© Dahabiya Nile Sailing Egypt 2025
Luxor has been known as Thebes, the great capital of the Egyptian Empire; Waset, meaning “city of the sceptre”; Ta ipet, meaning “the shrine”; the “city of 100 gates,” and many other names throughout its history. Luxor is derived from the Arabic word for “palaces.”
It rose to prominence around 3000 BCE and eventually became Ancient Egypt’s political, military, and religious capital for more than 1500 years. It is an important tourism centre today, as it is home to a large number of the country’s architectural monuments.
It was the ancient kingdom’s capital as Thebes; today, Luxor is known as the world’s greatest open-air museum, housing some of Egypt’s most famous temples, tombs, and monuments.
Luxor has an unrivalled number of ancient Egyptian monuments. The 3400-year-old Luxor Temple and the Karnak Temple Complex are among its highlights, as are the necropolises of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, and the massive stone statues known as the Colossi of Menmon.
Luxor, as a small city, allows visitors to get around as easily by taxi as by horse-drawn carriage. While horse-drawn carriages are a true tourist treat, renting a bike can also be a fun way to see the city sights – but only during the day, and not during the hottest times of year
As we start exploring the West Bank, these two imposing sandstone statues indicate the site of the mortuary temple of 18th dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III (1386–1353 BC) and were completed in 1350 BC. The statues of the seated ruler are 18 meters (59 feet) high and each is estimated to weigh 653 tonnes (720 tonnes). The temple is the largest on the west bank and continues to be excavated. You can see this underway behind the statues. Archaeologists believe the single sandstone blocks from which each statue was carved were quarried near Cairo and transported to Thebes.
If the statues were a tribute to Amenhotep III and guarded his temple, why are they known by the name Memnon? During Greco-Roman times, they were associated with the Ethiopian king, Memnon, who was considered a hero by the Greeks. Although he was killed at Troy by the Greek Achilles, Memnon fought on the side of the Trojans against the Greeks. His courage won the approval of the Greeks.
The complex was referred to by Greek writers as the Memnonium. It was reported that at sunrise, the northern statue would emit a whistling sound, possibly because of a crack in its body that resulted from an earthquake. Ancient Greek and Roman visitors thought hearing the statue was a positive omen. The statue was repaired in the 3rd century AD and the sound was not heard again.
During her reign, the female pharaoh Hatshepsut (1473–1458 BC) built a mortuary temple at Deir el Bahari, situated directly across the Nile from Karnak Temple, which was the main sanctuary of the god Amun. Djeser-djeseru, “the Holy of Holies,” was designed by the chief steward of Amun, Senenmut. It nestles under towering cliffs, and many find it one of the most beautiful of all the temples constructed in Egypt.
Hatshepsut clearly realised that as a woman in what was usually a male power role, impressive structures that bettered those of previous rulers would help to impress people and legitimise her reign. The temple was modelled after the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II (2061–2010 BC), who founded the 11th Dynasty. His temple was built during his reign at Deir el-Bahri, and was the first structure there. It was an innovative concept as it was planned to be both a tomb and a temple. Hatshepsut chose a larger interpretation of this temple, positioned next to it, to illustrate her connection to powerful rulers who preceded her and her own power.
Her temple has three levels. On the top level, beyond the portico, is an open courtyard, with statues of Hatshepsut as Osiris, the god of the dead. The temple includes areas for the cults of her father, Thutmose I, the goddess Hathor, and the god Anubis. An altar open to the sky was dedicated to the cult of the solar god RaHorakhty. Hatsepsut claimed as her true father, has a sanctuary dedicated to him at the far end of the upper courtyard, on the temple’s central axis. Painted reliefs on the temple walls depict rituals and religious festivals. Reliefs on the middle platform include Hatshepsut’s expedition to Punt.
Luxor Temple is located approximately three kilometres south of Karnak Temple. These temples were linked by a processional way bordered with sphinxes, now known as the Avenue of the Sphinxes. As was the case with Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple was constructed by many rulers. Unlike most other ancient Egyptian temples, it is not laid out on an east–west axis, but is oriented towards Karnak. The reason is that Luxor Temple was the main venue for one of the most important ancient Egyptian religious celebrations—the Opet Festival—when the cult images of Amun, his wife Mut, and their son, the lunar god Khonsu, were taken from their temples in Karnak, and transported in a grand procession to Luxor Temple so they could visit the god that resides there, Amenemopet. This festival was recently reenacted when the restored Avenue of the Sphinxes was opened.
The oldest existing structure in Luxor Temple, a shrine, dates to the reign of Hatshepsut (1473–1458 BC). The core of the temple was built by Amenhotep III (c.1390–1352 BC). Amenhotep III also built the Great Colonnade, almost 61 meters (200 feet) long, with 28 columns. The decoration of this was completed by Tutankhamun (1336–1327 BC) and Horemheb (1323–1295 BC). Ramesses II (1279–1213 BC) made many additions, including a peristyle courtyard and a massive pylon, a gate with two towers that formed the entrance into temples, many colossal statues, and a pair of obelisks 25 meters (82 feet) in height (only one remains in place; the other was taken to the Place de la Concorde in Paris). In the late third century AD the Romans built a fort around the temple, and the first room beyond the hypostyle hall of Amenhotep III became its sanctuary. The original wall reliefs were covered with plaster and painted in the GraecoRoman artistic style, depicting Emperor Diocletian (284–305 AD) and his three coregents. Many of the side walls of the temple were removed subsequent to the rule of the pharaohs and used for building other structures.
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It features the impressive mortuary temple of Ramses III and also encloses a well-preserved pharaonic palace. The site is unique because it is one of the few where you can find the resting house of a king, giving insights into their daily life. The site was a complex of temples dating from the beginning of the New Kingdom (1569 BC). A temple to Amun was built here by Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. Then, Ramesses III also chose this site as the location of his mortuary temple and commissioned a massive mud-brick enclosure around the entire site; within this were included storehouses, workshops, administrative offices, and residences of priests and officials. The walls sheltered the entire population of Thebes during the foreign invasions of the 21st Dynasty (1081–711) and for three centuries afterwards, they protected the Coptic population. The temple precinct is about 214 meters (700 feet) by 305 meters (1,000 feet). The reliefs at the front of the temple depict Ramses III as a victor in several wars. Attached to the temple is one of the few king’s houses remaining. The throne room and other spaces are well preserved. You will also see the remains of an early Christian basilica and a small sacred lake.
© Dahabiya Nile Sailing Egypt 2025