Temple of Luxor

Temple of Luxor

Temple of Luxor Facts, History, architecture | Egyptian Temples, Monuments.

Discover History Of Egyptian Civilization & Best and Famous Pharaonic Tourist attractions in Luxor city “Thebes”.

Temple of Luxor Historical facts:

  • Temple of Luxor was completely covered by sand in 1960 AD until the sand level reached the shoulders of the statue of King Ramses II made of black granite. At the same time, there were residential buildings for the people of Abu Haggag village that were built inside the middle of the temple in the Hall of Columns. When the Ministry of Ancient Egyptian Antiquities was established by Wagdi Pasha, all these buildings were purchased, removed, the sand was disposed of, and the temple was completely cleaned in 1970 AD.
  • The temple was built in 1400 BC.
  • The temple was built to worship the ancient Egyptian gods Amun-Ra, Mut and Khonsu, the triad of Thebes.”
  • The temple foundations were built on a north-south axis..
  • Engineer Amenhotep son of Hapu was the one who did the architectural design and supervised the complete construction of the temple until the end.
Temple of Luxor
Temple of Luxor

Why did they build the Luxor Temple?

In the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the city of Thebes is the holy city, and from it the first god appeared on the holy hill in the area of ​​Medinet Habu.

With the passage of time and the beginning of the creation of other gods, they then ascended to the sky and left the God Amun Ra As death On earth among mankind as their successor in the city of Thebes.

The idol is considered Amun-Ra-Ka-Mut-Af He is the main god in the Luxor Temple, where he took the place where the temple was built as his headquarters on the ground and it became the sacred hill.

Therefore, the temple was built to worship the god Amun.

 

How was the Luxor Temple constructed?

The entire temple was built with an area of ​​803 feet in length and 181 feet in width.

Once you enter Luxor Temple after passing the security area, checking tickets and bags, and going down the stairs, you find the following…

Avenue of Sphinxes Temple of Luxor
Avenue of Sphinxes Temple of Luxor

Avenue of Sphinxes:

A 2700 meter-long road connecting Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple, paved with a stone floor, and on both sides there are 34 stone statues in the shape of the Sphinx, starting from Al-Maqshaqish Mosque Even the first pylon of the Luxor Temple, starting from the mosque, shows stone statues in the form of rams on both sides.

Mud brick walls were built around the Avenue of Sphinxes to prevent people from crossing the sacred road during the celebrations of the pharaohs and the passage of the procession of the god Amun.

Roman shrine Isis Temple of Luxor
Roman shrine Isis Temple of Luxor

Roman shrine Isis

The cabin was built of mud bricks for the worship of the goddess Isis in the Roman era by the military commander Uranus Military campaign leader in the era of the king’s rule Augustus Caesar.

The stone statue of the god, which is currently inside the cabin, was discovered in 1954. Isis statue was buried in an area far from the cabin but was restored and placed as it is now.

Obelisks of King Ramses II
Obelisks of King Ramses II

Obelisks of King Ramses II

  • The obelisks were built of red granite during the reign of King Ramses II, the most famous pharaoh of the 19th Egyptian dynasty.
  • Details of the Battle of Kadesh are carved on the face of the first obelisk.
  • There were two obelisks in front of the first monument. One obelisk was moved during the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha to Place de la Concorde in Paris,France in 1836 AD, “in return, Egypt received a clock as a gift, which is currently located in the Citadel of Muhammad Ali,” as the obelisk was as long as23 meters, weighs 220 tons While the current obelisk is in the eastern direction, erected in front of the northern tower 22.52 meters long, weighing 257 tons, and with a base 2.5 meters above the ground.

Texts of the obelisk inscriptions:

The base of the eastern obelisk contains a carving of 4 Baboons Dancing, cheering, chanting, and making loud shouts and screams at the time of sunrise from the east, then texts written in the ancient Egyptian language, then a scene of King Ramses II presenting sacrifices to the god Amun.

The baboon is considered a sacred animal to the sun god in the religion of the ancient Egyptians, and its name was mentioned in the Pharaonic books as being responsible for opening the gates to the sky in the other world.

From the top it is written

King of the North and the South, Lord of the Two Lands, King Ramses II, Son of the God Ra, Lord of Crowns, King Ramses II, built this great monument, an immortal monument “Luxor Temple”, when this monument was built for the son of the god Amun-Ra who created its beauty.

Middle class

“He made this great monument to the father of the god Amun-Ra when he erected for him two great obelisks of very hard stone for the father to last forever in the temple of Amun-Ra in the house of Amun.”

 

The first Monument:

The monument was built to a height of 24 metres and a width of 65 metres.

In front of the monument there are 4 standing statues, then two seated statues of King Ramses II in the middle directly in front of the entrance gate.

Daily offerings were made to the statues of King Ramses II sitting in front of the main gate, as they were considered the image of King Ramses II living on earth while he was in the afterlife, where priests were appointed to serve them and perform all the religious rituals and rites of the king.

Battle of Kadesh on the walls of the first edifice:

King Ramses II led a strong battle to fight the enemy Hittites in his second year after assuming the throne of ancient Egypt.

The battle began on the eastern borders of Egypt towards the Orontes River in Syria with 4 military divisions consisting of 33 thousand soldiers: “The divisions of the god Amun, the division of the god Ptah, the division of the god Set, and the division of the god Ra.”

The walls of the first pylon of the Luxor Temple were painted with inscriptions and scenes that tell of the Battle of Kadesh, where the Egyptian army was defeated on the first day due to the deception and lies of the captured Hittite soldiers.

The Hittite soldiers said that the Hittite army moved towards the east and not the north, and while King Ramses II was resting in the royal tent, an attack and fierce battles took place and the battle stopped with sunset “according to the traditions of ancient wars.”

On the morning of the second day, King Ramses II sent for the second division to be summoned, and the battle began fiercely between the soldiers. King Ramses II’s royal chariot fell and almost killed King Ramses II.

The king was saved from death and the enemies were fought fiercely. With sunset on the second day, the Egyptian army lost many soldiers.

On the morning of the third day, the third and fourth divisions were called in and the battle began. The king surrounded the enemy from the south and north and completely besieged the city until the Egyptian army was victorious and the Hittite king fled. Victory and triumph were declared, and the Hittite army withdrew completely and the city of Kadesh was seized.

 

Roman Tower:

The height of the tower was the same as the height of the first edifice of the Roman castle that was built during the Roman Kingdom era. The tower contained upper openings for placing flags and banners.

Shrines of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III
Shrines of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III

Shrines of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III:

Queen Hatshepsut and King Thutmose III built 3 shrines for the annual festival boats of the three Egyptian gods.

King Ramses II dismantled the chapels and reassembled them incorrectly in the architectural design, drawings and inscriptions on the walls after constructing his own monument within 3 years and the courtyard of columns.

Church:

The Church of Abba Nofer was built at the end of the fourth century AD and the entry of the Christian era into Egypt. It has a special entrance from the other eastern side. It went through developments and stages of neglect and sand accumulation and is completely closed.

Abu Haggag Mosque Temple of Luxor
Abu Haggag Mosque Temple of Luxor

Abu Haggag Mosque

Sheikh Abu Haggag built the small mosque above the church, which is still in operation and open for visitors.

The second edifice

The first courtyard:

King Ramses II built the first courtyard, the “Celebration Courtyard,” in the first year of his reign in ancient Egypt. The first phase ended after two years, then the decoration and drawing phase ended after 6 years of continuous work by sculptors and artists in ancient Egypt.

The courtyard was used for gathering people during ancient Egyptian celebrations.

The western gate connected to the port to connect
The western gate connected to the port to connect

The first courtyard contains 4 main doors, which are…

  1. The main gate of the temple sanctuary.
  2. The western gate connected to the port to connect to the Luxor Temple to enter the offerings.
  3. The eastern door is for the general public to enter during celebrations only.
  4. The southern door leading to the Holy of Holies.

The ceremonial courtyard contains 74 columns in 3 rows, above which is the memorial text of King Ramses II, glorifying and sanctifying the worship of the god Horus and the god Seshet.

Scenes were drawn on the walls of the columns representing the offerings by King Ramses II and his sons to the Egyptian gods, in addition to a scene of the procession of the boat of the god Amun coming from the Karnak Temple until it settled in the courtyard and the entry of offerings from the offering gate for the opet festival, such as calves and buffaloes, to be sacrificed and slaughtered to approach the god Amun.

Opet Festival Temple of Luxor
Opet Festival Temple of Luxor

Opet Festival

It is celebrated in the third month of the Nile River flood season (mid-October to mid-November), as the annual timing of the Nile River flood was from July of each year, and it is considered the largest of the ancient Egyptian Pharaonic festivals.

It was believed that the god Amun came from the Karnak Temple to renew his divine ownership of the land of the Luxor Temple as a result of the flooding of the Nile River leaving new silt that renewed the layer of the earth and made the land suitable for agriculture in a new way.

The celebration of Opet Festival during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (the 18th Egyptian Dynasty) was carried out on foot between the two temples. There were 6 rest stops on the Avenue of Sphinxes for the priests of the Temple of Amun and the kings and queens of the pharaohs. The road connecting the two temples was covered in 3 days, with a total duration of 10 days.

The boat procession took place during the reign of King Amenhotep III to King Tutankhamun across the Nile River and back again across the river. The celebration lasted for 15 days.

Starting from the reign of King Ramesses III (Ramesside period, 20th Dynasty of Egypt), the procession would come across the Nile River and return on foot via the Avenue of Sphinxes to the Karnak Temple.

One of the traditions is the union of the god Amun, the god of Karnak Temple, with the god Amun, the god of Luxor Temple, in the sacred chamber, the “southern sacred hall,” to renew kingship, youth, vitality, and life.

 

First courtyard wall drawings:

A view of the entry of the procession of buffalo sacrifices and farmers through the western sacrifice gate. We notice that the buffalo are fat and of large weights and are designated for slaughter during the Opet Festival.

The buffalo’s head was decorated with a Nubian head and another with a Hittite head to indicate the head of a calf as if it were cutting off the heads of enemies and another with a feather.

At the beginning of the procession, a picture of King Ramses II was carved, then the sons of King Ramses II and the royal family, such as King Merneptah “No. 5”. It is known that King Ramses II had 45 sons and 108 daughters.

A view of the first monument and the presence of the two obelisks in front of the main gate and the main facade at the time of its opening in the fifth year of the reign of King Ramses II.

Royal Ka statues of King Ramses II
Royal Ka statues of King Ramses II

Royal Ka statues of King Ramses II:

The two statues represent the living image of King Ramses II on earth and above in heaven in the afterlife. Likewise, they had religious rituals and daily offerings to them and priests in their service.

The statues were broken by an earthquake but were restored as they are now.

On the base of the first statue is a view of the god Abi, “the god of the north and the god of the south”, a symbol of the Nile River meeting together.

Hall 14 Columns Temple of Luxor
Hall 14 Columns Temple of Luxor

Hall 14 Columns:

The columns were built during the reign of King Amenhotep III and contain many pharaonic cartouches bearing the names of the pharaohs, starting from King Amenhotep III to King Horemheb of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty, with the name of King Ramses II carved on the base of each column.

The walls of the columns contain scenes that tell in detail the stages of the OPEC celebration.

Statue of King Tutankhamun Temple of Luxor
Statue of King Tutankhamun Temple of Luxor
Statue of the god Amun Temple of Luxor
Statue of the god Amun Temple of Luxor

Statue of the god Amun:

On the right we find the statue of the god Amun and the statue of the god Mut, and likewise on the left. The statues were carved from soapstone alabaster and were built during the reign of King Tutankhamun of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty. The name of King Ramses II was carved at the base of the two statues.

Open Column Hall Temple of Luxor
Open Column Hall Temple of Luxor

Open Column Hall:

64 columns with capitals in the shape of the budded pharaonic lotus flower were built, the architectural design of the courtyard is square.

 

Luxor Temple Cache:

During the restoration work in 1988 AD to dismantle and install the column bases in the Great Hypostyle Hall of the temple after the Nile River water leaked into the sand bases and caused a defect in the stone bases, the Luxor Cache was discovered in 1989 AD as follows…

  1. Black granite base.
  2. 26 stone statues from the reign of King Amenhotep III (18th Dynasty) made of sandstone until the reign ofKing Shoshenq III”Family 22″.
  3. A group of bronze statues.

The statues were completely transferred and are now on display in the Luxor Museum on the banks of the Nile.

Roman Temple Hall
Roman Temple Hall

Roman Temple Hall

Roman emperors and knights are painted on the walls of the small temple hall, the temple was built in the era of Emperor Augustus.

 

Hall

The hall was built to place offerings in it and no one from the general public was allowed to enter it.

The walls of the hall contain scenes of King Amenhotep III offering sacrifices to the god Amun-Ra, such as the slaughter of 4 calves, a scene of roasting meat, a scene of offering fruits and vegetables, and scenes of the king offering incense and wine to the ancient Egyptian gods.

Alexander the Great’s cabin

Divine Birth Room

I was assigned to attend the Pharaoh’s divine birth ritual known as the Divine Birth Chamber, to make a successor on earth.

A Timeline Temple of Luxor
A Timeline Temple of Luxor

A Timeline Temple of Luxor

  • With the beginning of the rule of the pharaohs of the 18th Egyptian dynasty, the process of development and construction of new funerary buildings began, as it beganKing Amenhotep I Building a gate south of Karnak Temple directly facing Luxor Temple, then King Thutmose I built many buildings inside the temple,Then get up King Amenhotep II By building a sacred rest house between the two temples.
  • The Opec Festival was celebrated as the “Pharaonic Festival”, as it was celebrated during the era of Queen Hatshepsut “the most famous queen of Egypt” and King Thutmose III in the year1436-1490 BCBirth, Where a royal procession of the god Amun, the most famous of the ancient Egyptian gods, would start in pharaonic boats from the Karnak Temple and proceed through the Avenue of Sphinxes to reach Holy Trinity Chapels At the first monument.
  • He did King Amenhotep III general 1360-1397 BC, He removed the foundations of the ancient temple of Queen Hatshepsut and King Thutmose III and built a temple of his own in its place with the same architectural and engineering design used in ancient Egyptian temples. He built columns in the Holy of Holies area, then the open courtyard, then built the Hall of 14 Columns, then built the room of the House of Divine Birth, and built all parts of the funerary temples in full.
  • The Divine Birth Chamber was built in the Luxor Temple during the reign of King Amenhotep III and after his death it was not closed. Every king of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty would come to offer sacrifices and perform rituals and rites specific to each pharaonic king, as in the religion of the ancient Egyptians religious rituals must be performed to renew the ownership and lineage of the pharaonic king to the gods, because the god Amun renews the ownership of the throne of the gods with the beginning of each flood of the Nile River inside the Divine Birth Chamber.
  • King Amenhotep IV “Akhenaten” built a small temple to worship the god Aten at the first pylon in the eastern direction. After attempts by archaeologists and excavations in the eastern direction, a group of three stone blocks were discovered indicating the presence of a temple that was built in the era of King Akhenaten, but it does not exist now.
  • King Tutankhamun built a series of improvements and developments in the temple in 1336 BC.
  • King Horemheb was interested in developing and restoring funerary buildings in the temple of the god Amun.1295 – 1323 BC.
  • With the beginning of the reign of King Ramses II, the most famous pharaoh of the 19th Egyptian dynasty, in the year1223-1290 BCBirth, the king built the first pylon, the second pylon, the courtyard of columns in front of the hall and the hall of the 14 columns, where King Ramses II was interested in religious rituals and festivals for the ancient Egyptian gods.
  • The kings of the 20th Dynasty (the Ramesside era) were interested in developing the Avenue of Sphinxes and increasing the number of ram statues on both sides connecting the Karnak and Luxor temples together for the annual OPEC celebration, but with the deterioration of the country’s situation, the entry into internal conflicts and the spread of revolutions, work and construction in the temple stopped.
  • With the beginning of the rule King Piankhi from the 25th Egyptian Dynasty (the Egyptian-Nubian Dynasty) the buildings at Luxor Temple were developed.
  • In the era of the 27th Egyptian “Persian” dynasty, the beginning of the ruleKing Petubastis IIILarge parts of the temple were destroyed, but it was rebuilt and the architectural design developed with the beginning of the rule of the kings of the 28th Egyptian Dynasty.
  • He didKing Nectanebo I From the 30th Egyptian dynasty, a large group of ram statues were replaced with stone statues carved in the form of sphinxes on the two rows.
  • With the beginning of the reign of the Ptolemaic kings, the cabin of Alexander the Great was built.The most famous kings of the Roman Empire eraAt the end of the temple then he stood upAugustus Caesar”The Greek Macedonian familyBy converting the Luxor Temple into a military fortress and military residence for the Roman army.
  • With the rule of the Roman kings on the throne of ancient Egypt, the worship of the god Amun was stopped and replaced by the worship of the gods of the Roman emperors, and residential buildings were built for the soldiers and officers of the Roman army.
  • In the 14th century AD, when Egypt entered the Coptic “Christian” era, the back part of the first edifice was converted into a church and it still remains there.TIt is still present within the architectural design of the Luxor Temple.
  • Sheikh Abu Al-Hajja did By building a small mosque between the first edifice and the courtyard of columns.
temple of luxor architecture
temple of luxor architecture

What is special about the Temple of Luxor?

  • In 1987 and 1988 AD, during the restoration and dismantling of the columns, a group of stones were discovered in place of the dismantled columns dating back to the 22nd Egyptian Dynasty, indicating that the foundations of the temple were built during the reign of King Djoser (the Third Egyptian Dynasty, the Old Kingdom), but this is not scientifically proven yet.
  • A group of offering tables were discovered, inscribed with texts dating back to the reign of King Khaankhre Sobekhotep I from the 13th Egyptian dynasty in the Middle Kingdom.
  • A group of offering tables were discovered, indicating that the foundations of the funerary temple had begun to be established during the Middle Kingdom, the beginning of the reign of King Senusret III From the 12th Egyptian Dynasty, indicating the construction of funerary buildings to perform religious rituals and ceremonies during the Middle Kingdom.
  • A group of stone fossils were discovered in the cabin Isis The ancient monuments indicate that there was a temple of the goddess Hathor built inside the cabin.
  • The walls of the monuments and temples in Luxor were painted before the start of the flood season in ancient Egypt to protect the drawings and inscriptions from damage by rainwater. The priests of the Temple of Amun considered it a plague from the sky that would harm the sacred drawings.
  • The Battle of Kadesh was depicted on the walls of the first pylon in the temple without mentioning that King Ramses II fell from his chariot and his son left him in the battle to die without defending him and that the Egyptian army lost many soldiers and did not transfer the bodies of the soldiers to Egypt for fear of the Egyptians’ anger. The details of the battle were depicted 7 times: “twice in Luxor Temple, twice in Karnak Temple in the Great Hypostyle Hall outside, once in Abydos Temple in Sohag in the first open courtyard, once in the Ramesseum Temple in Luxor behind the Hypostyle Hall, once in Abu Simbel Temple in Aswan in the first Hypostyle Court.”
  • King Amenhotep IV “Akhenaten” built a special temple to worship the god Aten in the area of ​​the first courtyard of the temple, but King Ramses II removed it completely and built his own hall of columns. A group of stones used in the construction were discovered.
  • The first courtyard was used as a headquarters for the Roman army and holes were dug in the columns to build a second floor as housing for soldiers and officers.
Historical facts about Egypt
Historical facts about Egypt

Historical facts about Egypt:

  • All the soldiers’ bodies had to be moved after the end of the battle, as it was in the religious beliefs and religion of the ancient Egyptians that a man buried outside the borders of Egypt would not enter heaven, believing that the land of Egypt is the holy land for the gods in heaven. “It was mentioned in the stories of Egyptian literature that there was an Egyptian officer who was killed in the land of Nubia and buried there, and after 3 years his son went to the place of his burial and brought his body to bury him in Egyptian lands.”
  • In the religion of the ancient Egyptians, the god Amun, the god of Luxor Temple, is considered more powerful than the god Amun, the god of Karnak Temple, as the Amun of Karnak comes to the Amun of Luxor to renew divinity, kingship and activity.
  • The walls of the temple contain scenes of offering sacrifices to the god Amon, godKhonsu, God Amunet, God Ra, God Montu, God Hathor, God Maat, God Min, God Nut.
  • Luxor Temple contains a mixture of heavenly religions, which are: Church, mosque Abu Al-Hajjaj, Delivery roomHoly, Alexander the Great’s cabin.

Temple of Luxor Address:

The West BankEastern, Luxor, Egypt.

Temple of Luxor Opening Hours:

Open daily from 06:00 AM to 08:00 PM

Temple of Luxor ticket price until November 1, 2024:

Adult = 500 Egyptian pounds.

Student or child = 250 Egyptian pounds

Researcher’s opinion: Tamer Ahmed Abdel FattahH

  • After the wonderful restoration process during the era of President Abdel Fattah Sisi, the president asked the minister on live air, will the modifications and luxurious floors in the Avenue of Sphinxes and Lights be removed? The minister replied at the time, no. After 7 days, I visited the temple myself as an Egyptian citizen who loves my country. I found that 90% of all the luxurious repairs, modifications, floors and lights had been removed from the temple, so I was saddened by what happened.
  • Luxor Temple has been ignored in all day tour programs from Hurghada and the Red Sea Hotels, although it is worth adding 30 minutes to the visit program as a private tour or group program. I think that the time to visit the temple was used to visit the bazaar shops apyrus in Luxor is for financial benefit and not for the benefit of the visitor and tourist to learn about the ancient Egyptian civilization.
  • You can visit all corners of the temple and take pictures within a period of no more than 30 minutes and enjoy watching the wonderful statues of King Ramses II to learn about the development of sculpture and the arts of ancient Egypt. Be sure to request them in the private Luxor tours and control your time and your trip program.

You can visit the Egyptian temples through private luxury Egypt Day Tours or Egypt Tour Packages and learn more about the temples through our YouTube channel.

 

Egyptian Temples

Egyptian Temples in Ancient Egypt | Facts, History, List

Egyptian Temples in Ancient Egypt

List of Pharaonic Temples, Historical Facts, Secrets, Design Engineering of the Architecture of Funerary and Solar Temples, Why Temples were built?, What are Egyptian Temples Types? What is the Difference between Old Temples and the temples of the Greek era, Roman and Ptolemaic eras?

Discover the rituals that were held in the temple, and more secrets that were previously known about the History of the Pharaohs.

Egyptian Temples

What architectural and engineering methods did Ancient Egyptians use to construct the Egyptian Temples?

Discover Ancient Egyptian Architecture characteristics & Planning, Mechanical Engineering Design, The Architectural Evolution, Construction Methods and Building Materials in Ancient Egypt.

Design of the Egyptian Pharaonic temples is considered to be of a special nature, as its idea is based on the fact that the temple is the dwelling place of the god on earth, as a sacred room was designed that is forbidden to humans to enter, and wide open spaces that humans enter.

In the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the temple is the palace of the god on earth and is similar in design to the palace of the God Horus in the sky and the rest of the Egyptian gods.

The temple design must contain a room Birth house Mammisi dedicated to proving that the pharaoh was half god and half human, and that he was created by a god from heaven, who is God Hathor.

  • The architecture and planning of each temple was designed differently from the other, starting from the rule of the pharaohs of the First Dynasty of Egypt “King Narmer” until the end of the rule of the kings of the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom of Egypt, Starting from the rule of King Ramses II in the era of the 19th Egyptian Dynasty, the construction of temples began to be organized according to fixed rules in planning and architectural engineering design until the last kings of the Late Period and the rule of the Black Pharaohs.
  • With the beginning of the king’s rule Ptolemy I “First king of Egypt in the Ptolemaic era”, The architecture of Egyptian temple construction began to develop with the general layout of the temple remaining constant, with only the area on which the temple was built varying.
  • It was discovered that Architect Imhotep, The architect of the design and planning of the King Djoser complex (Third Dynasty of Egypt, Old Kingdom) wrote and drew manu scripts and engineering designs for Egyptian temples and was used as a guide for all ancient Egyptian engineers throughout the eras of the Pharaonic dynasty until the rule of the Ptolemaic and Greek kings. His name and achievements were mentioned on the walls of the Edfu Temple in Aswan.
  • Archaeologists and Egyptologists discovered in 2000 AD during research and excavation in the area Tebtunis (Umm El-Burigat) And area Soknopaiou Nesos Near Qarun Lake, the most famous Archaeological Sites in Fayoum, which contains temples from the Ptolemaic and Greco-Roman eras, 50 ancient Egyptian papyri were discovered containing texts in the ancient Egyptian language “Demotic” Explains the steps of building temples to ancient Egyptian engineers.
  • Egyptologists and Egyptian archaeologists discovered during a research mission in the Ramesseum Temple in Luxor a papyrus dating back to the Middle Kingdom and another papyrus written in the language “Hieratic” dates back to the reign of The Ramesside Period kings of the 20th Dynasty and all indicate that engineering texts and plans from the book Design and Construction of Egyptian Temples, which was created by Architect Imhotep in the Old Kingdom era.
  • Book of the construction of Egyptian temples, Book of Imhotep was an engineering reference for all architects throughout the history of ancient Egypt. It contained methods for selecting the sacred animal for each temple and detailed religious and engineering explanations for building the temple in its correct form.

What is the difference between a Roman temple and a Greek temple and Old Temples?

The texts of religious beliefs and religious rituals in the religion of the ancient Egyptians were not written or drawn on the walls of the funerary temples that were built in the era of the Old Kingdom, such as the Temple of the King Djoser Group (King Djoser of the Third Egyptian Dynasty) and the temples of King Khafre in the Valley (Fourth Egyptian Dynasty).

Because the ruler at that time was of Egyptian origin and the priests were observing the rituals and there was no fear of the collapse of the ancient Egyptian state.

The beginning of the era of rule King Mentuhotep I fromThe Eleventh Egyptian Dynasty in a while Kingdom of Egypt in the Middle Ages, reliefs were drawn on the walls of Egyptian temples depicting the king offering sacrifices to the goddess, with his name, the name of the god, and the name of the offerings.

From the New Kingdom period to the beginning of the rule King Ahmose I from Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, inscriptions were drawn on the walls of Egyptian temples telling us a dialogue between the god and the pharaonic king, praying, supplicating and offering sacrifices without mentioning details.

At the beginning of the Roman and Greek rule of ancient Egypt, the head quarters of the chief priest was moved, and the priests feared the collapse of the religious faith of the ancient Egyptians and the disappearance of religious identity, so it was written in papyrus and recorded accurately on the walls of the chamber of the funerary temples, starting with the king’s supplication to the god and the supplication to the gods and the types of offerings and how to present the offerings and many details and religious teachings for each new priest and writing religious texts about religious rituals for all religious books.

The steps of the basic, preliminary, preparatory and final religious rituals were explained as engraved on the walls of the Edfu Temple, more than 1,100 scenes of the steps of offering sacrifices to the gods, as we find drawings in the Temple of Habu or the Temple of King Ramses III within the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes “built during the reign of King Ramses III of the 20th Dynasty, the Ramesside era” describing King Ramses III offering bread and meat as sacrifices to the gods and explaining only 10 steps through 100 pharaonic inscriptions on the walls and not all the steps in the religious rituals.

Summary:

  • Egyptologists have obtained a complete explanation of the religious beliefs, rituals and religion of the ancient Egyptians only from the wall drawings of the Egyptian temples (Edfu Temple, Dendera Temple, Esna Temple, Philae Temple, Kombo Temple) which were built in the Greek and Roman era of ancient Egypt only.
  • The recording of religious texts drawn on the walls of the Edfu Temple in Aswan began in 1892 AD and was completely completed in 1934 AD (more than 43 years) by Egyptian archaeologists and foreign researchers from around the world, while the texts of the Dendera Temple were recorded in 1934 AD. Until 2024, only 75% of the religious drawings and texts have been recorded.
Egyptian Temples in Ancient Egypt | Facts, History, List
Egyptian Temples in Ancient Egypt | Facts, History, List

What are the characteristics of Egyptian temple architecture?

The basic fixed elements in the architectural design of each temple were the gate, then the open courtyard containing rows of columns on both sides, then the Holy of Holies room.

The basic elements were developed in the New Kingdom era, such as the Temple of Medinet Habu in Luxor, which contains a hypostyle hall and several gates for the entrance.

Then, in the Roman and Ptolemaic eras, the shrines were increased on both sides of the open courtyard.

The floors of Egyptian temples are built in levels that increase in height as you go inward, so you notice that the ceiling of the Holy of Holies is lower than the starting point at the temple gate.

Limestone was used in the construction of Egyptian temples during the Middle Kingdom because it is an easy and light stone to carve on.

However, it has the disadvantage of difficulty in carving and sculpting in relief and sunken relief on the walls of funerary temples.

Limestone was extracted from the Tura quarries in Giza “Egyptian Tura Stone”, which made it difficult to transport it from Giza to southern Egypt in Luxor and Aswan across the Nile River in wooden boats.

Starting from the reign of King Ahmose I of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty, sand stone began to be extracted from the quarries in Luxor, especially Gebel el-Silsila, the quarries of the West Bank and Aswan, for ease of transport and ease of engraving and sculpting all the drawings and texts on the walls of the temples.

The architectural design of all Egyptian temples has the Holy of Holies in the eastern direction and the gate to the west with the sun’s rays “the god Ra” in the direction, while in the Temple of Luxor the Holy of Holies is to the south while the gate is to the north.

The reason for this is the discovery by the ancient Egyptians that the Nile flood comes from the south and goodness and the beginning of creation are from the south while the sun rises from the southeast.

Holy of Holies Room

It was known in ancient Egypt as Set Wet, meaning the great throne or the great place reserved only for the ruling pharaoh. Gifts, offerings, rituals and religious rites were presented there to glorify the king and the gods.

The Holy of Holies room in the Abu Simbel Temple in Aswan contains 4 statues that refer to 4 Egyptian gods: the god Ptah, the god Amun-Ra, the god Horus, and a statue of King Ramses II.

The-Temple-of-Philae
The-Temple-of-Philae

What are the different types of temples in Ancient?

Types of Egyptian temples were divided according to function into…

The Divine Temple

Prayers and supplications to the gods only and religious rituals in the religion of the ancient Egyptians are held in it.

It is required to be built in the middle of the village, far from the royal tombs or the tombs of the nobles, such as the Karnak Temple, the Luxor Temple, the Abydos Temple, the Mit Rahina Temple (for the worship of the god Ptah) in Saqqara, Giza, the Abu Simbel Temple, and the Tell Basta Temple in Sharqia.

The-Temple-of-Edfu Egyptian Temples
The-Temple-of-Edfu

Funerary temple

  • The funerary temple was built upon the death of the ruling pharaoh, where religious rituals were performed to begin the transformation of the pharaoh from a human to a divine state.
  • The West Bank area of ​​Luxor contains 32 funerary temples, including the Holy of Holies room and the king’s cabin for receiving offerings from the people.
  • Daily prayers and religious rituals were performed to glorify and renew the life of the deceased pharaoh in the afterlife, in addition to a part of the worship of the ancient Egyptian gods.
  • Egyptian temples were divided into two sections, starting from the rule of the Roman and Ptolemaic kings. The first section was concerned with the architectural design of the divine temples, and the left section was concerned with the architectural design of the funerary temples, as in the Temple of Edfu and Philae in Aswan.

The types of Egyptian temples were divided in terms of architectural design into…

  1. A rock-cut temple like the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut carved into the rocks of Mount Qurna in Luxor and the Temple of Abu Simbel to The temple of King Ramses II and the Wadi el-Maghara Temple, carved into the rocks of Mount Al-Maghara, South Sinai.
  2. A temple built using stones and granite extracted from the quarries of Aswan.

Egyptian temples were divided in terms of area into…

  1. First class temples: These are built on a large area and contain larger pharaonic rooms and chapels.
  2. Second-class temples: These are temples of medium size and in which large offerings are made.
  3. Third-class temples: These are small temples found in villages and small regions, such as the ancient Egyptian geography, such as the oases temples.

What is the purpose of building Egyptian Temples?

  • The main reason for the beginning of the formation of the ancient Egyptian family is that the ruling pharaoh of the throne of ancient Egypt, regardless of his lineage or origin, is a messenger or follower of the god Horus on earth to carry out the orders of the gods after the separation of humans from the gods and the descent of humans to earth “as in the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians.”
  • The ruling pharaoh king gets the title of follower of the god Horus when he implements the rules, tasks, duties, and serves the gods and humans and maintains the laws of the gods, as the ruling pharaoh king was the legitimate heir and mediator on earth from the gods so that he accepts the gifts from the gods from heaven and then performs the tasks of giving these gifts to humans.
  • In return, the ruling pharaoh would ask humans to offer sacrifices in the form of food, drinks, gold and silver and present them to the gods in the Holy of Holies room. He would then send them to the gods in heaven. “There are texts in the ancient Egyptian language that state that the ruling pharaoh is the one who asks for gifts from the gods, not other humans. Humans do not have the right to pray directly, but rather to ask for gifts from the king, and then the ruling pharaoh would ask for them from the gods.”
  • Animals were slaughtered in designated slaughtering places, such as in the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, and animals, food and drink were presented as offerings to the gods and the deceased pharaoh to glorify him after his death in the afterlife.
  • In the Karnak Temple Complex and Luxor Temple, three rooms were built to house the boats of the gods Amun, Khonsu and Mut after the completion of the ancient Egyptian ceremonies.

What was the Egyptian daily ritual? inside Egyptian temples?

It was the duty of the ruling pharaoh to offer sacrifices to the gods 3 times a day, but due to the difficulty of that, the high priest of the temple would do that on behalf of the ruling pharaoh and wear the royal crown and the king’s full clothes to begin special religious rituals.

  • Drawings were discovered inDendera Temple Qena and Edfu Temple explain these religious rituals of the ancient Egyptians.
  • Texts on how to perform religious rituals were written on the doors of funerary temples to guide young priests in prayers, purification, and the steps for making offerings to the gods.
  • Everyone who enters the temple must be spiritually and physically pure.

Temple priests rituals:

The high priest of the temple wore special clothes only for the pharaoh king and entered the dark Holy of Holies room which contained the statue of the Egyptian gods and prostrated himself.On his stomach and kissing the groundIt is repeated several times, then incense is lit and prayers and supplications begin.SingingThe sacred texts of the gods are then offered to him as offerings of food and drink.

Ceremonies of the Pharaoh’s accession to power in Egypt:

The ruling pharaoh receives a divine ceremony to assume the position of the legitimate heir and king of the god Ra on earth through which he receives a box made of leather containing the papyrus of Ra’s inheritance, which he receives with the tasks assigned to him by the gods.

The king’s investiture ceremony by the gods is depicted on the walls of the Edfu Temple in Aswan, where we find an inscription of the king.Ptolemy III”The most famous kingsPtolemaic era”He gets the skin box from the god lord of the temple.

Therefore, it became part of the religious belief of the ancient Egyptians that there must be a legitimate and official ruler of the country to perform religious rituals and official celebrations for each god, even if the ruler was not of Egyptian Pharaonic origin, such as the Hyksos, Romans, and Greeks.

The names of some pharaohs were omitted from the list, such as the Hyksos rulers, Queen Hatshepsut, the rulers of the First, Second and Third Intermediate Periods, and the Amarna period of ancient Egypt, because they did not implementATasks and duties of the gods as believed by the priests of the Temple of Amun.

Temple-of-Kom-Ombo Egyptian Temples
Temple-of-Kom-Ombo

How are Greek and Egyptian temples similar?

  • More than 400 temples were built on the corridor of the dynastic eras from the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom until the Roman and Ptolemaic rule of ancient Egypt. Only 20 temples remain available for visitation so far: Edfu Temple, Dendera Temple, Esna Temple, Philae Temple, Kombo Temple, Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, Hatshepsut Temple and other ancient Egyptian temples.
  • The texts of religious beliefs in the religion of the ancient Egyptians were copied on papyri and the walls of funerary temples before being transferred to the Library of Alexandria by the priests of the Egyptian temples for fear of their being removed and disposed of by the Roman and Greek rulers at the time.
  • It was discovered that the Roman and Greek rulers did not interfere in changing or eliminating the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, but rather preserved them during their rule of the provinces Egypt over 1000 years during their approach to the priests of the Temple of Amun and giving them influence, as well as during the reign of King Ptolemy V and the elimination of the revolution of the people against him with the help of the priests of the Egyptian temples and the period of ruleAugustus Caesar”The most famous kings of the Roman Empire era MacedonianWhen he decided to move the headquarters of the chief priest of the Egyptian temples to Rome, Italy, he was the one who chose the chief priest himself..
  • Temples were built in the Greek and Roman era with the same architecture and rules of building Egyptian funerary temples in terms of religious beliefs, drawings of ancient Egyptian gods on the walls of the temples, and the interior engineering design of each temple.
  • There was an engineering institution dedicated solely to building funerary temples in honor of the worship of the gods, starting from the rulers of the First Dynasty, to the reign of King Narmer, until the last kings.Roman Empire eraTo ruleEmperor CaracallafromThe Greek Macedonian family.
  • The name of the ruling pharaoh was written on the cartouche of the temple that was being built in his era, even if the ruler was a foreigner “not of pharaonic origins” as a type of historical recording and documentation of the time period.
  • It was discovered that the Roman and Greek rulers did not directly order the construction of funerary temples during their reign, or even visit them or celebrate in them as part of the celebrations of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt, except for a few of them from the Roman rulers as a recreational visit only, but the name of the Roman king was attributed as historical documentation of his reign and that the temple was built in his era.

Researcher’s opinion: Tamer Ahmed Abdel Fattah

  • Once the inauguration ceremony of the pharaoh king is completed and he becomes the legitimate ruler of the country and regions in ancient Egypt, he gives direct orders to the religious establishment to immediately begin building a funerary temple for him and to build many temples in the small regions to sanctify the ancient Egyptian gods and obtain the title of Son of Ra to become a god and to be glorified and prayed to during his rule and after his death “according to the beliefs in the religion of the ancient Egyptians.”
  • The more ancient Egypt’s wealth increased in gold, silver, floods, the growth of foreign trade and agriculture, the country’s political stability, and the strong protection of its borders against enemies and invasions, the more the size and area of ​​the temple and the number of temples belonging to the king increased in all the western, eastern, southern, and northern regions of Egypt, as was the case in the era of King Ramses II, King Seti II, and King Amenhotep III.
  • Funerary temples had to be built to increase the religious thought of the ancient Egyptians that the ruling pharaoh was the son of the god, so the people feared him and carried out his orders without thinking. The temple priests also had religious influence and strong authority that made them powerful over all classes of people and obtaining money, lands and properties gave them the ability to build luxurious tombs and mummify their bodies with the most expensive types of mummification materials inside wooden and stone coffins like the pharaohs.
Memorial photos in the Temple of King Ramses III in Karnak, Luxor Egyptian Temples
Memorial photos in the Temple of King Ramses III in Karnak, Luxor

List of Pharaonic Egyptian Temples

Egyptian Temples in Cairo, Giza, Saqqara

  • Sun Temple of Userkaf
  • Southern Temple in King Djoser funeral complex

Egyptian Temples in Luxor

  • Karnak Temple
  • The Colossi of Memnon
  • Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
  • Luxor Temple
  • The Funerary Temple Of King Thutmose III
  • Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III
  • Temple of Seti I
  • The Temple of Ramesseum
  • Funerary temple of Merenptah
  • Temple of Al-Shalweit
  • Temple of Esna
  • Temple of Al-Toud
  • Temple of Mentuhotep II

Egyptian Temples in Aswan

  • The Temple of Kom Ombo
  • Kalabsha Temple
  • Temple of Edfu
  • Temple of Abu Simbel
  • The Temple of Philae
  • Temple of Amada
  • Temple of Wadi El-Sebua
  • The Temple of Soleb
  • Temple of Dakka “Daca” in Nubia
  • Temple of Amenhotep III in El Kab
  • Temple of Isis Near Old Cataract
  • Temple of Khnum in Elephantine Island

Egyptian Temples in Matrouh

  • Temple of Amon
  • Temple of Ramses II in Marsa Matrouh, Om El Rehem

Egyptian Temples in Dakhla and Kharga oases

  • El Zayan Temple
  • Ghweita Temple
  • Dush Temple
  • Deir el-Hagar Temple
  • Temple of Hibis

Egyptian Temples in Sohag

  • Temple of Athribis
  • Osireion Temple
  • Temple Ramses II
  • The Temple of Abydos

Egyptian Temples in Qena

  • Temple of Dendera

You can visit the Egyptian temples through private luxury Egypt Day Tours or Egypt Tour Packages and learn more about the temples through our YouTube channel.

I hope for your support and sharing on social media platforms. If you have any questions or linguistic or historical errors, please send them via WhatsApp and contact me directly.

Statue of the god Osiris, Temple of Hatshepsut, Luxor Egyptian Temples
Statue of the god Osiris, Temple of Hatshepsut, Luxor