The Karnak temple was known as Ipet-isut (most select of places) by the ancient Egyptians. It is a city of temples built over 2000 years and dedicated to the Theben triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu. The temple is located in Luxor, Egypt.
The wonder and majesty found in this place is something that can overpower the greatness of the modern world, and we can say that during its time, it must have been a location of greatness. For the largely uneducated ancient Egyptian population this could only have been the place of the gods. It is the mother of all religious buildings, the greatest ever made, and a place of pilgrimage for nearly 4,000 years. Although, today’s pilgrims are mainly tourists.
Known to be part of the greatest attractions in Egypt, this temples is large covering 200 acres: 1.5 km by 0.8 km. The temple is really massive in size; Amun’s sacred enclosure alone is 61 acres in size, this can be comparable to an average-sized cathedral in Europe.
The Home of Amun
Karnak Temple is the home of the god Amun who was an insignificant local god until the 12th dynasty when Thebes became the capital of Egypt. He was usually symbolized in this original state which was of a goose, and later on as a ram, at the height of his power he was shown as a human with a head dress of feathers – all that remained of the goose.
During the ancient times, war was not centered on man or countries, wars were fought due to the contests of gods. One deity subduing and replacing another , The god who wins sustain more power and so is his people. This is how Amun, with the help of Thutmose III and various other New Kingdom kings, rose to become the first supreme god of the known world and was hailed as God of gods.
Little is known of him, unlike most other gods he has no legends or miracles to impress his worshippers and seems to be closer to an abstract idea of a godhead. His followers came from all the strata of society and he was known to some as ‘Vizier of the poor.’
The Sacred Lake
All ancient Egyptian temples had a sacred lake, Karnak’s is the largest.This are was used during festivals, people would put up images of the gods in golden barges.
The water supply to the Sacred Lake, which symbolized the primeval ocean Nun, comes directly from the Nile. Next to the lake is a small café where you can pit stop in the shade and fantasize about the temple in its golden ages.
The Hypostyle Hall
The Hypostyle hall in the Karnak Temple, at 54,000 square feet, and with its 134 columns (the tallest of the 134 columns reaches a height of 23 meters) is still the largest room of any religious building in the world. In this enormous forest of columns you get a genuine feeling of the wealth of the New Kingdom and of the importance of Amun as the State-God.
