Entrance of Luxor Temple

3400 years later, he still watches over the temple he built to his godds

Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and was founded in 1400 B.C.E.

Known in the Egyptian language as ipet resyt, or "the southern sanctuary", the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was built during the New Kingdom, the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby Karnak Temple (ipet-isut) to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility – whence its name.

The earliest parts of the temple still standing are the barque chapels, just behind the first pylon. They were built by Hatshepsut, and appropriated by Tuthmosis III. The main part of the temple - the colonnade and the sun court were built by Amenhotep III, and a later addition by Rameses II, who built the entrance pylon, and the two obelisks (one of which was given to France, and is now at the centre of the Place de la Concorde linked the Hatshepsut buildings with the main temple.

To the rear of the temple are chapels built by Tuthmosis III, and Alexander. During the Roman era, the temple and its surroundings were a legionary fortress and the home of the Roman government in the area.

[edit] In Popular Culture

The temple appears in:

• The 1977 James Bond film, The Spy who Loved Me
• The 1978 Agatha Christie film, Death on the Nile
• The 2001 The Mummy film, The Mummy Returns

[edit] See also

• Luxor Obelisk in Paris

A panoramic view of the interior of the Luxor temple, just inside the entrance. The mosque built over the ruins is on the left

[edit] Gallery

Luxor Temple, from the east bank of the Nile	Hundreds of sphinxes once lined the road to nearby Karnak	A well preserved sphinx	The massive First Pylon
The red granite obelisk	The central corridor of the temple	Islamic mosque over pharaonic temple	Sitting Ramesses II Colossus inside Luxor Temple
Closeup of the same Colossus	Amenhotep's colonnade from the peristyle court	The east side of the peristyle court of Amenhotep III	Roman mural in an inner chamber
Central corridor and four colossi by night	Closeup of illuminated red granite obelisk	Sitting Ramesses II Colossus inside Luxor Temple by night	Wall inscription

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Luxor Temple

• Johnson, N. B.: Temple Architecture as Construction of Consciousness..., Arch. & Comport. / Arch. Behav., Vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 229–249 (1988), p. 233f.
• Luxor Temple of Thebes
• Temple of Luxor images
• [1] The Nativity Scene in the Temple of Luxor

v • d • e Landmarks of Luxor East Bank Luxor Temple · Luxor International Airport · Karnak Temple · Luxor Museum · Mummification Museum · Winter Palace Hotel West Bank Valley of the Kings · Valley of the Queens · Medinet Habu · The Ramesseum · Deir al-Madinah · Tombs of the Nobles · Deir el-Bahri · Malkata · Colossi of Memnon

Coordinates: 25°42′0″N 32°38′21″E / 25.7°N 32.63917°E / 25.7; 32.63917