Built on the bank of the Nile along the northern edge of the city of Luxor, the Temple of Karnak was dedicated to the worship of one of Egypt’s oldest and most storied deities: Amun-Re. Though initially worshipped as the primeval god of the wind and air, Amun-Re increased in favor from the 11th Dynasty onwards, eventually ascending to the forefront of the Egyptian pantheon and becoming endowed with the attributes of an all-powerful sun god.

It was this incarnation of Amun-Re – envisioned initially by a powerful cult in ancient Thebes - that led Egypt’s masterful builders to construct the Temple of Karnak sometime between 1500 and 1350 BC - though, in essence, construction never truly ended on the ominous complex. Every ruler from the New Kingdom on saw fit to add their own embellishments, until the temple grew to cover the five acres that we associate it with today.

Access to the temple is granted through a sequence of six monumental gateways, each of which was eventually taken on a pet project by many a particular pharaoh during their respective reigns. For instance, the second gateway, started by Rameses I, leads to the so-called “hypostyle hall” - a secretive enclave that only the pharaoh and temple priests were allowed to enter. The meeting space of hall is surrounded on all sides by 122 columns divided into seven, symbolically meaningfully rows. An earlier pharaoh, Amenhotep III, chose a different tact by inlaying his third gateway with gold and silver, though all of his decorative addition has been lost to looters in the interceding centuries.

The six gateways eventually led onto Karnak’s inner temple – the highest and darkest point in the entire complex. Even today, it is remains clad in the pink granite grafted onto the original structure around 330 BC by Philip Arridaeus, brother of Alexander the Great. The inner sanctum was focused on a stone dais that once bore ceremonial boat dedicated to Amun-Re, as well a large statue of the god – the latter of which occupied the center of temple life for the high priest of the temple and the Egyptian king alike. On feast days, the statue be hoisted onto the ceremonial boat, and then carried around the temple perimeter. Natives of the surrounding towns and encampments, believing the statue to be gifted with powers of prophecy, would shout questions at the procession as it passed. As the boat rounded the temple, it would rock from side to side; a tilt to one side or another was seen by temple devotees as being indicative as a yes or no answer to their queries.

Ancient Egypt Store Bust of King Akhenaton Isis Protecting Osiris Statue King Akhenaton Standing with Crook and Flail Statue Amun-Ra Statue

The Karnak complex also included smaller outcroppings devoted to the worship of Montu, war god and son of Amun-Re and an installation by the monotheistic pharaoh, Akenaten (Amenhotep IV) that was subsequently dismantled, along with the rest of the king’s works, following his death in 1334 BC. Worship of Amun-Re and use of his temple at Karnak eventually subsided as the influence of Thebes waned; his cult was later driven south and went on to thrive in Ethiopia.

Tags: 1350 BCE, 1500 BCE, 330 BCE, Alexander the Great, Amun-Ra, Amun-Ra Statue, Amun-Re, ancient egypt, Ancient Egypt Store, Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom, Bust of King Akhenaton, Egypt master builders, Egyptian 11th Dynasty, Egyptian god of air, Egyptian god of wind, Egyptian pantheon, Egyptian sun god, hypostyle hall, Isis Protecting Osiris Statue, King Akhenaton Standing with Crook and Flail Statue, Luxor, Nile River, Pharaoh, Philip Arridaeus, Rameses I, temple of karnak, temple priests, Thebes