Both Ramesses II (1290–1224 BCE) and Amenhotep III (1391–1353 BCE) helped build the Luxor Temple in important ways (also known as It Rsyt, South Oret, and the place of the first creation). Elegant simplicity and beauty differ from the complicated palace of Amun at Karnak, making Egypt one of the most visited places, even though it is one of the largest and best-kept temples.

The main entrance to the temple is in the shape of a saw. It used to hold six vast statues of Ramses II, two sitting and four standing. Now, only the two sitting statues and one standing statue are left. Ramses II also put up two granite obelisks to mark the end of his rule.

The left obelisk, which is 25 meters tall, is still in the same place it was put up during Ramses II’s reign. It has the name and title of the pharaoh written on it. Since 1836, a 23-meter-tall obelisk has stood in Paris.

 

Amun complex:

At the start of the Middle Kingdom, the first Luxor temple was built in Thebes, and this is where the religion of Amun-Ra began. The Amun complex at Thebes included the temples of Luxor, Karnak, a smaller Amun temple near Medina Habu, and the tomb temples of the pharaohs. Around 1500 B.C., Hatshepsut and Thutmose III tore down and rebuilt the Temple of Luxor. Around 1375 B.C., Amenhotep III made the temple the size it is today by making it bigger.

At the end of the third century A.D., the Roman Emperor Diocletian surrounded the Luxor temple with a vast Roman fortress. This caused the temple’s eastern shrines and outside walls to be destroyed. To change the sanctuary from one for the pharaoh’s religion to one for the emperor, it had to be closed off. The Romans tore down the eastern wall and the holy places and rebuilt them in a Roman style.

The northern anta with its columns is still standing. During the Middle Ages, southern anta was taken apart. All of these Amenhotep III stones were carved in the south antes to be used on the side and back walls of the eastern sanctuaries. Putting together several blocks makes up the different parts of the cover.

 

Great Column Hall:

Pharaoh Amenhotep III (reign 1390–1352 BC) began building the Great Hall of Pillars near the end of his power, but he did not live to see it finished. Even though Tutankhamun (who lived from 1336 to 1327 BC) completed the building and decorated most of the walls inside, he died before the project was done. Under Pharaoh Ay, the south end and front of the hall were finally decorated (1327-1223 BC).

Horemheb’s successor, who ruled from 1323 BC to 1308 BC, erased all references to Horemheb and replaced them with his name. During Tutankhamun’s reign, the side walls of the columned hall were as high as the columns, and the floor was made of large stone slabs.

In the first century B.C., the roof of the temple collapsed, and in the Middle Ages, stone blocks from the walls were taken down and used to build around the temple. In the late 1950s, excavations found parts of walls leading to the sphinxes lane in front of the temple. Forty-two of these pieces will be put back together inside the wall.

 

The courtyard of Ramses II:

Once you pass through the pylon gates, you will be in Ramesses II’s colossal courtyard, with a giant statue and columns that look like papyrus stalks. The enclosure beautifully supports the towers and works with them to make a single piece of architecture.

Ramesses II made massive granite and granodiorite statues of himself walking between the columns in the southern part of the courtyard. These statues stood next to similar statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, who was in charge of building the rest of the temple.

So, Ramesses II followed in the footsteps of his famous father and added to the beauty of the temple. In the 13th year of his rule, just before his first heb-sed, or jubilee, Ramesses II had all references to Amenhotep III taken out of sculptures and replaced with his name.

In the northeast corner of the courtyard, there are two huge buildings, one on top of the other. A Coptic church was initially constructed here in the sixth century A.D.; afterward, the space was filled in to make way for the mosque of Abu el-Haggag, which still looms above the temple today. The original tiled entrance to the mosque may be seen adjacent to the pylon tunnel high above the old ground level.

In the 1960s, excavations were done in the courtyard, and the mosque’s entrance was moved to the east to face the city. However, until recently, people still went in through this door. Because of the mosque, the Luxor Temple is one of the few locations in Egypt that have been continuously used as a place of worship from at least 2000 B.C. until the present.

 

Luxor Roman Temple, East Gate, and Tetrastyle:

Late 3rd century A.D. The Luxor temple was transformed into a Roman legionary stronghold or castrum by the decree of Emperor Diocletian. A big brick wall with stone gates was built around the temple complex to protect it.

Behind these, eastern and western gates were crossed tetrastyle (four monumental columns crowned with statues). The Egyptian government found the Great East Gate and the Tetrastyle as early as the 1930s. In 2006, when the drainage system was being put in, the southern brick bastion or tower was found.

The unspoiled southernmost part of the long avenue of human sphinxes that connects the Karnak and Luxor temples is right in front of the main towers of the Luxor temple. Even before Nektambo I was king, there were sphinxes (30th dynasty, circa 380-362 BC).

During the time of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, a vast Roman master, or mud-brick fortification wall, with stone gates was built around the whole complex at the end of the third century A.D. The cult chapel for the pharaohs was a place of worship for the Roman emperors.

Many churches, including the Church of St. Thekla, were built in and around the temple during the Middle Ages. This made it the spiritual center of Luxor at the time. The first courtyard of the newly remodeled Abu el-Haggag Mosque is a piece of a church wall.

 

Temple structure:

Amenhotep III designed the temple, which Tutankhamun and Horenheb decorated. This 16-meter-tall structure is made up of 7 pairs of open papyrus columns. The courtyard of Amenhotep III is surrounded on three sides by 64 columns made to look like papyrus with flowers. Eleven of the twenty columns on the courtyard’s western side were loose and could be moved. It was agreed that groundwater and soil samples should be analyzed to determine the source of the instability.

Research revealed that salt had an impact on column footings. On January 27, 1989, a worker took soil samples when he found a smooth stone slab 18 meters down. It was decided to keep digging around the stone slab, which led to a new find.

 

Luxor Temple cache:

On February 9, 1989, five magnificent and well-preserved sculptures were uncovered at a depth of 2.5 m below. The digging continued until April 20, 1989, when the last piece was found 4.5 m below the surface. The find is called the “Cache of the Luxor Temple,” In it was found a diorite statue of King Horemheb, an alabaster statue of Tutankhamun’s sphinx wearing a double crown, and a figure of King Amenhotep III wearing the double crown of Egypt. These sculptures are now in the Luxor Museum.

 

Open-air museum:

In the courtyard of the Luxor Temple, more than 50,000 pieces of stone from the temples of Luxor and Karnak are kept. They were used as building materials in the Middle Ages. In the 1950s, archaeologists digging around the sphinxes’ alley found many things that had to do with sphinxes. In 1955, the University of Chicago Institute and the Egyptian High Council of Antiquities began working together to take care of the temple’s ruins.

The World Monuments Fund, British Petroleum, and the U.S. Agency for International Development all gave money to this effort to protect the environment. The study was mainly about the 2,000 pieces looked at in Chicago in the 1980s. We were able to put some of the broken pieces back together.

From the time of the Near Kingdom to the time of the Islamic Empire, the Open Air Museum shows examples of objects from this collection. Through the exhibition, you can see how ancient Egyptian art has changed over a thousand years.