ipet photos on Flickr

TEMPLE OF KARNAK-LUXOR EGYPT by SOL SOñAB

Karnak consists of massive pillars, towering columns, avenues of sphinxes, and a remarkable obelisk that stands 97 feet tall and weighs 323 tons.

TEMPLE OF SOBEK & HAROERIS, KOM OMBO, ASWAN EGYPT by SOL SOñAB

Egypt - Luxor by Chris&Steve

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The Second Pylon, mosty collapsed, towards the columns beyond in the Great Hypostyle Hall, Precinct of Amun-Re at the Temple of Karnak.

Egypt - Luxor by Chris&Steve

View from the great Hypostyle hall to Egypt's tallest obelisk, which memorializes Hatshepsut, the daughter of Thutmose I. Fashioned of rose granite, the obelisk stands more than 90 ft tall & weighs 340 tons. Precinct of Amun-Re at the Temple of Karnak.

Karnak Temple First Pylon by Eric

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December 30, 2018 - "Karnak is located just few Km North of Luxor, and is arguably Egypt’s greatest monument bar the Pyramids.

Built on a gigantic scale, the site covers in total more than 245 acres and is the largest ancient religious site on the planet. It took a total of 1300 years to build and has been attracting pilgrims (and now tourists) for more than 4000 years.

Unable to comprehend its construction as anything other than divine, the ancient Egyptians called the site ‘Ipet Isut’ meaning ‘perfect of palaces’.

The construction of Karnak begun during the middle kingdom, but reached its Zenith during the new Kingdom as the God Amun rose to absolute power in the region. When wars were waged in Ancient Egypt it was seen as the battle between one deity and another for supremacy. Thus Gods were able to rise and fall like kings.

During the height of its power, Karnak presided over 65 villages, 433 gardens, 85 ships, and more than 80,000 workers and slaves.

The site includes three separate temple complexes, the largest and most revered being the Precinct of Amun. Large enough to accommodate 10 cathedrals, the precinct comprises of a sacred lake, several temples, chapels, a court, a festival hall and famously, the great Hypostyle Hall – a towering forest of ancient columns.

The site was once connected to the Luxor Temple - 3Km to the South - by an avenue flanked with sphinxes. Although some of them remain, most are buried beneath the edifices of the modern city." Text from the following website: www.alternativeegypt.com/Luxor/Karnak-Temple.html

Karnak by dunross000

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The Karnak temple complex, universally known only as Karnak, describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings. It is located near Luxor in Egypt. This was ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut ("The Most Selected of Places"), the main place of worship of the Theban Triad with Amun as its head, in the monumental city of Thebes. The complex retrieves its current name from the nearby and partly surrounding modern village of el-Karnak, some 2.5km north of Luxor.

The temple of Karnak is famous for its 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows in the Hypostyle Hall. 122 of these columns are 10 meters tall, and the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over three meters.

TEMPLE OF KARNAK-LUXOR EGYPT by SOL SOñAB

The Great Hypostyle Hall, one of the largest single chambers ever built, covers an area of nearly 54,000 square feet.

Egypt - Luxor by Chris&Steve

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Tip of Hatshepsut's fallen obelisk, Precinct of Amun-Re at the Temple of Karnak.

Egypt - Luxor by Chris&Steve

On the left side of the First Open Court there are 3 chapels which were built by King Seti II for the “Triad of Thebes”. On the right side is the Temple of Ramses III. This Temple consists of a small pylon, an open court and Hypostyle hall, leading to the sanctuary.

Egypt - Luxor by Chris&Steve

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The large granite scarab adjacent to the Ritual Lake is a symbol of Amun, the sun god, at his rebirth each morning after his journey through night.

karnak-106 by Apollo

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Djehutymes III erected this granite pillar of papyrus.

TEMPLE OF KARNAK-LUXOR EGYPT by SOL SOñAB

TEMPLE OF HORUS, EDFU- LUXOR EGYPT by SOL SOñAB

The impressive and great Hieroglyphics on the wall and columns

91a-Karnak_temple-Luxor-Nov4_2018 by Murray Breen

Nov.4, 2018: The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak, comprises a vast mix of temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings near Luxor, in Egypt.

A cult temple dedicated to Amun, Mut and Khonsu. The largest religious building complex ever constructed. The temple of Karnak was known as Ipet-isu—or “most select of places”—by the ancient Egyptians. It is a city of temples built over 2,000 years and dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. This derelict place is still capable of overshadowing many wonders of the modern world and in its day must have been awe-inspiring.

For the largely uneducated ancient Egyptian population, this could only have been the place of the gods. It is the largest religious building ever made, covering about 200 acres (1.5 km by 0.8 km), and was a place of pilgrimage for nearly 2,000 years. The area of the sacred enclosure of Amun alone is sixty-one acres and could hold ten average European cathedrals. The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that St Peter’s, Milan, and Notre Dame Cathedrals would fit within its walls.

The Hypostyle hall, at 54,000 square feet (16,459 meters) and featuring 134 columns, is still the largest room of any religious building in the world. In addition to the main sanctuary there are several smaller temples and a vast sacred lake – 423 feet by 252 feet (129 by 77 meters). The sacred barges of the Theban Triad once floated on the lake during the annual Opet festival. The lake was surrounded by storerooms and living quarters for the priests, along with an aviary for aquatic birds.

Second Pylon entrance intro the hypostyle hall. in the fore ground is the remaining column of the Kiosk of Tahraqa

The Egyptians believed that towards the end of annual agricultural cycle the gods and the earth became exhausted and required a fresh input of energy from the chaotic energy of the cosmos.

To accomplish this magical regeneration the Opet festival was held yearly at Karnak and Luxor. It lasted for twenty-seven days and was also a celebration of the link between pharaoh and the god Amun. The procession began at Karnak and ended at Luxor Temple, one and a half miles (2.4 kilometres) to the south.

The statue of the god Amun was bathed with holy water, dressed in fine linen, and adorned in gold and silver jewellery. The priests then placed the god in a shrine and onto the ceremonial barque supported by poles for carrying. Pharaoh emerged from the temple, his priests carrying the barque on their shoulders, and together they moved into the crowded streets. A troop of Nubian soldiers serving as guards beat their drums, and musicians accompanied the priests in song as incense filled the air.

At Luxor, Pharaoh and his priests entered the temple and ceremonies were performed to regenerate Amun, recreate the cosmos and transfer Amun’s power to Pharaoh. When he finally emerged from the temple sanctuary, the vast crowds cheered him and celebrated the guaranteed fertility of the earth and the expectation of abundant harvests.

During the festival the people were given over 11000 loaves of bread and more than 385 jars of beer, and some were allowed into the temple to ask questions of the god. The priests spoke the answers through a concealed window high up in the wall, or from inside hollow statues.

Egypt 2009 by Jan Čančík

temple of Karnak

Chrám Karnaku v Luxoru je více než jeden obyčejný chrám. Je to přímo komplex svatyň, domů, pylonu, obelisků. Všechny tyto stavby jsou zasvěceny Thebským bohům a také egyptským vládcům ze Střední a Nové říše. Vše co zde bylo postaveno má gigantické rozměry. Celý komplex měří 1500 metrů na 800 metrů, dost velký na to aby obsahoval 10 katedrál. Celý komplex Karnaku byl budovám během dlouhých 1500 let a byl jedním z nejdůležitějších míst Egypta v období Thebské vlády. Byl také nazývám "Nejlepší místo" (Ipet-Isut).

92c-Karnak_temple-Luxor-Nov4_2018 by Murray Breen