Luxor is the popular Arabic name for South Opet, the area of Thebes in Upper Egypt that was devoted to the god Amun during the New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.). The modern name is derived from the Arabic el-Aqsur, the Castles, an obvious reference to the vast ruined complexes in the area.
One of the leading social systems in Luxor was a temple used for religious rises. Erected by Amenhotep III (r. 1391–1353 B.C.E.) of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the temple honored the Theban god Amun. The first Pylon of the Luxor temple and the columnar court of the temple were reconstructed by Ramses II (r. 1290–1224 B.C.E.) of the 19th Dynasty. This section enclosed a sanctuary that was credibly built by Tuthmosis III (r.1479–1425 B.C.E.). Tuthmosis III personally taken the construction of the sanctuary during his reign in the Eighteenth Dynasty to take the famous bark of Amun. The bark was part of the particular festival ceremonies and was refurbished periodically and protected in a safe storage area when not in use. Amenhotep III, a successor of Tuthmosis III, raised an actual temple on the site, start the complex.
Six colossal statues and two obelisks mounted the area leading to the second pylon, which was also established by Amenhotep III. The court of Ramses II is settled nearby, with colossal statues and double bud columns. In the same area, a colonnade and two rows of papyrus capital columns were designed, bordered by papyrus bundle pillars in the same area. A cross Hypostyle Hall, with 32 more columns arranged in four rows of eight, opened onto the secret temple area. Additional hypostyle halls were surrounded by ritual chapels and led to the original sanctuary. Amenhotep III raised the walls of the temple with reliefs rendering his birth and his royal parentage, an affectation used often by the rulers of the New Kingdom.
Tutankhamun (r. 1333–1323 B.C.E.), newly exchanged to the worship of Amun afterwards the fall of ’Amarna and Akhenten’s dissident cult of Aten, left the temple with more reliefs, depicting the ceremonies being conducted in the sanctuary to honor Amun. It is not certain if these reliefs were really the original ones of Amenhotep III or brought to placate the priests of Amun and the Theban people. Horemhab, at the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty, tried to use the same inscriptions to announce his own achievements and awards. Many statues and 2 red granite obelisks, one nowadays in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, raised the Luxor Temple. The barks of Mut, Khons (1), and other deities rested as well in the temple area, which was linked to the massive Karnak complex by a double row of sphinxes. The rulers of later eras, taking the Late Period (712–332 B.C.E.) and the Ptolemaic Period (304–30 B.C.E.), contributed to Luxor temple, which also has an archway put up by the Romans.
The deity Amun was held to the Luxor Temple once a year to visit his particular manifestation there. The god Amun favorite at Luxor was a vibrant, ithyphallic form of the god, a patron of fertility and involved with the necropolis sites on the western shore of the Nile opposite Thebes. This same form of the deity was also revered in cultic rites at Medinet Habu and remained popular even in the periods of occupation by foreign armies.
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Six colossal statues and two obelisks mounted the area leading to the second pylon, which was also established by Amenhotep III. The court of Ramses II is settled nearby, with colossal statues and double bud columns. In the same area, a colonnade and two rows of papyrus capital columns were designed, bordered by papyrus bundle pillars in the same area. A cross Hypostyle Hall, with 32 more columns arranged in four rows of eight, opened onto the secret temple area. Additional hypostyle halls were surrounded by ritual chapels and led to the original sanctuary. Amenhotep III raised the walls of the temple with reliefs rendering his birth and his royal parentage, an affectation used often by the rulers of the New Kingdom.
Tutankhamun (r. 1333–1323 B.C.E.), newly exchanged to the worship of Amun afterwards the fall of ’Amarna and Akhenten’s dissident cult of Aten, left the temple with more reliefs, depicting the ceremonies being conducted in the sanctuary to honor Amun. It is not certain if these reliefs were really the original ones of Amenhotep III or brought to placate the priests of Amun and the Theban people. Horemhab, at the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty, tried to use the same inscriptions to announce his own achievements and awards. Many statues and 2 red granite obelisks, one nowadays in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, raised the Luxor Temple. The barks of Mut, Khons (1), and other deities rested as well in the temple area, which was linked to the massive Karnak complex by a double row of sphinxes. The rulers of later eras, taking the Late Period (712–332 B.C.E.) and the Ptolemaic Period (304–30 B.C.E.), contributed to Luxor temple, which also has an archway put up by the Romans.
The deity Amun was held to the Luxor Temple once a year to visit his particular manifestation there. The god Amun favorite at Luxor was a vibrant, ithyphallic form of the god, a patron of fertility and involved with the necropolis sites on the western shore of the Nile opposite Thebes. This same form of the deity was also revered in cultic rites at Medinet Habu and remained popular even in the periods of occupation by foreign armies.