History of the Karnak Temple complex

The history of the Karnak Temple complex is largely the history of Thebes

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...

. The city does not appear to have been of any significance before the Eleventh Dynasty

Eleventh dynasty of Egypt

The eleventh dynasty of ancient Egypt was one group of rulers, whose earlier members are grouped with the four preceding dynasties to form the First Intermediate Period, while the later members are considered part of the Middle Kingdom...

, and any temple building here would have been relatively small and unimportant, with any shrines being dedicated to the early god of Thebes, Montu

Mõntu

Mõntu is a village in Torgu Parish, Saare County in western Estonia....

. The earliest artifact found in the area of the temple is a small, eight-sided column from the Eleventh Dynasty, which mentions Amun-Re. The tomb of Intef II

Intef II

Intef II was a Pharaoh of the Eleventh dynasty during the First Intermediate Period. His capital was located at Thebes. At this time, Egypt was split between several local dynasties. After the death of the nomarch Ankhtifi, Intef II was able to unite all the southern nomes down to the First Cataract...

mentions a 'house of Amun', which implies some structure, whether a shrine or a small temple is unknown. The ancient name for Karnak, Ipet-Isut (usually translated as 'most select of places') only really refers to the central core structures of the Precinct of Amun-Re, and was in use as early as the 11th Dynasty, again implying the presence of some form of temple before the Middle Kingdom

Middle Kingdom of Egypt

The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...

expansion.

Middle Kingdom

By the time the Eleventh Dynasty

Eleventh dynasty of Egypt

Theban kings had become rulers of all Egypt, the area of Karnak was already considered holy ground, some form of structure for the worship of Amun probably existed before the reunification, and it seems to have been located somewhere within the Karnak area. The unification of Egypt brought Amun

Amun

Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...

(the tribal god of the region) increased power and wealth, and he was gradually merged

Syncretism

Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...

with the sun god Rê

Re, bre, moré is an interjection common to Cypriot Greek, the languages of the Balkans, Turkish, and Venetian, with its "locus... more in the Greek world than elsewhere". It is used in colloquial speech to gain someone's attention, add emphasis, insult, or express surprise or astonishment, like...

, to become Amun-Re. The White Chapel

White Chapel

For other uses, see Whitechapel Currently reconstructed in the Karnak Open Air Museum, the White Chapel of Senusret II, also referred to as the Jubilee Chapel of Senusret I, was built during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt...

of Senusret I

Senusret I

Senusret I was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 BC to 1926 BC, and was one of the most powerful kings of this Dynasty. He was the son of Amenemhat I and his wife Nefertitanen. His wife and sister was Neferu. She was also the mother of the successor Amenemhat II...

and the Middle Kingdom court are the earliest remains of buildings within the temple area. Close to the Sacred Lake, excavations have located a planned settlement.

The major construction of this era was the laying out of the Middle Kingdom court,

New Kingdom

The New Kingdom saw the relatively modest temple expanded into a huge state religious centre, as the wealth of Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

increased.

Eighteenth Dynasty

Major expansion of the temple complex took place during the Eighteenth

Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...

dynasty. Amenhotep I

Amenhotep I

Amenhotep I was the second Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. His reign is generally dated from 1526 to 1506 BC. He was born to Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari, but had at least two elder brothers, Ahmose-ankh and Ahmose Sapair, and was not expected to inherit the throne...

constructed a barque shrine and a gateway. Thutmose I

Thutmose I

Thutmose I was the third Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. He was given the throne after the death of the previous king Amenhotep I. During his reign, he campaigned deep into the Levant and Nubia, pushing the borders of Egypt further than ever before...

erected an enclosure wall around the Middle Kingdom temple, connecting the Fourth and Fifth pylons, which comprise the earliest part of the temple still standing in situ. They contain fourteen papyrus columns and the two obelisks of Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut also Hatchepsut; meaning Foremost of Noble Ladies;1508–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt...

, which were later hidden from view by walls set up by Thutmose III

Thutmose III

Thutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his stepmother, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh...

. Thutmose II laid out a Festival Courtyard at the front of the temple, removed by later construction, but block of which have been recovered from the fill in the Third Pylon. Under Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, another enclosure wall fortified with towers was erected, and the nearby Sacred Lake was either constructed or enlarged. During the reign of Thutmose III, the main temple itself was extended by 50% with the addition of a building called the Akh-menu ("the most glorious of monuments"), now known as the Festival Hall of Thutmose III

Festival Hall of Thutmose III

The Festival Hall of Thutmose III , is located at the heart of the Precinct of Amun-Re, in the Karnak Temple Complex, in modern Luxor, Egypt....

, which is seemingly decorated to echo a huge tent shrine, complete with awnings and tent poles. In this temple, the Karnak king list

Karnak king list

The Karnak king list was located in the southwest corner of the Akh-Menu Hall. Composed during the reign of Thutmose III, it lists sixty-one kings beginning with Sneferu from Egypt's Old Kingdom...

, shows Thutmose III with some of the earlier kings that built parts of the temple complex. After a brief period of interruption during the Amarna Period

Amarna Period

The Amarna Period was an era of Egyptian history during the latter half of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten in what is now modern-day Amarna...

, when the Egyptian capital was moved to Akhetaten, construction resumed at Karnak under Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...

and Horemheb

Horemheb

Horemheb was the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty from either 1319 BC to late 1292 BC, or 1306 to late 1292 BC although he was not related to the preceding royal family and is believed to have been of common birth.Before he became pharaoh, Horemheb was the commander in chief...

. The Ninth pylon was erected along the southern axis using material known as talatat

Talatat

Talatat are stone blocks of standardized size used during the reign of Akhenaton in the building of the Aton temples at Karnak and Akhetaten. The standardized size and their small weight made construction more efficient Their use may have begun in the second year of Akhenton's reign...

from the now demolished Akhetaten.

Nineteenth Dynasty

Construction of the Hypostyle Hall

Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak

The Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak, located within the Karnak temple complex, in the Precinct of Amon-Re, is one of the most visited monuments of Ancient Egypt. The design was initially instituted by Hatshepsut, at the North-west chapel to Amun in the upper terrace of Deir el-BahriThe hall covers...

may have also began during the eighteenth dynasty, though most building was undertaken under Seti I

Seti I

Menmaatre Seti I was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt , the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II...

and Ramesses II

Ramesses II

Ramesses II , referred to as Ramesses the Great, was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire...

. Merenptah commemorated his victories over the Sea Peoples

Sea Peoples

The Sea Peoples were a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty and especially during year 8 of Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty...

on the walls of the Cachette Court, the start of the processional route to the Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor and was founded in 1400 BCE.,...

. This Great Inscription
Great Karnak Inscription
Located on the wall of the Cachette Court, in the Precinct of Amun-Re of the Karnak temple complex, in modern Luxor, the Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah is a record of the campaigns of this king against the Sea Peoples....

(which has now lost about a third of its content) shows the king's campaigns and eventual return with booty and prisoners. Next to this enscription is the Victory Stela, which is largely a copy of the more famous Israel Stela, which was found on the West Bank funerary complex of Merenptah. Merenptah's son Seti II

Seti II

Seti II , was the fifth ruler of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt and reigned from 1203 BC to 1197 BC. His throne name, Userkheperure Setepenre, meant "Powerful are the Manifestations of Re, Chosen by Re.' He was the son of Merneptah and wife Isisnofret and sat on the throne during a...

added 2 small obelisks in front of the Second Pylon, and a triple bark-shrine to the north of the processional avenue in the same area. This was constructed of sandstone, with a chapel to Amun

Amun

Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...

flanked by those of Mut

Mut

Mut, which meant mother in the ancient Egyptian language, was an ancient Egyptian mother goddess with multiple aspects that changed over the thousands of years of the culture. Alternative spellings are Maut and Mout. She was considered a primal deity, associated with the waters from which...

and Khonsu.

The last rulers of this dynasty added little to the temple complex.

Twentieth Dynasty

As the power of the Egyptian Empire declined, construction declined in all of Thebes, and this is reflected in the building work carried out during this time. The Temple of Khonsu was also built and then expanded during this period under Ramesses III

Ramesses III

Usimare Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty and is considered to be the last great New Kingdom king to wield any substantial authority over Egypt. He was the son of Setnakhte and Queen Tiy-Merenese. Ramesses III is believed to have reigned from March 1186 to April 1155 BCE...

and IV

Ramesses IV

Heqamaatre Ramesses IV was the third pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. His name prior to assuming the crown was Amonhirkhopshef...

, and a large barque station was added in front of the Second pylon. This construction is large enough to be a major temple elsewhere, and is similar to the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu

Medinet Habu (temple)

Medinet Habu is the name commonly given to the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III, an important New Kingdom period structure in the location of the same name on the West Bank of Luxor in Egypt...

.

After this, the later kings of the period added little to the overall complex, and concentrated on the Temple of Khonsu. The fading power of the dynasty is illustrated by the depiction of the High Priest Amenhotep

Amenhotep, Priest of Amun

The Ancient Egyptian official, Amenhotep was a high priest of Amun, under pharaohs Ramesses IX to Ramesses XI at the end of the New Kingdom of Egypt. He was also the vizier, or a great confidante of his master, and first prophet of Amun-resonther...

being shown in the same scale as Ramesses IX

Ramesses IX

Ramesses IX was the eighth king of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt. He was the third longest serving king of this Dynasty after Ramesses III and Ramesses XI...

Third Intermediate Period

The fragmentation of Egypt with a pharaoh ruling in the north, and the High Priests of Amun ruling in Thebes. The northern kings seem to have constructed nothing and added little to the complex, but the High Priests continued to decorate the Temple of Khonsu, especially Herihor

Herihor

Herihor was an Egyptian army officer and High Priest of Amun at Thebes during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses XI although Karl Jansen Winkeln has argued that Piankh preceded Herihor as High Priest at Thebes and that Herihor outlived Ramesses XI before being succeeded in this office by Pinedjem I,...

and Pinedjem I

Pinedjem I

Pinedjem I was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt from 1070 BC to 1032 BC and the de facto ruler of the south of the country from 1054 BC. He was the son of the High Priest Piankh. However, many Egyptologists today believe that the succession in the Amun priesthood actually ran from...

Twenty second Dynasty

The Libyan

Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt

The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:...

kings of the 22nd Dynasty seem to have planned to layout the area to the of the Second Pylon with a colonnade and a new gateway (which has since been replaced by the First Pylon). This new construction surrounded the barque shrines of Seti II and Ramesses III. Between this later temple and the Second Pylon Shoshenq I

Shoshenq I

Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I , , also known as Sheshonk or Sheshonq I , was a Meshwesh Berber king of Egypt—of Libyan ancestry—and the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty...

commemorated his conquests and military campaigns in Syria-Palestine by constructing the Bubastis Portal

Bubastis Portal

This portal gate is located in Karnak, within the Precinct of Amun-Re temple complex, between the temple of Ramesses III and the second pylon.It records the conquests and military campaigns in Syria-Palestine of Shoshenq I, of the Twenty-second Dynasty....

Twenty-fifth Dynasty

Taharqa

Taharqa was a pharaoh of the Ancient Egyptian 25th dynasty and king of the Kingdom of Kush, which was located in Northern Sudan.Taharqa was the son of Piye, the Nubian king of Napata who had first conquered Egypt. Taharqa was also the cousin and successor of Shebitku. The successful campaigns of...

is the only king that made seems added to the complex, adding the Edifice of Tarhaqa to the forecourt between the First and Second Pylons. This meant that the avenue of sphinxes were moved to the sides of the court, where they are still located. He also added a colonnade to the Precinct of Montu

Precinct of Montu

The Precinct of Montu, located near Luxor, Egypt, is one of the four main temple enclosures that make up the immense Karnak Temple Complex. It is dedicated to the Egyptian god Montu, the child of Amun and Mut. The area covers about 20,000 m²...

Thirtieth Dynasty

The last major change to the temple's layout was the addition of the first pylon and the massive enclosure walls that surround the whole Karnak complex, both constructed by Nectanebo I

Nectanebo I

Nectanabo was a pharaoh of the Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt.In 380 BC, Nectanebo deposed and killed Nefaarud II, starting the last dynasty of Egyptian kings. He seems to have spent much of his reign defending his kingdom from Persian reconquest with the occasional help of troops from Athens or Sparta...

, completing the layout started by the kings of the 22nd Dynasty.

Ptolemaic

Philip Arrhidaeus replaced the shrine of Thutmose III

Thutmose III

Thutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of Thutmose's reign he was co-regent with his stepmother, Hatshepsut, who was named the pharaoh...

with a red-granite shrine. It comprises 2 rooms, aligned with the main axis of the temple. The Opet temple was the last important cult building to be constructed in the Karnak complex.

Christian era

In 323 AD, Constantine the Great

Constantine I

Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...

recognised the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

religion, and in 356 ordered the closing of pagan temples throughout the empire. Karnak was by this time mostly abandoned, and Christian churches were founded amongst the ruins, the most famous example of this is the reuse of the Festival Hall of Thutmose III

Festival Hall of Thutmose III

The Festival Hall of Thutmose III , is located at the heart of the Precinct of Amun-Re, in the Karnak Temple Complex, in modern Luxor, Egypt....

's central hall, where painted decorations of saints and Coptic

Coptic language

Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...

inscriptions can still be seen.

Greek & Roman accounts

References to the complex are found in Herodotus

Herodotus

Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...

’, Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...

, Strabo

Strabo

Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...

and presumably Hecataeus of Abdera

Hecataeus of Abdera

Hecataeus of Abdera was a Greek historian and sceptic philosopher who flourished in the 4th century BC.-Biography:Diogenes Laertius relates that he was a student of Pyrrho, along with Eurylochus, Timon the Phliasian, Nausiphanes of Teos and others, and includes him among the "Pyrrhoneans"...

and Manetho

Manetho

Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era, approximately during the 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca...

, but we only retain fragments of their works, though none of these authors relates more than rudimentary information about the complex. Strabo states that Thebes at the time of his visit is nothing more than a collection of smaller villages, though its once grandness could still be imagined.

European rediscovering

Thebes’ exact placement was unknown in medieval Europe, though both Herodotus and Strabo give the exact location of Thebes and how long up the Nile

Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...

one must travel to reach it. Maps of Egypt, based on the 2nd century Claudius Ptolemaeus

Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...

' mammoth work Geographia
Geographia (Ptolemy)
The Geography is Ptolemy's main work besides the Almagest...

, have been circling in Europe since the late 14th century, all of them showing Thebes’ (Diospolis) location. Despite this, several European authors of the 15th and 16th century who visited only Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....

and published their travel accounts, put Thebes in or close to Memphis

Memphis, Egypt

Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an...

, like Joos van Ghistele

Joos van Ghistele

Joos van Ghistele was a Flemish nobleman who spent four years travelling around in the Middle East and southern Europe, including Italy, Greece, the Balkans, Tunisia, the Levant, Egypt and the Red Sea all the way down to Aden.His accounts were edited by Ambrosius Zeebout Priestre and posthumously...

or Andre Thevet

André Thévet

André de Thevet was a French Franciscan priest, explorer, cosmographer and writer who travelled to Brazil in the 16th century...

.

The Karnak temple complex is first described by an unknown Venetian in 1589, though his account relates no name for the complex. This account, housed in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, is unique, in that it is the first known European mention, since the ancient Greek and Roman writers, of a whole range of monuments in Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...

and Nubian, including Karnak, Luxor temple, Colossi of Memnon

Colossi of Memnon

The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. For the past 3400 years they have stood in the Theban necropolis, across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor.-Description:The twin statues depict Amenhotep III The Colossi of Memnon (known to locals as...

, Esna

Esna

Esna , known to the ancient Egyptians as Egyptian: Iunyt or Ta-senet; Greek: or or ; Latin: Lato, is a city in Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the River Nile, some 55 km south of Luxor...

, Edfu

Edfu

Edfu is an Egyptian city, located on the west bank of the Nile River between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately sixty thousand people. For the ancient history of the city, see below...

, Kom Ombo

Kom Ombo

Kom Ombo or Ombos or Latin: Ambo and Ombi – is an agricultural town in Egypt famous for the Temple of Kom Ombo...

, Philae

Philae

Philae is an island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt...

and others.

Karnak ("Carnac") as a village name, and name of the complex, is first attested in 1668, when two capuchin

Order of Friars Minor Capuchin

The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...

missionary brothers Protais and Charles François d'Orléans travelled though the area. Protais’ writing about their travel was published by Melchisédech Thévenot

Melchisédech Thévenot

Melchisédech Thévenot was a French author, scientist, traveler, cartographer, orientalist, inventor, and diplomat...

(Relations de divers voyages curieux, 1670s-1696 editions) and Johann Michael Vansleb

Johann Michael Vansleb

Johann Michael Vansleb was a German theologian, linguist and Egypt traveller. He converted to Catholicism and was a member of the Dominican Order from 1666....

(The Present State of Egypt, 1678).

The first drawing of Karnak, rather inaccurate and can be quite confusing when viewed with modern eyes, is found in Paul Lucas

Paul Lucas (traveller)

Paul Lucas was a French merchant, naturalist, physician and antiquarian to King Louis XIV. He travelled extensively in Greece, Turkey, the Levant and Egypt, in three major voyages , and ....

' travel account of 1704 (Voyage du Sieur paul Lucas au Levant). Paul Lucas travelled in Egypt during 1699-1703. The drawing shows a mixture of the Precinct of Amun-Re and the Precinct of Montu, based on a complex confined by the tree huge Ptolemaic gateways of Ptolemy III Euergetes

Ptolemy III Euergetes

-Family:Euergetes was the eldest son of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife, Arsinoe I, and came to power in 246 BC upon the death of his father.He married Berenice of Cyrene in the year corresponding to 244/243 BC; and their children were:...

/ Ptolemy IV Philopator

Ptolemy IV Philopator

Ptolemy IV Philopator , son of Ptolemy III and Berenice II of Egypt was the fourth Pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt...

, and the massive 113m long, 43m high and 15m thick, first Pylon of the Precinct of Amun-Re.

Karnak was visited and described in succession by Claude Sicard

Claude Sicard

Father Claude Sicard was a French Jesuit priest, and an early modern visitor to Egypt, between 1708 and 1712, producing the earliest known map of the country. He was Supervisor of the Jesuit Mission in Cairo.-References:...

and his travel companion Pierre Laurent Pincia (1718 and 1720–21), Granger

Granger (Tourtechot)

Granger , was a French physician and traveller, with a major interest in natural history.According to the preface of the only work attributed to him, his real name was Tourtechot, and for reasons not explained he changed it to Granger. Granger or Tourtechot is presumably his surname...

(1731), Frederick Louis Norden (1737–38), Richard Pococke

Richard Pococke

Richard Pococke was an English prelate and anthropologist. He was Protestant Bishop of Ossory and Meath , both dioceses of the Church of Ireland...

(1738), James Bruce

James Bruce

James Bruce was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia, where he traced the origins of the Blue Nile.-Youth:...

(1769), Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt

Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt

Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt was a French naturalist. Between 1799 to 1808 he wrote 127 volumes of the Histoire naturelle. Noteworthy among these, especially for herpetologists, is Histoire naturelle des Reptiles, avec figures desinées d'après nature, in four volumes, which he...

(1777), William George Browne

William George Browne

William George Browne was an English traveller.Browne was born at Great Tower Hill, London. At seventeen he was sent to Oriel College, Oxford. Having had a moderate inheritance left him by his father, on quitting the university he applied himself entirely to literary pursuits...

(1792–93), and finally by a number of scientists of the Napoleon expedition, including Vivant Denon, during 1798-1799. Claude-Étienne Savary

Claude-Étienne Savary

Claude-Étienne Savary was an orientalist, pioneer of Egyptology and translator of the Qur'an....

describes the complex rather detailed in his work of 1785; especially in light that it is a fictional account of a pretended journey to Upper Egypt, composed out of information from other travellers. Savary did visit Lower Egypt