Daily Photo - Temple of Luxor

The next few days are going to feature some photos from the Temple of Luxor. Most of my photos of this temple are actually in Luxor, for some reason, but I will be collecting those next week (I'll be going up to north Wales on the 5th, back on the 10th but I'll post a reminder that the blog won't be updated for those days nearer the time).

The Temple of Luxor is much smaller than that of Karnak, to which it was once connected by a row of sphinxes, but it still has a complicated story to tell. The temple was established under the reign of Amenhotep III. It was expanded and embellished by successive rulers, the best know of which are Tutankhamun, Horemheb, Ramesses II and Alexander the Great. As well as being dedicated to the deity Amun, it was also the focal point for the Opet festival, scenes of which are shown on the interior temple walls. The obelisk that can be seen in the background of the second photograph is one of a pair. Its partner is now, however, in Paris

As the first two photographs show, it has a mosque (Abu Haggag) built into the side of it, which shows the ground level prior to the excavation of the temple. The mosque can now be reached from the road side. Last year there was quite a lot of publicity when part of the Pharaonic temple was revealed behind part of the mosque - there's a summary of the find (dating to Ramesses II) on the National Geographic website.