Luxor Temple

Check out this super cool recreation of Luxor Temple as it might have looked in ancient times. You can find more pictures like this by going to the Egypt Websites page and clicking on "Temples Recreated."
Luxor is the modern Egyptian city located on the site of the ancient city of Thebes. Luxor Temple is much smaller than the temple at Karnak, but still super interesting. I distinctly remember hearing the Muslim call to worship as we walked up to the temple. It was interesting to see the remains of the complex polytheistic religion of the ancient Egyptians while hearing the call to worship of the monotheistic Muslims of modern-day Egypt.
The two sides of the entryway to the temple, called pylons, are covered with artwork depicting Ramses the Great's fight against the Hittities at the Battle of Kadesh. This battle is the best documented battle in all of ancient history, thanks to Ramses ordering his scribes to write about it on temples, palaces, and just about everywhere else. He was one of the chief builders of this temple and one of his obelisks still stands in front of it. A second matching one was taken to Paris, France and is a the Place de la Concorde at the end of the Champs Elysees (if I ever get my Paris pictures loaded you'll be able to see that one too!).
Things to look for...
--Ramses the Great's obelisk
--the mosque that was built on top of the ruins of the temple
--the famous golden arches have made it to Luxor!
Back to Egypt Pictures