by Ramesses II.
This court is composed of a colonnade including a number of colossal statues of Amenhotep III which were usurped by Ramesses II. The reason to build this courtyard was to preserve the shrines constructed by Hatshepsut.
Amenhotep's colonnade
A relief on one of the statues of Ramesses II, showing two figures of the God Hapi, one representing Upper Egypt with the Papyrus on his head, and one representing Lower Egypt with Lotus on his head, tying Lotus and Papyrus. The mosque of Sufi Shaykh Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj was built over the temple ruins now it has become part of the complex.
Amenhotep’s colonnade was built by Amenhotep III of the New Kingdom’s 18th Dynasty to be the grand entrance to the Temple of Amen of the Opet. A hypostyle hall leads to a smaller eight columned hall or portico which originally opened into the inner temple, but which was transformed by the Roman legion stationed at Luxor into a chapel dedicated to the imperial cult.
Opet Festival
Inner walls of the hall are decorated with scenes depicting the stages of the Opet Festival. In one relief, Opet Festival is depicted in lively detail, with the pharaoh, nobility and common people joining the triumphal procession. Amenhotep IV tried to to dispose of the traditional ancient Egyptian religion in favor of a new one focused on the Sun Disk, called the Aten.
After his death, his probable son, Tutankhamun, almost certainly under the direction of elder advisors (Horemheb and Ay), reinstated the old religion and in turn attempted to erase both the memory of Akhenaten and his religion. It is also believed that Alexander the Great added few touches to this building.
