The temple of Luxor is one of the best-preserved of all of the ancient monuments containing large amounts of structure, statuary and relief carvings that are still intact to this day, making it one of the most impressive places to visit in the Luxor area and all of Egypt. Cookies that are necessary to enable my site to function. In ancient times, the temple was approached by a long avenue, which connected Karnak and Luxor temples, leading to the first pylon. It is near the river bank. Luxor is a town cum city which is located in the southern Egypt and is called the capital of Luxor governorate. [3] It was used for the construction for monuments in Upper Egypt as well as in the course of past and current restoration works. The court is composed of a colonnade including a number of colossal statues of Amenhotep III which were usurped by Ramesses II. The modern town of Luxor is the site of the famous city of Thebes (Waset, in ancient Egyptian), the City of a Hundred Gates. The temple was known as “ipet resyt” (“the southern harem”) and it was founded during the New Kingdom, around 1400 BC. The Purpose of Building Luxor Temple. Deze tempel is een unieke getuigenis van de vergane glorie van Luxor. That said, most people could probably walk through the whole temple in about 60 minutes or less, depending on your pace … Luxor Temple is located in the modern city of Luxor, which is built on the site of the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes. Luxor Temple. Two pharaohs of the land are said to have contributed the most to the temple’s architecture are Amenhotep III and Ramses II; the collection of the latter’s statues stands testimony to his contribution. It was built first as a large temple in the Middle Kingdom by Amunhotep III (1855 - 1808 BCE) on the place of an earlier shrine of Queen Hatshepsut.It is smaller than the Karnak Temple, but no less impressive.It is a graceful piece of … Amenhotep III began construction on the Temple of Luxor, and Tutankhamen, Horemheb, and Ramses II all contributed to it development. During this festival the cult statues of Amun, Mut and Khonsu would travel from Karnak to Luxor. The Abu’l Hagag mosque perches precariously at the top of the columns of this courtyard. "Netizen outrage after Chinese tourist defaces Egyptian temple", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luxor_Temple&oldid=1002729590, Buildings and structures completed in the 14th century BC, Former religious buildings and structures in Egypt, Buildings and structures in Luxor Governorate, Articles containing simplified Chinese-language text, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 25 January 2021, at 20:19. Instead, Luxor temple is dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship; it may have been where many of the pharaohs of Egypt were crowned in reality or conceptually (as in the case of Alexander the Great, who claimed he was crowned at Luxor but may never have traveled south of Memphis, near modern Cairo). [1] Due to the Luxor's past city population building on top of and around the Luxor temple, centuries of rubble had accumulated, to the point where there was an artificial hill some 14.5 to 15 metres (48– 50 ft) in height. The Luxor Obelisk in Paris was classified officially as a Monument historique in 1936; beneath it is the … The temple is dedicated to Amun, Mut, and Khonsu and was the focus of one of the most important religious festivals in ancient Egypt – the annual Opet Festival. This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience. This entrance was flanked by six massive statues of Ramesses, two seated and four standing. [4] For example, to the Egyptian, a sanctuary shaped like an Anubis jackal was really Anubis. The Luxor Temple is a temple complex located in the city of Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt. Book your tickets online for Luxor Temple, Luxor: See 4,336 reviews, articles, and 5,960 photos of Luxor Temple, ranked No.5 on Tripadvisor among 77 attractions in Luxor. This section hosted the statue of Amun that was visited annually by the representation of Amun of the Karnak … [1] The excavations were carried out sporadically until 1960. Visiting Luxor Temple. Thus, the Luxor Temple was a shrine of the king’s cult and not just to the Theban god Amun and his family. [6] The avenue which went in a straight line between the Luxor Temple and the Karnak area was lined with human-headed sphinxes; in ancient times it is probable that these replaced earlier sphinxes which may have had different heads. [1] The Luxor Temple had begun to be excavated by Professor Gaston Maspero after 1884, after he had been given permission to commence operations. [3], Like other Egyptian structures, a common technique used was symbolism, or illusionism. Select from premium Luxor Temple of the highest quality. Six barque shrines, serving as way stations for the barques of the gods during festival processions, were set up on the avenue between the Karnak and Luxor Temple. The Purpose of Building Luxor Temple. [2], The Luxor Temple was built with sandstone from the Gebel el-Silsila area, which is located in South-Western Egypt. [1] Unlike the other temples in Thebes, Luxor temple is not dedicated to a cult god or a deified version of the pharaoh in death. [6] Along the avenue the stations were set up for ceremonies such as the Feast of Opet which held significance to temple. The book’s purpose was to present the evidence that Luxor Temple was entirely built with symbolic intentions in mind. As a result, the temple is not aligned to the river (as is more usual) but to the temple complex at Karnak. Luxor is today a small city of 60,000 inhabitants, located on the right bank of the Nile, in the place that corresponds to ancient Thebes. The temple of Luxor is situated on the east bank of the River Nile in the town of Luxor (Thebes). These days this special temple complex is an enormous open-air museum of hieroglyphs, pillars and gates. Bij de ingang van de tempel van Luxor staan twee beelden van de farao Ramses II. The top things to do in Luxor: 7 must-visit temples and tombs #1 The temples of Karnak. The original design consists of an imposing open court with colonnades of graceful lotus columns, a smaller offering hall, a shrine for the ceremonial boat of the god, an inner sanctuary for the cult image,… Luxor Temple, which is located near the banks of the Nile, was dedicated to God Amun, who was associated with Mut and the Theban Triad. Luxor Temple is located in the historic city of Luxor, which is the modern name of the ancient Thebes. [4] At the Luxor Temple, the two obelisks (the smaller one closer to the west is now at the Place de la Concorde in Paris) flanking the entrance were not the same height, but they created the illusion that they were. This temple might be the greatest testament to why Luxor has earned its nickname, “The World’s Largest Outdoor Museum”. Other decorations celebrate the reinstatement of Amun and the other traditional gods following the Atenist heresy. Built largely by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, it appears that the temple's purpose was for a suitable setting for the rituals of the festival. Initially, during the 18th dynasty (1550-1319), the Opet festivals lasted eleven days, but a a few centuries later, during the 20th dynasty, the festivals lasted more than 27 days. These statutes have crumbled with time, but fortunately the two seated statues are still relatively intact. 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