Luxor Temple

 

Egypt

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Egypt Monuments

Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple

At the heart of the town, Luxor Temple is the closest one to the boats. Erected under Amenhotep III (14th century BC) and Ramesses II (13th century BC), the temple was only used once a year when the Theban statues were taken out from Amun’s temple in Karnak to celebrate the Opet, the New Year.

The cortege would then follow the dromos, the one and a half mile triumphal path bordered by 700 human-headed sphinxes, which today is buried to a large part under the new town. The dromos would reappear just in time to welcome visitors to the entrance of the site and to lead them to the impressive mast of Ramesses II, guarded by three huge pharaohs. The Parisian obelisk must feel lonely knowing that it will never be reunited with its Egyptian counterpart. In 1980 France in effect renounced the present offered by Mohammed Ali in…1831, but, it is nonetheless still there!
The vast court of Ramesses II is dominated by the minaret of the Abu el-Haggag mosque. Optical illusion, historical mirage, power of faith, the museum appears to be suspended from the air held by the papyrus shaped, thousand year old columns. All over the walls, scenes recount the unfolding of the Opet, the procession of the solar deities and the complicated, sumptuous ritual linked to this ceremony, the only time of the year where the population was able to see the statues of the three Theban Gods: Amun, Mut and Monthu.
In 1989, an American archaeological mission that had arrived to survey the foundations in the court of Amenhotep III discovered an underground cache enclosing twenty extraordinary statues. Try to relive the exploit by taping your foot, hoping that a promising hollow sound comes ???.
Category : Egypt Monuments
items Date : 01/02/2010
Author of items : Charles Rossignol