Luxor: Temples, Museums and History
Accommodation in Luxor
Luxor brings together temple complexes, museums and a market on the east bank. When comparing hotels in Luxor, it is worth first deciding on the main focus of your trip: Karnak and Luxor Temple are known for temple architecture and religious history, while the museums explore mummification and archaeological finds. The souk adds another perspective, with its goods and an Upper Egyptian snack.
Temples and Ancient Thebes
The Karnak temple complex consists of the Precinct of Amun, the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Montu and Akhenaten’s Temple to Aten. The Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak has 134 columns. The Great Colonnade at Luxor Temple has a different layout: it consists of two rows of seven colossal columns each.
Luxor Temple is in ancient Thebes, now Luxor. The earliest evidence for the temple dates to the 18th Dynasty (around 1550–1295 BC). Historically, it was the main site of the Opet Festival. The dating and the religious festival connection add another perspective on the temple alongside its architectural details.
The Avenue of Sphinxes is an archaeological part of the ancient city of Thebes, now Luxor. It is about 2,700 metres long and connects the Karnak temples in the north with Luxor Temple in the south. Ancient Egyptian kings built it between the 18th and 30th Dynasties as a processional route for religious ceremonies and festivals. Its length and the two endpoints show the spatial connection between the temple complexes; its history is also tied to the religious use of the route.
Mummification and Collections
The Mummification Museum is in Luxor, ancient Thebes. Through its many tools, objects and equipment used in the mummification process, it offers a comprehensive introduction to the subject. Exhibits include canopic jars, elaborately decorated coffins, mummified remains, amulets and statues of deities. If you are particularly interested in the process, the tools and objects used are the focus here.
The Luxor Museum is on the Nile beside Luxor Temple. It displays a life-size statue of Amenhotep III, an attempted reconstruction of Akhenaten’s temple, and the mummies of the pharaohs Ramesses I and Ahmose I. The collection also includes many rare artefacts discovered in Luxor and spanning different periods of Egyptian history. These include some objects belonging to Tutankhamun, discovered in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.
The two museums have different thematic focuses: the Mummification Museum centres on the process and its tools and objects, while the Luxor Museum presents objects from different periods and specific royal finds.
The Market and Nearby Sights
The Luxor market is on the east bank, opposite Luxor Temple. It is known for alabaster, jewellery, traditional fabrics and aromatic spices. Foul sodani is part of the souk’s culinary offering: roasted peanuts, an Upper Egyptian snack sold there. Alongside the temples and museum collections, the market’s goods and regionally distinctive snack offer another facet of Luxor.
The nearby Valley of the Kings contains more than sixty tombs, as well as another twenty unfinished structures, most of which consist only of pits. The nearby tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) contained approximately 5,000 artefacts, including clothing, jewellery, cosmetics, furniture, toys, vessels, chariots and weapons. The figures refer to different scopes: the Valley’s tombs and unfinished structures as a whole, and the number of objects associated with KV62.
The temple of Deir al-Bahari, also known as the Temple of Hatshepsut, has three terraces with reliefs, shrines to several deities and numerous statues. Its terraced architecture offers a different emphasis from the hypostyle halls at Karnak and Luxor Temple. The different forms of the temple complexes and the museums’ collections thus complement one another as themes to consider when planning your trip to Luxor.
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