Precinct of Amun Ra
Karnak Temple - Theban TemplesIpet Sut, “Most Select of Places”
The Precinct of Amun Ra
The main and most famous part of Karnak Temple, the Precinct of Amun, is dedicated to The God Amun or Amun Ra. God Amun Ra was one of the Theban Triad of Deities: together with the Goddess Mut, his consort, and the God Khonsu, their son. To learn more about the Theban Triad, click here.
The modern entrance to the Precinct of Amun follows the Ancient Cult Terrace which used to be abutted by a tributary to the Nile and inscribed below the modern bridge are the Nile’s Flood levels for several Pharaohs. Moving forward from this is a Corridor of Sphinx which used to be complete until the current 2nd Pylon, but these were moved to the edges of the First Courtyard when the 1st Pylon was under construction. To learn more about the Avenue of Sphinx at Karnak Temple, click here.
My Plan of Karnak Temple
To the right, if facing the Temple’s 1st Pylon is the Barque Shrine of Psammuthis and Hakoris. A Barque was a Religious Artefact of the Deities which allowed their physical form in the guise of a cult statue to move around during Festivals and for other religious reasons. For more details, click here. See Images Above and Below.
Directly before the 1st Pylon there may have been 2 Statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, similar to those outside Luxor Temple or the Colossi of Memnon. There is a plinth here to carry such a Statue and the Pharaoh’s Architect, also called Amenhotep, stated that the Statue was carved in one form from Red Quartzite. To learn more about Architect Amenhotep, click here. To view the site of the Colossi of Memnon, click here.
Follow me as I guide you through the rest of this amazing ancient temple:-
- Pylon & Courtyard 1
- Pharaoh Seti II’s Barque Shrines
- Temple of Pharaoh Ramses III
- Pylon 2 and the Hypostyle Hall
- Pylon 3 and the Obelisks
- Pylons 4, 5 and 6
- The Inner Sanctum
- Festival Hall of Pharaoh Thutmose III
- Cachette Court and Pylon 7
- Pylons 8, 9 and 10
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- Scarab Statue and Sacred Lake
- Mini Temples
- The Red Chapel
- The White Chapel
- Avenue of Sphinx
