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The visible ruins of Karnak (including the temple precincts of Amun, Mut, and Montu) cover an area of more than 50 hectares (50,000 square meters), making the agglomeration of ancient ruins one of the most extensive in the world and a bewildering spectacle to the modern visitor. The early history of the Karnak temple may perhaps be linked with Montu, who was the original god of ancient Thebes. The rise to prominence of Amun-Re during the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2050–1750 b.c.), however, served to realign any prior associations of Karnak. The oldest known architectural remainsin Egypt date to the Middle Kingdom and indicate the presence of a state temple dedicated to Amun-Re that is now destroyed and buried beneath the extensive New Kingdom remains. The earliest still-standing part of the temple includes early 18th Dynasty structures erected by Amenhotep I, Thutmosis I, and the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. Behind these, extensive reconstruction undertaken by the mid-18th Dynasty king Thutmosis III (ca. 1479–1425 b.c.) has erased much of the earlier 18th Dynasty and pre-New Kingdom temple. Excavation has, however, revealed a number of early buildings that in ancient times had been dismantled and reused as construction fill. These include the nearly perfectly preserved shrines of Senwosret I (Dynasty 12), Amenhotep I, and Hatshepsut (Dynasty 18). Adjacent to the temple’s inner core is the Sacred Lake, a feature that symbolized the primeval waters of Nun that existed at the beginning of creation.

The history of the Amun temple at Karnak during the New Kingdom and later periods is one of expansion outward from this older temple core. A series of halls and pylons were added by successive kings. In total, ten different pylons with associated courtyards and other features extend along the temple’s central east-west axis and on a secondary north-south axis that linked the Amun temple with the precinct of Mut. Fronting the 18th Dynasty section of the temple is the famous Great Hypostyle Hall, which was initiated by Seti I and completed by his son Ramses II during the 19th Dynasty. The present entrance to the temple is through the incomplete First Pylon, which dates to the Late Period.

Much of Karnak is decorated with extensive scenes and texts that illustrate the religious associations between the pharaoh and the divine realm of the gods. Some sections are decorated with historical texts commemorating the military achievements of the New Kingdom rulers. One such text, the “Annals of Thutmosis III,” provides considerable detail on the military activities and organization of Egypt’s empire during the 18th Dynasty. While the massive stone remains of Karnak and Luxor temples provide evidence on the religious life of ancient Egypt, surrounding the temples were extensive concentrations of storerooms, workshops, and houses. At the height of its power during the New Kingdom the temple establishment of Amun involved more then 80,000 people, both at Thebes and elsewhere in Egypt. Ongoing archaeological work promises to further our understanding of the intertwined religious, economic, and political roles of the temples of Karnak and Luxor.

Josef Wegner