Luxor, Egypt. Temple of Luxor. Virtual Tour. J&K's Egyptian Holiday

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The picture on the right shows the two seated figures of Ramesses II at the entrance, along with the remaining obelisk of a pair. The other obelisk is now in Paris. Note the guard sitting at the bottom of obelisk.

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The Temple of Luxor that you visit today was built mainly by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, although Akhenaten and Tutankhamun contributed to the complex. After the death of Tutankhamun, Horemheb destroyed almost all the inscriptions that carried his name. It is believed that Horemheb did this to please the priests of Amun who associated Tutankhamun with Akhenaten, the heretic king.

Entrance to Luxor Temple with Obelisk and Two colossal seated statues.

The temple is dedicated to the mysterious primeval form of Amun. Once a year the Barques of Amun, Mut and Khonsu left Karnak and were carried in sacred procession to this site for the Opet Feast.

	A - The entrance pylon, statues, and Obelisks were dedicated by Ramesses II. Scenes of the Battle of Kadesh are carved on the front. B - Columned court with shrine for the barques of the gods. "B" marks the spot where the Abu'l Haggag Mosque is built into the wall. C - A Processional colonnade begun by Amenhotep III and completed by Tutankhamun with reliefs of the Opet festival.
D - The Temple proper. E - Barque Shrine F - Offering Hall with side "Birth" room showing the divine conception and birth of Amenhotep III G - The "Opet" or private sanctuary containing the holy of holies in a smaller central shrine room. The larger room has cosmological features with twelve column (one for each hour of the day) and at each opposite end the day and the night barques of the sun.

The Statue of Amun of Luxor also traveled in procession every ten days across the Nile to the temple of Amun at Medinet Habu.

The temple site was occupied by previous temples and was (and is) considered a holy site. The Romans used it for their worship and a mosque dedicated to a local saint was built into its walls in the 18th century.

Arial wire drawing showing the positioning of the columns, statues and obelisks.

Both the Temple of Luxor and Karnak were built by a succession of Pharaohs. This temple illustrates the principle with only a few participants.

There was a temple during Hatshepsut's time, as evidenced by a small building to house the barques of the gods, incorporated in the Ramesses II entrance hall.

The temple and the Opet were built by Amenhotep III on the site of the older temple dedicated to the local triad, Amun, Khonsu and Mut. He began the processional colonnade.

Tutankhamun finished the processional colonnade as part of his renewal of the temple of Amun after their neglect and defacement during Akenaten's reign.

Then, Horemheb built an avenue of Sphinxes to join the Temple of Karnak and the Luxor Temple for the procession during the Opet Festival. It was, however, not in direct alignment with the Luxor Temple.

Therefore when Ramesses II added the entrance hall, pylons and obelisks, they were skewed at an angle to line up with the avenue of Sphinxes (as shown in this wire frame drawing).

Thanks to Artifice, Inc. for the free download of DesignWorkshop Lite and the 3D model of the Temple. See the Weblinks for a link to the Great Buildings site.

The front pylon of the Temple of Luxor lit in twilight.

These two pictures are extracted from the video taken on a horse and carriage ride back to our hotel after visiting the Luxor Museum.

The first shows the temple lit at twilight, as seen from the Corniche along the Nile.

This second picture shows a side view of the first pylon, illustrating its construction technique. Also shown is the Abu'l Haggag Mosque, lit for Ramadan.

Side view of the Temple of Luxor ruin, showing the mosque lit to celebrate Ramadan.

Details of the internal Temple ruin are shown below.

Details

		The Abu'l Haggag Mosque, built in the 18th century, using the buried walls of the Temple of Luxor as its foundation.
		Ramesses II sits at the entrance of the Processional Colonnade. One of a pair.
		Queen Nefertari beside the leg of Ramesses II, pictured above.
		The Processional Colonnade begun by Amenhotep III and finished by Tutankhamun after its abandonment during the reign of Akhenaten. Left statue of Ramesses II, mate of pair shown above.bottom
		Tutankhamun making the offerings for the Opet Feast.

There is an interesting book written during the 18th century about the Luxor Temple. Letters from Egypt is the diary of Lucie Duff Gordon. She came to Egypt for her health and lived in a cottage among the half buried ruins of the Luxor Temple. She vividly describes Egypt during this time, including the early "Egyptologists" who found and sold antiquities.

The book is now out of print, but may be available at your library. You could also purchase it through the used book dealers on the internet. www.amazon.com offers an out-of-print service, but there are others including www.abe.com (ABE Books) . I have ordered out-of-print books from dealers all over the world and have never had a problem.