The Temple of Luxor

The Temple of Luxor was the temple for the "harem" of the god Amun.  Each year there was a festival in which the statue of the god was brought to the temple of Luxor so he could "visit" his wives.  The statue itself was not really large.  So many of the statues are big and impressive that it is easy to think that they were all that way.  In this case, the processional statue was just a couple feet high.  It was processed from Karnak and taken by barge to the Temple of Luxor.  Again, at Luxor we have several kings and queens contributing to the building of the Temple over the years. 

On the front of the temple is this relief of the king doing battle against his enemies.


Not the best picture but you can see some of the coloration on the walls.


The hypostyle hall of the Temple of Luxor.  Compare it to the one at Karnak.


Some little baboon gods holding up an obelisk in front of the temple.



Some colossal statues in the temple. 
 The left foot is placed forward as a way of keeping the statue in balance.


Part of the avenue of sphinxes that join the Temple of Karnak and the Temple of Luxor.  A section of it remains buried by city buildings.  The plan is to remove the buildings and open up the entire 2 mile length. 

The front of the Temple of Luxor.  The obelisk has the little baboon gods and there are two seated colossal statues on either side of the door.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post I was in a state of sensory overload most of the day.  It seemed like everywhere you looked and every corner you turned offered a new wonder.  Probably my favorite day of the whole trip.

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