Karnak is the largest religious complex ever built, a city of temples on the East Bank of Luxor that Egyptian kings kept adding to for about 2,000 years, from around 2000 BC to the Roman period. Its heart is the great temple of Amun-Ra, king of the gods, with smaller precincts for his wife Mut and their son Khonsu. Ancient Egyptians called it Ipet-Isut, “the most select of places”.
What to see
You enter along an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes and through the first pylon, which was never finished: the mud-brick ramp the builders used is still against its inner face. The Great Hypostyle Hall is the highlight, a forest of 134 sandstone columns, the twelve in the center about 21 meters tall, carved and once painted in bright colors under Seti I and Ramses II. Further in stands the obelisk of Hatshepsut, about 30 meters of pink granite, the tallest still standing in Egypt. Near the sacred lake sits a large stone scarab of Amenhotep III. Local tradition says walking around it seven times brings luck.
The Avenue of Sphinxes
A processional road about 2.7 km long, lined with hundreds of sphinxes, links Karnak to Luxor Temple. It was excavated over decades and reopened in 2021. Once a year, during the Opet festival, the statues of Amun, Mut and Khonsu were carried along it in boats.
Tips for your visit
Give Karnak two to three hours. Come early to beat the heat and the tour buses, or late in the afternoon when the light turns gold. In the evening there is a sound and light show. Karnak is part of almost all our Luxor tours and Nile cruises.
