Karnak

Coordinates: 25°43′07″N 32°39′27″E / 25.71874°N 32.6574°E / 25.71874; 32.6574

Karnak
Pillars of the Great Hypostyle Hall from the Precinct of Amun-Re
Karnak Location in Egypt
Coordinates: 25°43′7″N 32°39′27″E / 25.71861°N 32.6575°E / 25.71861; 32.6575
Country	Egypt
Governorate	Luxor Governorate
Time zone	EST (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	+3 (UTC)

The very old Karnak Temple Complex — usually called simply Karnak — comprises a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amen and a massive structure begun by Pharoah Amenhotep III (ca. 1391-1351 BC). It is located near Luxor, some 500 km south of Cairo, in Egypt. The area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut ("The Most Selected of Places") and the main place of worship of the Theban Triad with the god Amun as its head. It is part of the monumental city of Thebes. The Karnak complex takes its name from the nearby (and partly surrounded) modern village of el-Karnak, some 2.5 km north of Luxor.

Overview

The complex is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world. It is probably the second most visited historical site in Egypt, second only to the Giza Pyramids near Cairo. It consists of four main parts (precincts), of which only the largest, the Precinct of Amun-Re, is open to the general public. The term Karnak is often understood as being the Precinct of Amun-Re only, as this is the only part most visitors normally see. The three other parts, the Precinct of Montu, the Precinct of Mut and the dismantled Temple of Amenhotep IV, are closed to the public. There also are a few smaller temples and sanctuaries located outside the enclosing walls of the four main parts, as well as several avenues of human and ram-headed sphinxes connecting the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Amun-Re, and Luxor Temple.

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 through to 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 overwhelming.

One of most famous aspects of Karnak, is the Hypostyle Hall in the Precinct of Amun-Re, a hall area of 50,000 sq ft (5,000 m²) with 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows. 122 of these columns are 10 meters tall, and the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over three meters. The architraves on top of these columns weigh an estimated 70 tons. These architraves may have been lifted to these heights using levers. This would be an extremely time-consuming process and would also require great balance to get to such great heights. A common alternative theory is that there were large ramps made of sand mud brick or stone and the stones were towed up the ramps. If they used stone for the ramps they would have been able to build the ramps with much less material. The top of the ramps would presumably have either wooden tracks or cobblestones to tow the megaliths on. There is an unfinished pillar in an out of the way location that indicated how they finished it. The finish carving was done after the drums were put in place. ^[1][2] Several experiments moving megaliths with ancient technology were done at other locations - some of them are listed here.

In 2009 UCLA launched a web site dedicated to virtual reality digital reconstructions of the Karnak complex and other resources.^[3]

History

The history of the Karnak complex is largely the history of Thebes. The city does not appear to have been of any significance before the Eleventh Dynasty, and any temple building here would have been relatively small and unimportant, with any shrines being dedicated to the early god of Thebes, Montu. The earliest artifact found in the area of the temple is a small, eight-side from the Eleventh Dynasty, which mentions Amun-Re. Amun (sometimes called Amen) was long the local god of Thebes. He was identified with the Ram and the Goose. The Egyptian meaning of Amen is "hidden" or the "hidden god". ^[4]

Major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Re took place during the Eighteenth dynasty. Thutmose I erected an enclosure wall connecting the Fourth and Fifth pylons, which comprise the earliest part of the temple still standing in situ. Construction of the Hypostyle Hall may have also began during the eighteenth dynasty, though most building was undertaken under Seti I and Ramesses II. Almost every Pharaoh added something to the temple. Merenptah commemorated his victories over the Sea Peoples on the walls of the Cachette Court, the start of the processional route to the Luxor Temple.

The last major change to Precinct of Amun-Re's layout was the addition of the first pylon and the massive enclosure walls that surround the whole Precinct, both constructed by Nectanebo I.

In 323 AD, Constantine the Great recognised the Christian religion, and in 356 ordered the closing of pagan temples throughout the empire. Karnak was by this time mostly abandoned, and Christian churches were founded amongst the ruins, the most famous example of this is the reuse of the Festival Hall of Thutmose III's central hall, were painted decorations of saints and Coptic inscriptions can still be seen.

European rediscovery

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 Claudius Ptolemaeus' mammoth work Geographia, have been circling in Europe since the late 14th century, all of them showing Thebes’ (Diospolis) location. Despite this, several European authors of the 15th and 16th century who visited only Lower Egypt and published their travel accounts, like Joos van Ghistele or André Thévet, put Thebes in or close to Memphis.

Photograph of the temple complex taken in 1914

The Karnak temple complex is first described by an unknown Venetian in 1589, though his account relates no name for the complex. This account, housed in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, is the first known European mention since ancient Greek and Roman writers of a whole range of monuments in Upper Egypt and Nubia, including Karnak, Luxor temple, Colossi of Memnon, Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae and others.

Karnak ("Carnac") as a village name, and name of the complex, is first attested in 1668, when two 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).

The first drawing of Karnak is found in 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 III Euergetes / Ptolemy IV Philopator, and the massive 113m long, 43m high and 15m 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 (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 rather detailed in his work of 1785; especially in light that it is a fictional account of a pretended 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

Precinct of Amun-Re

This is the largest of the precincts of the temple complex, and is dedicated to Amun-Re, the chief god of the Theban Triad. There are several colossal statues including the figure of Pinedjem I which is 10.5 meters tall. The sandstone for this temple, including all the columns, was transported from Gebel Silsila 100 miles south on the Nile river. ^[5] It also has one of the largest obelisks weighing 328 tonnes and standing 29 meters tall. ^[6][7]

Precinct of Montu

Dedicated to the son of Amun-Re and Mut, Montu, the war-god of the Theban Triad. It is located to the north of the Amun-Re complex, and is much smaller in size. It is not open to the public.

Precinct of Mut

Located to the south of the Amen-Re complex, this precinct was dedicated to the mother goddess, of the Theban Triad, Mut. It has several smaller temples associated with it, and has its own sacred lake. It has been ravaged, many portions having been used in other structures. It is not open to the public. 600 black granite statues were found in the courtyard.

Temple of Amenhotep IV (dismantled)

The temple that Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) constructed on site was located to the east of the main complex, outside the walls of the Amun-Re precinct. It was destroyed after the death of its builder, and its full extent and lay-out is currently unknown.

In popular culture

• The Egyptian-themed superhero Ozymandias from the graphic novel Watchmen has a fortress in Antarctica called Karnak.
• Final Fantasy V features a kingdom called Karnak, where the Fire Crystal is housed.
• Lara Croft visited Karnak for two levels in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and it was featured in the level editor package.
• In the movie The Mummy Returns, Karnak is one of the places Rick O'Connell and the others must go to, in order to ultimately reach the Scorpion King.
• The British symphonic metal band Bal-Sagoth have a song called 'Unfettering the Hoary Sentinels of Karnak'.
• The first person shooter Powerslave is set in Karnak.
• Karnak is the name of the space shaped in which Beelzebub travels the universe in G.I. Gurdjieff's Beelzebub's Tales To His Grandson
• The first part of the modernist long poem, Trilogy, by H.D. is dedicated, "For Karnak 1923"
• Although we know some of their beliefs from the hieroglyphics, there are still uncovered from inside tombs that no humans today has ever set foot on.

Gallery

Map of Karnak, showing major temple complexes	The Sacred Lake of Precinct of Amun-Re	View of the first pylon of the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak	Ram statues at Karnak
The Gateway of Ptolemy III Euergetes / Ptolemy IV Philopator at the Precinct of Montu	Hypostyle hall of the Precinct of Amun-Re, as it appeared in 1838. From a tinted lithograph by David Roberts RA and Louis Hahge, 1806-1885

See also

• List of megalithic sites

References

1. ^ Egypt: Engineering an empire engineering feats
2. ^ Lehner, Mark The Complete Pyramids, London: Thames and Hudson (1997)p.202-225 ISBN 0-500-05084-8.
3. ^ "Ancient Egypt Brought To Life With Virtual Model Of Historic Temple Complex", Science Daily, 30 April 2009, retrieved 12 June 2009[1]
4. ^ Stewert, Desmond and editors of the Newsweek Book Division "The Pyramids and Sphinx" 1971 p. 60-62
5. ^ Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile (1993) p. 53-54
6. ^ Walker, Charles, 1980 "Wonders of the Ancient World" p24-7
7. ^ "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World", edited by Chris Scarre (1999) Thames & Hudson, London

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Karnak temple complex

• Digital Karnak UCLA
• CFEETK – Centre Franco-Égyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak (en)
• Karnak: Temple of Amun – Bible History Online, 2004.
• www.karnak3d.net :: "Web-book" The 3D reconstruction of the Great Temple of Amun in Karnak. Marc Mateos, 2008 (in Spanish)

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