Temple Of Luxor

Luxor Temple, Egypt

Luxor Temple stands on the east bank of the Nile in the centre of modern Luxor, where it has stood since around 1400 BCE. Unlike the nearby Karnak temple complex, which served primarily as a religious centre, Luxor Temple was associated with the annual Opet Festival – the celebration in which the cult statues of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu were carried in procession from Karnak to Luxor along the Avenue of Sphinxes. The temple functioned as both a religious site and the location of royal rejuvenation rituals.

The construction spans multiple pharaohs. Amenhotep III built the core; Ramesses II extended the pylon entrance and added the massive court to the north, his seated colossi, and one of the two original obelisks at the entrance (the other was removed to Paris in 1836 and now stands in the Place de la Concorde). Tutankhamun and Horemheb added to the decoration.

UNESCO inscribed ancient Thebes (including Luxor Temple, Karnak, and the West Bank monuments) as a World Heritage Site in 1979.

Visiting

Entry includes the temple complex and the onsite Abu Haggag mosque, a medieval mosque built within the first court of the temple. The mosque predates European archaeological access to the site by centuries; the minaret now sits roughly level with the top of the temple columns, an unusual juxtaposition of periods.

The colonnaded hall built by Amenhotep III – 14 pairs of papyrus-cluster columns running 260 metres – is the most architecturally striking section of the interior. The walls carry scenes from the Opet Festival procession painted in their original colours in some areas, though most of the colour has faded.

The temple is particularly worth visiting in the evening hours. It is lit after dark and the crowds thin considerably after 6pm. The combination of floodlit columns and the relatively quiet surrounding streets makes an evening visit a different experience from midday.

Hours and entry fees change; current prices are available from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism. A Luxor Pass (available for one or five days) covers most major monuments on both the east and west banks and is better value than individual tickets for anyone planning to visit several sites.

The West Bank

The bulk of Luxor’s most significant archaeology is on the west bank, where the ancient Egyptians located their necropolis.

Valley of the Kings contains the rock-cut tombs of pharaohs from the New Kingdom period (1550-1070 BCE), including Tutankhamun (KV62), Ramesses VI (KV9), and Seti I (KV17). The standard entry covers three tombs from a rotating selection; tickets for additional tombs are sold separately. The Tutankhamun tomb (KV62) requires a separate, additional ticket. Photography is not permitted in most tombs.

Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple (Deir el-Bahari) is a three-tiered temple cut into the Theban cliffs, one of the best-preserved major temple structures in Egypt. The colonnades and the painted reliefs inside are in good condition by Theban standards.

Colossi of Memnon, two seated statues of Amenhotep III rising 18 metres, stand in the Nile floodplain on the west bank road. Entry is free; they are visible from the road. The name comes from a Greek misidentification with the Trojan War hero Memnon.

Where to Eat

Sofra Restaurant on Mohammed Farid Street in Luxor city serves Egyptian home cooking rather than tourist-facing approximations – kushari, ful, Egyptian mezze – at straightforward prices in a first-floor dining room with a view over a quiet street. It is consistently the recommendation for those wanting to eat what Luxoris residents eat.

Nile-view restaurants on the corniche serve standard tourist-facing grills and Egyptian standards at prices that reflect the location.

Where to Stay

Sofitel Winter Palace is the historic luxury hotel of Luxor, a colonial-era property where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile and where Howard Carter brought news of the Tutankhamun discovery. It faces the Nile opposite the west bank and has rooms in both the original 1886 building and a more recent wing.

The east bank corniche has several mid-range hotels at reasonable prices. The west bank itself has a few small hotels and guesthouses, which are the better base if you are concentrating specifically on the west bank monuments.