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Karnak Temple is the largest temple complex ever built by man, a temple to the god Amun. Shortly after we entered, we met someone who said he was a guide, but he took us so far off the beaten path that he seemed bogus and we eventually paid him to go away.
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The line of sphinxes along the entrance to the main temple. |
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The ruins are dominated by two obelisks. |
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There are elaborate decorations on most of the walls in the temple. The earlier, nicer ones are raised from the walls, and some of the later ones are carved into the walls which takes less labor. |
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Many of the reliefs show the god Amun-Min, with a large erect penis, but only one arm and one leg. Our "guide" told us that while all the men in the village were away at war, Min impregnated all their wives. The men came back and cut off his arm and his leg. Then the gods, impressed that he had singlehandedly allowed the village to have its next generation, made him into a god himself. This may have been the inspiration for the Vietnam era anti-draft poster, "Girls say 'yes' to boys who say 'no'." That slogan seems unconscionably crude by modern standards but name one slogan of any kind against the current war. Especially one that doesn't start out with "hey hey ho ho". I can't believe the peace movement has come to that. But at least there are shockwave animations. |
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Amun Min again. If this is what the Egyptians called "min" what must "max" have been? |
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These men were laying paving stones, and doing a very bad job of making the result level. |
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The obelisk of Hatshepsut. |
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The Christians used this temple in late Roman and early Byzantine times, and painted saints over the original images. You can see a faint outline of a man with a halo on this pillar --- the Christian paint hasn't lasted as long as the Egyptian. Also it's clear from the shape of the capital what the Egyptians wanted their pillars to remind them of, a decidedly Pagan turn of architecture. |
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Columns in the Great Hypostyle Hall. Building technology of the time required very large columns very close together to hold up a heavy roof over a large room -- unfortunately then there wasn't much floor space left. |
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