Karnak Temple is a vast temple complex in Luxor dedicated
primarily to Amun and dating from as early as 2000 BC. It is an impressive
sight, and second only to the Great Pyramids in popularity.
fter a century of foreign occupation, the New Kingdom
(1550-1150 BC) of Egypt emerged, with its capital at Thebes. The captial city
was embellished with grandiose temples worthy of the majesty of the pharaohs,
the greatest being Karnak.
The temple complex of Karnak, dedicated to the Pharoah Amun,
was the center of his worship and of his wife Mut and their son Khons. Each of
them had a "precinct" (area) in the temple complex, the greatest and
largest belonging to Amun. There was also a precinct for Montu, the
falcon-headed local god.
Construction on the Karnak temple complex began in the 16th
century BC and continued into the Greco-Roman period - a period of up to 1300
years of construction. Around 30 successive pharoahs added their own touches to
the complex: a new temple, shrine, or pylon and carved detailed hieroglyphic
inscriptions.
When the pharoah Akhenaton abandoned the traditional worship
of Amun and took up the worship of Aten, the sun god, he built a temple to Aten
at Karnak. But after his death, the Theban priests destroyed all signs of sun
worship at Karnak and elsewhere.