The Karnak Temple Complex, also known as Nesut-tawy, Ipetsut, and Ipet-isut, is an Ancient Egyptian temple complex located within the city of Luxor, Egypt. The temple complex was founded by Pharaoh Senusret I in 1970 BC, and construction continued through the Middle Kingdom (2000-1700 BC) and up to the fall of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in 30 BC. Major construction took place during the 18th Dynasty, while Waset (Thebes, now Luxor) was the capital of the unified Ancient Egypt. Hatshepsut built monuments and restored the Precinct of Mut, which had been ravaged by the Hyksos; she also erected two obelisks. Pharaohs Seti I and Ramesses II built the Great Hypostyle Hall, while Pharaoh Merneptah commemorated his victories over the Sea Peoples on the walls of the Cachette Court. During the reign of Pharaoh Nectanebo I (r. 379-361 BC), massive enclosure walls were built around the Precinct of Amun-Ra. In 356 AD, Emperor Constantius II ordered the closing of pagan temples throughout the Roman Empire, by which time Karnak was mostly abandoned. Christian churches were founded among the ruins, and decorations of saints and Coptic inscriptions were made in the Festival Hall of Thutmose III. The temple complex was visited by a Venetian in 1589 in the complex's first known European mention since the Classical period. By 1668, the temple comple had come to be called Karnak after the local village. The complex was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 along with the rest of Luxor.
Gallery[]
