What amazes the visitor is the sheer grandiose design and aesthetics of the temples of Luxor, derived from the Arabic word Al Uqsor, which the ancient Egyptians offered to the pharaoh and god. They could do all this with primitive instruments.
![In line: Ram-headed sphinxes.]( "In line: Ram-headed sphinxes.")
Immense columns, giant statues, perfect symmetry of design, and hieroglyphics awe the visitor. For the ancients, sphinx was the personification of the living pharaoh of the time with the super-human strength of a lion. Amenhotep III, a pharaoh of the 'New Kingdom', is credited with the construction of the Luxor temples.
He chose a location near the banks of the Nile in order to facilitate transport of materials by barges. The presiding deity was Amun-Ra, a fusion of God Amun and Sun God Ra.
The pharaohs organised an annual Opet festival when the triad of gods, Amun-Ra, Goddess Mutt, and their son, God Khons, would be ceremoniously put in a sacred barque for the short journey from Karnak to Luxor. The 10-day festival was a joyous occasion for the people, and for the pharaoh, the time to rejuvenate his own divine powers as well as himself.
Pharaoh after pharaoh embellished the Luxor temples. Ramses II, one of the greatest pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt for 64 years, built the 25 m pylon and decorated the walls with his military exploits. He also installed giant statues of himself, which guard the entrance. A pair of pink granite obelisks was installed in the temple complex, one of which is now in the Place de la Concorde in Paris as a gift from Egypt to France. Ramses II added a huge court that is surrounded by a double row of columns with lotus bud, bas-reliefs extolling his military conquests and a few big statues.
During the early Islam period, a mosque was built in the temple complex, Mosque of Abu-al-Haggag of the 14th century AD, dedicated to a local sheikh and holy man. The mosque entrance was shifted to the upper level when excavations revealed the presence of the temple at the Luxor site.
The mosque is in current use. During the brief rule of the young boy king pharaoh Tutankhamun, columns were embellished with the theme of return to the Theban philosophy from the previous pharaoh, Akhenaten, who had banished the worship of the triad and ordered worship of Sun God Ra as the only god. Chapel for Khons, Mut can be seen along with the temple of the Theban Triad after the pharaohs returned to the worship of the triad as per the ancient Theban orthodoxy. The Greeks and Romans too added their own constructions, but did not alter the basic design.
These heritage monuments can be enjoyed at any time of the day when the play of sun and shadow makes the scene more interesting.
Immense columns, giant statues, perfect symmetry of design, and hieroglyphics awe the visitor. For the ancients, sphinx was the personification of the living pharaoh of the time with the super-human strength of a lion. Amenhotep III, a pharaoh of the 'New Kingdom', is credited with the construction of the Luxor temples.He chose a location near the banks of the Nile in order to facilitate transport of materials by barges. The presiding deity was Amun-Ra, a fusion of God Amun and Sun God Ra.
The pharaohs organised an annual Opet festival when the triad of gods, Amun-Ra, Goddess Mutt, and their son, God Khons, would be ceremoniously put in a sacred barque for the short journey from Karnak to Luxor. The 10-day festival was a joyous occasion for the people, and for the pharaoh, the time to rejuvenate his own divine powers as well as himself.
Pharaoh after pharaoh embellished the Luxor temples. Ramses II, one of the greatest pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt for 64 years, built the 25 m pylon and decorated the walls with his military exploits. He also installed giant statues of himself, which guard the entrance. A pair of pink granite obelisks was installed in the temple complex, one of which is now in the Place de la Concorde in Paris as a gift from Egypt to France. Ramses II added a huge court that is surrounded by a double row of columns with lotus bud, bas-reliefs extolling his military conquests and a few big statues.
During the early Islam period, a mosque was built in the temple complex, Mosque of Abu-al-Haggag of the 14th century AD, dedicated to a local sheikh and holy man. The mosque entrance was shifted to the upper level when excavations revealed the presence of the temple at the Luxor site.
The mosque is in current use. During the brief rule of the young boy king pharaoh Tutankhamun, columns were embellished with the theme of return to the Theban philosophy from the previous pharaoh, Akhenaten, who had banished the worship of the triad and ordered worship of Sun God Ra as the only god. Chapel for Khons, Mut can be seen along with the temple of the Theban Triad after the pharaohs returned to the worship of the triad as per the ancient Theban orthodoxy. The Greeks and Romans too added their own constructions, but did not alter the basic design.
These heritage monuments can be enjoyed at any time of the day when the play of sun and shadow makes the scene more interesting.