View source for Karnak

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian temple complex}}
{{About|the temple complex|the commune|Carnac|other uses|Karnak (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Karnak
| image          = [[File:Temple de Louxor 68.jpg|250px]]
| caption        = Pillars of the [[Great Hypostyle Hall]] from the [[Precinct of Amun-Re]]
| map_type       = Egypt
| relief         = yes
| coordinates    = {{Wikidatacoord|Q522862|display=inline,title}}
| location       = El-Karnak, [[Luxor Governorate]], Egypt
| region         = [[Upper Egypt]]
| type           = Sanctuary
| part_of        = [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]]
| builder        = [[Senusret I]]–[[Nectanebo I]]
| material       = Stone
| built          = {{Circa|1970 BC}}
| abandoned      = 
| epochs         = [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] to [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]]
| condition      = Ruin
| public_access  = Yes
| website        = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| designation1            = WHS
| designation1_offname    = Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis
| designation1_type       = Cultural
| designation1_criteria   = I, III, VI
| designation1_date       = 1979 (3rd [[World Heritage Committee|session]])
| designation1_number     = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/87 87]
| designation1_free1name  = Region
| designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in the Arab states|Arab states]]
}}

The '''Karnak Temple Complex''', commonly known as '''Karnak''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɑr|.|n|æ|k}}),<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/karnak "Karnak"]. ''Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition''. Merriam-Webster, 2007. p. 1550</ref> comprises a vast mix of [[Egyptian temple|temples]], [[Pylon (architecture)|pylons]], chapels, and other buildings near [[Luxor]], Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of [[Senusret I]] (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] ({{Circa|2000–1700 BC}}) and continued into the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] (305–30 BC), although most of the extant buildings date from the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]]. The area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian ''Ipet-isut'' ("The Most Selected of Places") and the main place of worship of the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|18th Dynastic]] [[Theban Triad]], with the god [[Amun]] as its head. 

It is part of the monumental city of [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]], and in 1979 it was added to the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site|World Heritage List]] along with the rest of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/87 |title=Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date=7 September 2021 }}</ref> Karnak gets its name from the nearby, and partly surrounded, modern village of El-Karnak, {{convert|2.5|km|1|abbr=off}} north of Luxor.

==Name==
The original name of the temple was ''Ipet-isut'', meaning "The Most Select of Places".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Richard H. |author1-link=Richard H. Wilkinson |title=The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt |date=2000 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-05100-9 |page=154 |url=https://archive.org/details/completetempleso0000wilk_d0s2/page/154/mode/1up |access-date=21 March 2024 }}</ref> The complex's modern name "Karnak" comes from the nearby village of el-Karnak,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Richard H. |title=The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt |date=2000 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0-500-05100-9 |page=154 |url=https://archive.org/details/completetempleso0000wilk_d0s2/page/154/mode/1up }}</ref> which means "fortified village".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peust |first1=Carsten |title=Die Toponyme Vorarabischen Ursprungs im Modernen Ägypten: Ein Katalog (Göttinger Miszellen Beihefte Nr. 8) |date=2010 |publisher=Universität Göttingen |location=Göttingen |page=56 |url=http://www.peust.de/ortsnamen_original.pdf |access-date=21 March 2024 |language=German }}</ref>

==Overview==
The complex is a vast open site and includes the [[Karnak Open Air Museum]]. It is believed to be the second-most-visited<ref>{{Cite web |title=Egypt Tourism Statistics - How Many Tourists Visit? (2023) |url=https://roadgenius.com/statistics/tourism/egypt/ |access-date=2025-06-16 |website=Road Genius |language=en-US}}</ref> historical site in Egypt; only the [[Giza pyramid complex]] near Cairo receives more visits. It consists of four main parts, of which only the largest is currently open to the public. The term Karnak often is understood as being the [[Precinct of Amun-Re]] only, because this is the only part most visitors see. The three other parts, the [[Precinct of Mut]], the [[Precinct of Montu]], and the dismantled [[Temple of Amenhotep&nbsp;IV]], are closed to the public. There also are a few smaller temples and sanctuaries connecting the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Amun-Re, and the [[Luxor Temple]]. The Precinct of Mut is very ancient, being dedicated to an Earth and creation deity, but not yet restored. The original temple was destroyed and partially restored by [[Hatshepsut]], although another pharaoh built around it in order to change the focus or orientation of the sacred area. Many portions of it may have been carried away for use in other buildings.

The key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Construction of temples started in the Middle Kingdom and continued into Ptolemaic times. Approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the size and number of features are vast. The deities represented range from some of the earliest worshipped to those worshipped much later in the history of the Ancient Egyptian culture. Although destroyed, it also contained an early temple built by Amenhotep IV ([[Akhenaten]]), the pharaoh who later would celebrate a nearly monotheistic religion he established that prompted him to move his court and religious center away from Thebes. It also contains evidence of adaptations, where the buildings of the ancient Egyptians were used by later cultures for their own religious purposes, such as Coptic churches.

===Hypostyle Hall===
{{Main|Great Hypostyle Hall}}
[[File:Temple de Louxor 53.jpg|thumb|Open papyrus umbel capitals and architrave on the central columns of the Hypostyle Hall]]
The Great Hypostyle Hall in the Precinct of Amun-Re has an area of {{cvt|5000|m2|acre}} with 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows. One hundred and twenty-two of these columns are {{convert|10|m|ft}} tall, and the other 12 are {{convert|21|m|ft}} tall with a diameter of over {{convert|3|m|ft}}. The [[architrave]]s, on top of these columns, are estimated to weigh 70 tons.

These architraves may have been lifted to these heights using [[lever]]s. This would be a time-consuming process and also would require great balance to get to such heights. A common alternative theory regarding how they were moved is that large ramps were constructed of sand, mud, brick or stone and that the stones were then towed up the ramps. If stone had been used for the ramps, they would have been able to use much less material. The top of the ramps presumably would have employed either wooden tracks or cobblestones for towing the megaliths.

There is an unfinished pillar in an out-of-the-way location that indicates how it would have been finished. Final carving was executed after the drums were put in place so that it was not damaged while being placed.<ref>Egypt: Engineering an empire engineering feats</ref><ref>Lehner, Mark The Complete Pyramids, London: Thames and Hudson (1997) pp.202–225 {{ISBN|0-500-05084-8}}.</ref> Several experiments moving megaliths with ancient technology were made at other locations&nbsp;– some of which are amongst the [[List of largest monoliths|largest monoliths]] in the world.

The sun god's shrine was built so that it has light focused upon it during the [[winter solstice]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 December 2015 |title=Everything You Need to Know About the Winter Solstice |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/151221-winter-solstice-explained-pagans |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224013459/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/151221-winter-solstice-explained-pagans |archive-date=24 February 2021 |access-date=22 December 2022 |website=National Geographic |language=English }}</ref>

In 2009, [[UCLA]] launched a website dedicated to virtual reality digital reconstructions of the Karnak complex and other resources.<ref>"Ancient Egypt Brought To Life With Virtual Model Of Historic Temple Complex", Science Daily, 30 April 2009, retrieved 12 June 2009 [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429172224.htm]</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of the Karnak Temple complex}}
[[File:S03 06 01 018 image 2398.jpg|thumb|upright|Gate at Karnak. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection (before 1923)]]
The history of the Karnak complex is largely the history of [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] and its changing role in the culture. Religious centers varied by region, and when a new capital of the unified culture was established, the religious centers in that area gained prominence. The city of Thebes does not appear to have been of great significance before the [[Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt|Eleventh Dynasty]] and previous temple building there would have been relatively small, with shrines being dedicated to the early deities of Thebes, the Earth goddess [[Mut]] and [[Montu]]. Early building was destroyed by invaders. The earliest known artifact found in the area of the temple is a small, eight-sided column from the Eleventh Dynasty, which mentions Amun-Re. Amun (sometimes called Amen) was long the local [[tutelary deity]] of Thebes. He was identified with the ram and the goose. The Egyptian meaning of Amun is "hidden" or the "hidden god".<ref>Stewert, Desmond and editors of the Newsweek Book Division "The Pyramids and Sphinx" 1971 pp. 60–62</ref>
[[File:Egypt, Luxor, Karnak temple complex - panoramio - Alx R (4) (lintel).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Cartouches of Seti I that were usurped and overwritten by those of Ramesses II]]

Major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Re took place during the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth Dynasty]], when Thebes became the capital of the unified Ancient Egypt. Almost every pharaoh of that dynasty added something to the temple site. [[Thutmose I]] erected an enclosure wall connecting the Fourth and Fifth pylons, which comprise the earliest part of the temple still standing ''in situ''. [[Hatshepsut]] had monuments constructed and also restored the original [[Precinct of Mut]], that had been ravaged by the foreign rulers during the [[Hyksos]] occupation. She had twin [[obelisk]]s, at the time the tallest in the world, erected at the entrance to the temple. One still stands, as the [[List of Egyptian obelisks|second-tallest ancient obelisk still standing on Earth]]; the other has toppled and is broken.

Another of her projects at the site, Karnak's Red Chapel or [[Chapelle Rouge]], was intended as a [[barque]] shrine and originally may have stood between her two obelisks. She later ordered the construction of two more obelisks to celebrate her sixteenth year as pharaoh; one of the obelisks broke during construction, and thus, a third was constructed to replace it. The broken obelisk was left at its quarrying site in [[Aswan]], where it still remains. Known as [[Unfinished obelisk|the unfinished obelisk]], it provides evidence of how obelisks were quarried.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/egypt/dispatches/990316.html ''The Unfinished Obelisk''] by Peter Tyson 16 March 1999 NOVA online adventure</ref>
[[File:Hall of columns, Karnac, RP-F-F25403-AG.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak|Great Hypostyle Hall]] (1857, Rijksmuseum, The Netherlands)]]

[[File:Temple de Louxor 53.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Open papyrus umbel capitals and architrave on the central columns of the Hypostyle Hall]]
Construction of the [[Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak|Great Hypostyle Hall]] also may have begun during the Eighteenth Dynasty (although most new building was undertaken under [[Seti&nbsp;I]] and [[Ramesses&nbsp;II]] in the Nineteenth). [[Merneptah]], also of the Nineteenth Dynasty, commemorated his victories over the [[Sea Peoples]] on the walls of the [[Precinct of Amun-Re#First Court (Cachette Court)|Cachette Court]], the start of the processional route (also known as the [[Avenue of Sphinxes]]) to the [[Luxor Temple]]. The last major change to the Precinct of Amun-Re's layout was the addition of the First Pylon and the massive enclosure walls that surround the precinct, both constructed by [[Nectanebo&nbsp;I]] of the [[Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt|Thirtieth Dynasty]].

Ancient Greek and Roman writers wrote about a range of monuments in [[Upper Egypt]] and [[Nubia]], including Karnak, Luxor temple, the [[Colossi of Memnon]], [[Esna]], [[Edfu]], [[Kom Ombo]], [[Philae]], and others.

In 323&nbsp;AD, Roman emperor [[Constantine I|Constantine the Great]] recognized the Christian religion, and in 356 [[Constantius II]] ordered the closing of [[pagan]] temples throughout the Roman empire, into which Egypt had been annexed in 30 BC. Karnak was by this time mostly abandoned, and Christian churches were founded among the ruins, the most famous example of this is the reuse of the [[Festival Hall of Thutmose&nbsp;III]]'s central hall, where painted decorations of saints and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] inscriptions can still be seen.

===European knowledge of Karnak===
Thebes' exact placement was unknown in medieval Europe, though both [[Herodotus]] and [[Strabo]] give the exact location of Thebes and how long up the [[Nile]] one must travel to reach it. Maps of Egypt, based on the 2nd century [[Ptolemy|Claudius Ptolemaeus]]' mammoth work ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'', had been circulating in Europe since the late 14th century, all of them showing Thebes' (Diospolis) location. Despite this, several European authors of the 15th and 16th centuries who visited only [[Lower Egypt]] and published their travel accounts, such as [[Joos van Ghistele]] and [[André Thévet]], put Thebes in or close to [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]].
[[File:Monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia-plate-0032.jpg|thumbnail|upright=1.3|right|Hieroglyphs from the great obelisk of Karnak, transcribed by [[Ippolito Rosellini]] in 1828]]

The first European description of the Karnak temple complex was by an unknown Venetian in 1589 and is housed in the [[Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze]], although his account gives no name for the complex.

Karnak ("Carnac") as a village name, and name of the complex, is first attested in 1668, when two [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|capuchin]] missionary brothers, Protais and Charles François d'Orléans, travelled though the area. Protais' writing about their travel was published by [[Melchisédech Thévenot]] (''Relations de divers voyages curieux'', 1670s–1696 editions) and [[Johann Michael Vansleb]] (''The Present State of Egypt'', 1678).
[[File:Temple Complex at Karnak.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Photograph of the temple complex taken in 1914, Cornell University Library]]
The first drawing of Karnak is found in [[Paul Lucas (traveller)|Paul Lucas]]' travel account of 1704, (''Voyage du Sieur Paul Lucas au Levant''). It is rather inaccurate, and can be quite confusing to modern eyes. Lucas travelled in Egypt during 1699–1703. The drawing shows a mixture of the Precinct of Amun-Re and the Precinct of Montu, based on a complex confined by the three huge Ptolemaic gateways of [[Ptolemy&nbsp;III Euergetes]] / [[Ptolemy&nbsp;IV Philopator]], and the massive {{Nowrap|113 m}} long, {{Nowrap|43 m}} high and {{Nowrap|15 m}} thick, First Pylon of the Precinct of Amun-Re.

Karnak was visited and described in succession by [[Claude Sicard]] and his travel companion Pierre Laurent Pincia (1718 and 1720–21), [[Granger (Tourtechot)|Granger]] (1731), [[Frederick Louis Norden]] (1737–38), [[Richard Pococke]] (1738), [[James Bruce]] (1769), [[Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt]] (1777), [[William George Browne]] (1792–93), and finally by a number of scientists of the Napoleon expedition, including [[Vivant Denon]], during 1798–1799. [[Claude-Étienne Savary]] describes the complex in rather great detail in his work of 1785; especially in light of the fact that it is a fictional account of a pretend journey to Upper Egypt, composed out of information from other travellers. Savary did visit [[Lower Egypt]] in 1777–78, and published a work about that too.

==Main parts==
[[File:Karnak temple complex 2012.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Precinct of Amun-Re]] as seen from the Sacred Lake]]
===Precinct of Amun-Re===
{{Main|Precinct of Amun-Re}}

This is the largest of the precincts of the temple complex, and is dedicated to [[Amun-Re]], the chief deity of the [[Theban Triad]]. There are several colossal statues, including the figure of [[Pinedjem I]] which is {{convert|10.5|m|0|abbr=out}} tall. The sandstone for this temple, including all of the columns, was transported from [[Gebel el-Silsila|Gebel Silsila]] {{convert|100|mi|0|abbr=out}} south on the Nile river.<ref>Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile (1993) pp. 53–54</ref> It also has one of the largest obelisks, weighing 328 tons and standing {{convert|29|m|0|abbr=out}} tall.<ref>Walker, Charles, 1980 "Wonders of the Ancient World" pp24–7</ref><ref>"The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World", edited by Chris Scarre (1999) Thames & Hudson, London</ref>

===Precinct of Mut===
{{Main|Precinct of Mut}}
[[File:Karnak Temple Complex-en.svg|left|thumb|Map of the [[Precinct of Mut]] and Amun-Re]]
Located to the south of the newer Amun-Re complex, this precinct was dedicated to the [[mother goddess]], [[Mut]], who became identified as the wife of Amun-Re in the Eighteenth Dynasty Theban Triad. It has several smaller temples associated with it and has its own [[sacred lake]], constructed in a crescent shape. This temple has been ravaged, many portions having been used in other structures. Following excavation and restoration works by the Johns Hopkins University team, led by Betsy Bryan (see below) the Precinct of Mut has been opened to the public. Six hundred black granite statues were found in the courtyard to her temple. It may be the oldest portion of the site.

In 2006, Bryan presented her findings of a festival that included apparent intentional overindulgence in alcohol.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131010040804/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15475319/#.V3MUP0_UnYg "Sex and booze figured in Egyptian rites"] nbcnews.com, 30 October 2006,</ref> Participation in the festival included the priestesses and the population. Historical records of tens of thousands attending the festival exist. These findings were made in the temple of Mut because when [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] rose to greater prominence, Mut absorbed the warrior goddesses, [[Sekhmet]] and [[Bastet|Bast]], as some of her aspects. First, Mut became Mut-[[Wadjet]]-Bast, then Mut-Sekhmet-Bast (Wadjet having merged into Bast), then Mut also assimilated [[Menhit]], another lioness goddess, and her adopted son's wife, becoming Mut-Sekhmet-Bast-Menhit, and finally becoming Mut-[[Nekhbet]].

Temple excavations at Luxor discovered a "porch of drunkenness" built onto the temple by the pharaoh [[Hatshepsut]], during the height of her twenty-year reign. In a later myth developed around the annual drunken Sekhmet festival, Ra, by then the [[solar deity|sun god]] of Upper Egypt, created her from a fiery eye gained from his mother, to destroy mortals who conspired against him (Lower Egypt). In the myth, Sekhmet's blood-lust was not quelled at the end of the battle and led to her destroying almost all of humanity, so Ra had tricked her by turning the Nile as red as blood (the Nile turns red every year when filled with silt during inundation) so that Sekhmet would drink it. The trick, however, was that the red liquid was not blood, but beer mixed with pomegranate juice so that it resembled blood, making her so drunk that she gave up slaughter and became an aspect of the gentle [[Hathor]]. The complex interweaving of deities occurred over the thousands of years of the culture.
[[File:Karnak temple Montou 03.JPG|thumb|Ruins in the Precinct of Montu]]

===Precinct of Montu===
{{Main|Precinct of Montu}}
This portion of the site is dedicated to the son of Mut and Amun-Re, [[Montu]], a war-god. It is located to the north of the Amun-Re complex and is much smaller in size. It is not open to the public.

===Temple of Amenhotep IV (deliberately dismantled)===
{{Main|Temple of Amenhotep IV}}
The temple that [[Akhenaten]] (Amenhotep&nbsp;IV) constructed on the site was located east of the main complex, outside the walls of the Amun-Re precinct. It was destroyed immediately after the death of its builder, who had attempted to overcome the powerful priesthood who had gained control over Egypt before his reign. It was so thoroughly demolished that its full extent and layout is unknown. The priesthood of that temple regained their powerful position as soon as Akhenaten died, and were instrumental in destroying many records of his existence.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Templo de Luxor, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-01, DD 41.jpg|Luxor dromos, an avenue of human-headed sphinxes which once connected the temples of Karnak and Luxor.
Templo de Karnak, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-03, DD 156.jpg|The Sacred Lake of the Precinct of Amun-Re
Templo de Karnak, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-03, DD 138.jpg|View of the first [[Pylon (architecture)|pylon]] of the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak
Templo de Karnak, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-03, DD 139.jpg|Ram-headed sphinx statues at Karnak
Karnacs2.jpg|Hypostyle hall of the Precinct of Amun-Re, as it appeared in 1838 in ''[[The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia]]''
Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt (2504854811).jpg|Osirid statues, likely of Thutmose I, at the Amun-Re temple in Karnak (in the Wadjet Hall). The [[:File:ColossalSandstoneHeadOfThutmoseI-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg|head of the statue on the right of the image]] was removed in modern times and is currently located at the [[British Museum]]
Templo de Karnak, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-03, DD 151.jpg|Obelisk of Thutmosis I in Karnak
Templo de Karnak, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-03, DD 145.jpg|Colossal statue of [[Ramesses II|Ramses II]]
Templo de Karnak, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-03, DD 170-172 HDR.jpg|Open papyrus umbel capitals of the Hypostyle Hall
Luxor Karnak-Tempel 2016-03-21 Große Säulenhalle 02.jpg|Closed papyrus umbel capitals of the Hypostyle Hall
Karnak Temple pillar up-close.jpg|Karnak Temple pillar up-close
Templo de Karnak, Luxor, Egipto, 2022-04-03, DD 157.jpg|Statue of [[Khepri]] in Karnak
S10.08 Karnak, image 9922.jpg|Karnak, Egypt; Gate and Pylon., n.d., Brooklyn Museum Archives
Lantern Slide Collection, Karnak.jpg|Karnak, Egypt; Great Statues., n.d., Goodyear. Brooklyn Museum Archives
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of megalithic sites]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Blyth |first=Elizabeth |title=Karnak: Evolution of a Temple |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-96837-6 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Karnak temple complex}}
{{EB1911 poster|Karnak}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090605165359/http://www.cfeetk.cnrs.fr/uk/ CFEETK – Centre Franco-Égyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak (en)]
* [http://www.bellabs.ru/Egypt/Karnak.html Temple of Amun, numerous photos & schemes (comments in russian)]
* [https://www.picturechoice.org/egypt/karnak_temple.html Karnak images]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20041205220629/http://www.karnak3d.net/ www.karnak3d.net :: "Web-book" The 3D reconstruction of the Great Temple of Amun in Karnak. Marc]}}
* [http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Karnak ''Digital Karnak UCLA'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090928131107/http://www.remains.se/picturem.php?ObjectID=129&Browse=AREA Karnak Temple picture gallery] at Remains.se

{{Karnak Temple Navigation}}
{{Landmarks of Luxor}}
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[[Category:Karnak temple complex| ]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 20th century BC]]
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