Thebes: the east bank · Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, Third Intermediate, Late Period, Ptolemaic
Karnak
Ancient name: Ipet-isut, "the most select of places"
The great temple of Amun-Ra at Thebes, enlarged by king after king for two thousand years.
Where
The north side of Luxor, on the east bank
When
From the Middle Kingdom to the Ptolemies, about two thousand years
God
Amun-Ra, with his wife Mut and their son Khonsu
Famous for
The Great Hypostyle Hall, Hatshepsut's obelisk, the Annals of Thutmose III
Who built what
When Theban kings ruled all Egypt, their god Amun became king of the gods, joined with the sun god as Amun-Ra, and his temple at Karnak became the richest in the land. Almost every king from the Middle Kingdom on added something: pylons (there are ten), courts, halls, obelisks, chapels and colossal statues, so that the temple grew outward from its old core along two axes, one toward the river and one south toward the temple of Mut.
The Great Hypostyle Hall of Seti I and Ramesses II has 134 columns, the twelve in the center about 21 m high. Thutmose III built a festival hall at the back and had the story of his wars carved on the walls around the sanctuary, including his victory at Megiddo.
What survives
Karnak is the largest temple complex in Egypt. Many older buildings were taken apart and used as fill for later pylons, and some have been rebuilt from those blocks, such as the White Chapel of Senusret I, one of the oldest buildings there.
One of Hatshepsut's obelisks still stands, 29.5 m tall; its partner lies broken nearby. An avenue of sphinxes runs south from Karnak almost 3 km to Luxor Temple.
The standard New Kingdom temple plan; Karnak repeats its parts again and again along two axes.
Inscriptions
4 short, well-known texts from Karnak, each with its transliteration (the Egyptian sounds in Latin letters) and a translation. Tap Sign by sign to see what each sign is and how it is read. Royal names are drawn in their cartouches.
Menkheperre, Thutmose III
Transliteration
mn-ḫpr-rꜥ
Translation
“Menkheperre ("Enduring is the form of Ra")”
Where: All over his festival hall (the Akh-menu) and on the walls of the Annals around the sanctuary.
Thutmose III's throne name, the most common royal name on scarabs for centuries after him. Ra is written first out of honor but read last; the scarab beetle writes ḫpr.
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard reading (Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar (3rd ed., 1957), Excursus A on the royal titulary); the Wikipedia article "Thutmose III".
Maatkare, Hatshepsut, on her obelisk
Transliteration
mꜣꜥt-kꜣ-rꜥ
Translation
“Maatkare ("Maat is the ka of Ra")”
Where: In the columns of text down the faces of her standing obelisk, between the fourth and fifth pylons.
Hatshepsut ruled as king and took a king's throne name. The goddess Maat (truth and order) sits between the sun disk and the raised arms of the ka. Later in his reign Thutmose III had her names removed from many monuments; he walled this obelisk in rather than tearing it down, which kept it in fine condition.
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard reading (Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar (3rd ed., 1957), Excursus A on the royal titulary); the Wikipedia article "Hatshepsut".
Kheperkare, Senusret I, on the White Chapel
Transliteration
ḫpr-kꜣ-rꜥ
Translation
“Kheperkare ("The ka of Ra comes into being")”
Where: On the pillars of the White Chapel, a small limestone shrine for the god's boat, rebuilt from blocks found inside the third pylon.
The White Chapel was built for Senusret I's jubilee (the sed festival) and is one of the oldest buildings at Karnak. Its blocks were reused as fill in the New Kingdom, which saved them.
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard reading (Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar (3rd ed., 1957), Excursus A on the royal titulary); the Wikipedia article "Senusret I".
Amun-Ra
Transliteration
jmn-rꜥ
Translation
“Amun-Ra”
Where: On every wall: the god to whom the whole temple belonged.
Amun, "the hidden one", was joined with Ra, the sun, to make the king of the gods. In the texts he is often "Amun-Ra, lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, foremost in Ipet-isut".
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard spelling; the Wikipedia article "Amun".
J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, vol. II (1906): the Annals of Thutmose III
Dates follow Shaw, ed., The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000); before 664 BC they are approximate. Readings are the standard ones in the sources named under each inscription; translations are Teddy Rook Book's own. The hieroglyphs are drawn in the site's font, TRB Hieroglyphs, so their shapes are simplified; where an inscription's arrangement or signs can't be shown faithfully, the card says so.