Luxor temple is one of the most beautiful remained monuments on the east bank of the Nile River in Thebes, or Luxor city now.
The history of construction of Luxor temple King Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty started to build this temple, but the main building of the temple was completed by King Tutankhamun and King Horemheb. Then King Ramses II added some elements to the temple.
During Amenhotep III’s reign, the main entrance of the temple was on the northern side. After that, you will see the great colonnade consisting of seven pairs. It takes the shape of high open-flower papyrus columns. Then you will move to the courtyard of King Amenhotep III. Then the hypostyle hall, containing thirty-two columns.
The great colonnade of Amenhotep III
The cache of Luxor temple was discovered by the archaeologist Muhammad al-Saghir on the morning of January 22, 1989. While he was cleaning the courtyard of King Amenhotep III, he found a wonderful collection of statues for gods and kings of the New kingdom. Most of these collections are moved to be displayed at Luxor Museum.
Behind the hypostyle hall, there are four secondary rooms, the room of the Divine birth of King Amenhotep III, Alexander the Great’s shrine, and the Holy of Holies of the triad of Thebes (Amun, his wife Mut, and their son Khonsu).
The divine birth room houses depictions tell an amazing story of how the king’s true father was none other than the god Amun himself.
- The King Ramses II adds:
- He added a massive pylon decorated with inscriptions of the Kadesh Battle against the Hittites. This pylon was preceded by six colossal statues for King Ramses II himself and two obelisks made of granite. Now, one of these two obelisks is transferred to the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
In front of this pylon, there is the avenue of sphinxes linking between Luxor Temple and Karnak Complex. This avenue was used during the Opet Festival, as Amun used it to move from Karnak Complex to Luxor Temple.
- Also, King Ramses II built another courtyard in front of the great colonnade of King Amenhotep III. In this courtyard, on the right side, you will see the shrine of Queen Hatshepsut and King Thutmose III.
the shrine of Queen Hatshepsut and King Thutmose III
The temple was remained used in the Greco-Roman period. In the Christian period, the hypostyle hall of the temple was changed to be a Christian church.
After many years, the temple was covered and hidden by sand and streets, resulting in the construction of the Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj mosque over the Northeast side of the temple in the courtyard of King Ramses II in 640.
Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj mosque
