The longest foot bridge in the world. The longest suspension bridge in the Swiss Alps. Skybridge sky bridge

The history of the valley begins with the unexpected decision of Pharaoh Thutmose 1 to separate his tomb from the mortuary temple and bury his body in a secret place. This decision broke a 1,700-year-old tradition. The architect of the pharaoh carved a grave for him in the form of a well in this secluded valley. A steep staircase carved into the rock led to the burial chamber at the bottom of the well according to a plan that was later adopted by all other pharaohs buried in the valley.

The tombs are carved into the rocks, they tried to hide them as carefully as possible from prying eyes. The entrances to the tombs were covered with large stones and walled up. But this did not save the tombs from destruction. All the tombs were built according to a similar plan: a sloping corridor up to 200 m long, steeply descending to a depth of up to 100 m and ending in three or four rooms. The walls and ceilings of the corridors and rooms are covered with color drawings that have not lost their brightness to this day, telling about the life and exploits of the deceased.

And in the photo below - the famous " book of the dead"- this kind of "guide" for the pharaoh for his wanderings around afterlife, carved on his sarcophagus

Security guard

Unfortunately, all the tombs were plundered in antiquity, and only the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered by the English archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 in complete safety.
This tomb was not plundered, because it was very cunningly located - on the side of the large tomb of Ramesses.

Tomb of Tutankhamen. It was discovered on November 4, 1922 by Howard Carter - the tomb went down in history thanks to a huge number treasures found in the burial chamber. However, among all this splendor, the discoverers of the tomb were most struck by a small wreath of dried flowers - the last touching farewell of the wife of the young pharaoh.
The tomb was so overflowing with gold, jewelry and other treasures that the historically insignificant pharaoh, who died at the age of nineteen, has become today almost the most significant figure in ancient Egypt. As Carter put it succinctly: The only event his life was death and burial."
Unfortunately, now there is nothing there - all the treasures, including the famous golden mask, are stored in the Cairo Museum.

We quickly go to Temple of Hatshepsut- go inside already does not allow time.

Hatshepsut. 1200 years after Imhotep, another architect appears in the history of Egypt - Senmut, who created a masterpiece - the temple of Hatshepsut. The temple is located in a rock amphitheater in the depths of the valley, once dedicated to the goddess Hathor.

The temple stands at the foot of the steep cliffs of the Libyan plateau, which not only serve as an unprecedented backdrop for architecture, but also merge with it into a unique whole. The temple is located on three terraces, connected by ramps (inclined platforms) and framed by pillars and columns.

To visit the temple, one had to walk along the avenue of sphinxes that stretched from the banks of the Nile, and climb the terraces to the sanctuary carved into the thickness of the rocks. The strict appearance of the temple was diversified by the statues of Queen Hatshepsut in the guise of Osiris; columns, on capitals ( upper parts) of which the head of the goddess Hathor was carved

murals and painted reliefs (many of which depicted a journey to the distant land of Punt). On the spacious terraces there were reservoirs, trees, exotic flowers grew, birds sang.
The luxurious decoration of Hatshepsut's temple did not last long. After the death of the queen, the legitimate heir Thutmose III, who ascended the throne, first of all ordered to destroy all the images of his predecessor throughout the country and erase all the inscriptions that mentioned her name. All the sculptures of the temple were broken and buried nearby, where many centuries later, they were discovered by archaeologists.

Returning to Luxor

Admiring the Luxor Temple in the evening spectacular lighting

Karnak temple complex or simply Karnak is a complex of temples, pylons, sanctuaries, statues and obelisks, erected Egyptian pharaohs for two thousand years. Karnak is one of the greatest buildings of the ancient world. Karnak is located in the upper. The Karnak temple complex is the largest temple in the entire ancient world. ( 11 photos)

1. Once upon a time, in the era of the New Kingdom, and this is approximately in 1550-1069 BC. This place served as the main sanctuary of Ancient Egypt. Karnak was a great religious place, moreover, Karnak was the royal residence, the main treasury and the heart of the Egyptian capital city of Thebes.

2. Karnak was located on the eastern shore of the wonderful. During the construction of Karnak, more than one pharaoh changed, but each of them tried to leave his own mark in the construction of this grandiose complex.

3. Today, Karnak is a unique museum city, located right under open sky.

4. A huge combination of ruined temples, chapels, pylons, alleys, rooms and other buildings, including the Sacred Lake, covers an area of ​​100 hectares.

5. Karnak can be divided into four parts, the Montu complex, the Mut complex and the ruined temple of Amenhotep IV, but the most important temple is the temple of Amun, this temple was built back in 1900 BC. e.

6. The main revered deity of the temple is Amon Ra. Today, open access for tourists exists only to this temple.

7. After many years, the Temple complexes of Karnak do not cease to amaze with their scale and beauty.

8. The greatest dawn of this temple complex fell on the period from 1550 to 1069 BC. e., at a time when Thebes was the mighty capital of Egypt, and Karnak was the heart of the capital.

This is a typical Egyptian temple - rectangular shape, whose facade faces the Nile, and the road leading to the facade is decorated with numerous sphinxes. The entrance to the Karnak temple is a pylon, in front of which monumental obelisks and statues of the pharaoh are placed. Then, you see an amazing temple building, where there are places for offering prayers, several libraries, halls of columns. Being inside the temple in Karnak, one can contemplate the history of Ancient Egypt, carved in the form of drawings and hieroglyphic inscriptions on the columns and walls. These images tell about the glorious history of the great kingdom.

The famous architect of Ancient Egypt, Inenni, built and decorated this majestic temple, but further improvement, expansion and development of the Karnak temple took two thousand years. Above it, at one time, the most outstanding architects and masters of Egypt, each new pharaoh Egypt, and even the Roman emperors, contributed to its improvement. Over the years of its existence, the temple in Karnak has become a huge complex, including: the Temple of the god Amon-Ra, the Temple of Ptah, the Temple of Amenhotep II, the Temple of Maat and so on. Each next pharaoh, who came to power, tried to remake the temple to his tastes, giving it more glamor. When the new nineteenth dynasty ascended the throne, it became necessary to increase the temple complex of Karnak. It was then that he gained grandiose proportions, only the new pylon was one hundred and fifty-six meters long.

Karnak temple consists of thirty-three temples, halls, and its total area takes more than two square kilometers. Temple of Amun-Ra in Karnak is the most interesting part of the architectural complex. This huge building began to be built under Pharaoh Amenhotep the Third, and then the construction was continued by the following successors to the throne of Egypt: Seti I and Ramses II. Particularly surprising visitors are the hypostyle hall, which is fifty-two meters long, one hundred and three meters wide, there are one hundred and forty-four columns, twenty-three meters high, and ten meters in circumference, arranged in sixteen rows, all over the surface, painted with bright bas-reliefs. main hall with colonnades, equal in size to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican or St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Another great brainchild of the new dynasty of pharaohs and part of the Karnak temple complex was the Temple of the goddess Mut, located south of the Temple of Amon-Ra. This building is surrounded on three sides by the waters of Lake Ishru. AT Ancient Egypt, in the waters of this lake, the statues of the gods were washed by the priests, and in a small room nearby, they lived sacred birds god Amon - geese. The temple is a rather austere structure, with a majestic main colonnade and statues. Egyptian goddess Mut - women with the head of a lion. But today, the Temple of the sky goddess Mut is badly damaged and partially preserved, in the form of ruins and ruins.

On the shore of the sacred lake Ishru there is another important egyptian symbol- a large scarab beetle, located on the pedestal, the guides say that there is a belief according to which, bypassing this pedestal with a beetle several times and making a wish, you will receive not only its fulfillment, but also find good luck for the rest of your life. But the ancient Egyptians said that the column is an ancient clock that measures the time of this world. Every year, the column sinks a few millimeters deep into the earth, according to legend, when the scarab beetle disappears from sight, the end of the world will come to planet Earth.

The temple of the god Khonsu in Karnak is a place where the Egyptians come to pray for miracles of healing. He, unlike the temple of his mother Mut, is very well preserved, but since it is located in the farthest part, it is rarely visited by ordinary tourists, but in vain, because there are absolutely stunning interiors and amazing murals. There are legends about the statue of Khons, the patron saint of medicine: they say that if you sincerely turn to the ancient deity with prayers for health, then it will definitely help. And many locals believe in this in our twenty-first century.

The holiest place of the Karnak temple is a rather small black stone, which used to be an altar on which lay the "Stone of Ipet Sout" - "Mother of the Universe", this is a kind of "philosopher's stone" brought to Ancient Egypt from Atlantis, according to old legend. And in the sacred Egyptian papyri, it is said about the "Stone of Ipet Sout" that this "treasure of the world" went to the pharaohs from the gods themselves. But then the stone was taken from the territory of the temple in Karnak to the Himalayas, more precisely to Shambhala, which is hidden from the eyes of mere mortals in the Tibetan mountains.

An interesting attraction of the Karnak Temple is the obelisk of the Queen of Egypt - Hatshepsut, thirty meters high, recognized as the largest in the country. The history of her coronation is carved on the surface of the obelisk. In ancient times, the tops of ancient commemorative obelisks were covered with gold and silver.

The temples of Karnak and Luxor are united by a long "Avenue of Sphinxes", they are carved from solid stone blocks and crowned with ram's heads. This alley is called “The Path of the Gods”, because along it, during the days of the religious holidays of Ancient Egypt, the sacred golden barge, carrying the statue of the god Amon-Ra, moved from one sanctuary to another.

Today, the Karnak Temple of Egypt is considered the largest religious complex in the world, and is the main state sanctuary of Ancient Egypt. Tourists visit this historical monument as often as the famous Pyramids of Giza, because the temple ensemble of Karnak can tell a lot about the ancient, and incredibly interesting, Egyptian history and culture.

You can come to Karnak Temple with group tour, but then you will be tied to your tour group and limited in free time, so it's better to do it yourself. You need to take a bus in Hurghada, Makadi Bay, Safaga, El Gouna, El Quseir and drive for about five hours, and another option is to book a river cruise on the Nile River, with a stop at the Temple of Karnak. If you decide to come here on your own, then try to be there at seven o'clock in the morning, because from nine o'clock numerous group tourists seize power here, and you immediately forget about calmness, silence and the opportunity to take pictures without extra people in the frame and without a queue for a good angle.

From time immemorial, Egypt has attracted people with its mysteries and well-preserved historical monuments. Egypt is a great place to travel! The infinitely blue and transparent Red Sea will present incomparable seascapes, and many ancient buildings of world history will open the curtain on an interesting ancient world Egypt.

Along with excursions to the pyramids of Giza, the pearl of Egyptian excursions is a trip to Luxor, in which there are two famous temple: Luxor and Karnak temples. Luxor is a small town on the east bank of the Nile.

One has only to be in Luxor, as before the eyes will open beautiful view on the temples, but the Karnak temple will stand out for its scale. The height of the pillars, the preserved colored and gilded lining of the columns, the scale of the temple area, the scarab beetle, the ablution pond will make you admire the majesty of the structure, which is truly an open-air monument.
In the era of the reign of the pharaohs, it was customary to build giant structures. It was believed that the grander and larger the buildings were, the more authority and power the pharaoh could use. The temple complex at Karnak contains buildings that were built over centuries by various rulers of Egypt.
Each pharaoh tried to transform the construction of temples for himself, giving more pomp and brilliance, surpassing the previous ruler. For 2000 years, temples were rebuilt, the inscriptions were rewritten for each new pharaoh. In ancient Egypt, the temple served as the main sanctuary throughout the era of the New Kingdom.


Karnak temple is represented by a giant temple complex, consisting of 33 temples and halls. Previously, the Karnak and Luxor temples were connected by a corridor of Light, from which now only an alley of sphinxes with lion bodies and ram heads remains. The ram was considered a sacred animal of the god Amun. The equal distance between the sphinxes is striking, it is truly unique.

All pharaohs sought to rebuild the temple for themselves, but the outstanding converters forever inscribed in the history of Luxor were Thutmose I, Thutmose III, Queen Hatshepsut, Amenkhtep III, Ramses I, II, III, Ptolemies, Libyan kings XXII.

The Karnak walls contain a fragment of a treaty between Ramesses II and King Hattusili III, signed after the Battle of Kadesh. At first the treaty was written in cuneiform on a silver tablet, but later it was translated into Egyptian.


All pharaohs sought to inscribe their name in the history of the temple complex, carefully removing the previous name of the pharaoh. In total, there were 134 pharaohs in Egypt. This number was considered sacred and meant in the priestly language of Egypt “ visible world". The Temple of Karnak was built as a Divine House, which was used for the initiation of new devotees, who are also called neophytes.

For a long time, the Karnak temple was buried under a huge layer of sand. It began to be excavated only in the 19th century, and work is still underway in this place. Perhaps the pillared hall of Pharaoh Seti I in the form of a forest of huge pillars covered with bas-reliefs is the most impressive place in the Karnak Temple. Previously, huge pillars were a support for a mighty vault, and fifty people could be placed on the top of any column. Colored bas-reliefs in full size adorn 134 columns, each of which has a height of sixteen meters. The sacred corridor is reached by an arrangement of columns in 16 rows, and the bas-reliefs contain an image in which the ascent of the pharaoh to the Gods can be seen. Karnak Temple acts as a kind of temporary labyrinth, which stores the mysteries of the pharaohs.


As already mentioned, each pharaoh sought to bring something to the construction of Karnak. So, the female pharaoh was Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled in the New Kingdom. In the Karnak temple, she organized the "Red Sanctuary", where the boat of the god Amun was located, with the help of which ceremonies were held. Hatshepsut ordered the installation of giant pink granite obelisks, the construction of the VIII pylon for the temple of Amun and the sanctuary of Amun, and the expansion of the temple of the goddess Mut (wife of Amun). Under Hatshepsut, 2 obelisks were erected in her honor, reaching a height of thirty meters. They were located next to the pylons of the temple of Amun-Ra and were considered the very tall buildings. Only one of these obelisks can be seen now.


In honor of the heb-sed holiday (the pharaohs celebrated it on the 30th year of their reign and every three years thereafter), a columned hall of the festivities of Thutmose III was built at the distant end of the main axis of the Temple. The architecture of Egypt did not see anything like it compared to the columns of the hall in the form of majestic poles, the hall was intended for initiation rituals into the Priests of the God Amun. There is a room, which is located on the side of the main hall, where you can see drawings on the walls containing the offerings of Thutmose III to the ancestors.


The south side of Karnak Temple has sacred lake or the ablution pond, on the banks of which there is a column of granite with a large-scale scarab beetle at its peak. The scarab beetle was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, they gave it the name Khepri, which means “self-arising”. In ancient times, the lake was used for mysteries. The golden boat of Amon, along with the boats from his retinue, sailed on this lake.

The Temple of Karnak was also the House of Light belonging to Amun-Ra. In ancient Egypt, the sacred stone Ipet Sout (“Mother of the Universe”) was located here. In our time, you can see the altar having given name. The solar axis of the Temple runs through this altar, starting at the alley of the Sphinxes.

And as you can see from these photos, the Karnak Temple is now one of the most visited attractions in Egypt.

At the entrance to the temple there is an alley of sphinx-rams. The ram is one of the incarnations of the god Amun, to whom the Karnak temple complex is dedicated.


Having passed along the alley of sphinxes and bypassing a powerful pylon, we get to the territory of the temple.


The width of this unfinished entrance pylon is 130 meters.


At the Pylon, an auxiliary structure made of silt bricks is also visible, along which large limestone blocks rose to the top.


By right hand from the entrance - another row of sphinxes - rams


And under each - a small statue of the pharaoh, they say the pharaoh - under the protection of the god Amon.


The row of rams continues to the temple of Ramesses III.


At the entrance to the temple, a statue of Ramesses himself


And on the wall are the remains of a bas-relief - how, with the blessing of God, the pharaoh punishes the enemies of Egypt.


By left side from the entrance - the chapel of Seti II. It has three entrances to three sanctuaries - to the gods Amun, his wife Mut and son Khonsu.


This is what is left of one of the shrines.


In the center - the remains of the colonnade that once existed.


Behind the colonnade, at the second pylon, there is a huge statue of the pharaoh.

The pharaoh had part of his face knocked off, but he was still lucky.

From some of the statues, only the legs remained ...

And some were a little more fortunate - they were preserved almost entirely.

Next comes a powerful columned hall.

Previously, there was a roof over the columns, but after the fall of the temple and the earthquake of 27 BC, the roof collapsed and now the columns support only the sky.

The central 12 columns are 23 meters high. The rest are a little lower.

The columns are covered with bas-reliefs with historical and mythical stories about the life and deeds of the pharaohs.

Is this tradition the forerunner of murals Orthodox churches scripture stories?









Leaving the hall of columns and going out into one of the passages - we pass the next halls and get to the pylon, which has a whole group of statues of pharaohs.




And in the background - the main Egyptian secret of building temples; 0)


In general, the dilapidated walls are a kind of labyrinth.


Then suddenly in the passage a view of the obelisk will open


Then the already familiar heads of the pharaohs will reappear.


The verticals of the Karnak temple are two obelisks. One of them was established by Queen Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh.


You look at the obelisks - and the building looks quite preserved


And you shift your gaze a little to the left - and you get the feeling that in front of you are solid ruins.


From another obelisk installed by Hatshepsut, only the pommel remained, lying on the ground.




And next to it is a large scarab beetle on a pedestal.

The beetle was the epitome of rebirth. It was believed that it was he who rolls the Sun at sunrise. Yes, and he himself is constantly reborn, appearing from a ball that rolls itself.


The beetle stands almost on the very shore of the sacred lake


And around - the picturesque ruins of Karnak


The guide gives about forty minutes for an independent inspection of the Karnak temple and return to the bus. This time is only enough to wander through the labyrinth of temple buildings and try to take a closer look at them.

























Many of the statues have their faces knocked off. This was partly done in the time of the pharaohs. Partly after the arrival of Muslims in Egypt.







And this is the surviving part of the upper ceiling, painted with stars.


















At the exit from the Karnak Temple, later Islamic sanctuaries are visible.









In the forty minutes left by the guide, it was not possible to see everything, and we had to get on the bus almost at a run. Here you will involuntarily envy the locals peacefully resting under a tree.

Photo: Artyom Mochalov and Natalia Nagorskaya. © 2010

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