Marilyn Bridges Photography


Karnak with Sacred Lake (Overview from Northwest), 1993. copyright photographer Marilyn Bridges

Karnak with Sacred Lake (Overview from Northwest), 1993. The great temple complex of Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut, the center of Theban worship in Upper Egypt, which came into prominence at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom (2040 – 1640 BC), and for nearly two thousand years, its temples were built, enlarged, pulled down, added to, and restored. From the west, entrance to the complex is through the enormous Pylon I, which dates to the 30th Dynasty or the early Ptolemaic Period, and leads to the Temple of Amun, nominal head of the so-called Theban triad (which includes the companion gods Mut and Khons). The pylon is 370 feet wide and stands 143 feet high. Its walls are 49 feet thick. The Great Court follows, flanked north (left) and south with colonnades. The southern colonnade is interrupted by the entrance to the Temple of Ramesses III. In the middle of the courtyard are the remains of a kiosk of King Taharqa, with one of it columns standing. Pylon II (badly damaged) was built by Haremhab, and three statues of Ramesses II are found on each side of the entrance. Beyond this pylon are the Great Hypostyle Hall and other buildings of the temple proper. In the upper portion of the photograph is the sacred lake; a large scarab at its edge dates to the reign of Amenophis III (1391 – 1353 BC). Just to the right of the sacred lake and south of the temple proper are a series of collapsed pylons from the 18th Dynasty. They mark the southern access to the temple.


sacred and secular book  
Photograph from Egypt, Antiquities from Above
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