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Museum of Ancient Egyptian Art

From the entrance hall a short flight of steps leads to the ground floor. Notable items here include an alabaster group depicting Amenophis III under the protection of the crocodile god Sobek (from Dahamsha),

Temple of Luxor

At the south end of the modern town, close to the Nile, stands the imposing Temple of Luxor, and within to the northeast, the little Mosque of Abu el-Haggag, a much revered Muslim holy man. The temple was built by Amenophis III on the site of an earlier sandstone temple and was known to the Egyptians as Apet Amunresyet, the "Southern Harem of Amun". It was dedicated to Amun, his consort Mut and their son the moon god Khons. Like all Egyptian temples, it comprised the chapels of the deities with their vestibules and subsidiary chambers, a large hypostyle hall and an open peristyle court, which was approached from the north by a great colonnade.

The temple was 623ft/190m long and 180ft/55m wide at its broadest part Opposite the temple was a granite chapel built by Tuthmosis III. During Amenophis IV's religious revolution the figures and names of Amun were obliterated and a sanctuary of the Aten, the Sun, was built near the temple. When Tutankhamun moved the royal residence back to Thebes he had the walls of the colonnade embellished with reliefs, in which Horemheb later substituted his own names for those of his predecessor. The Temple of the Aten was destroyed, and in the reign of Sethos I the reliefs of Amun were restored. Ramesses II, the great builder, also extended the Temple of Luxor, adding a new colonnaded court at the north end, usurping Tuthmosis III's chapel and replacing the old reliefs by new ones, and erected a massive pylon with its doorway adjoining Tuthmosisill's chapel. These later structures involved a slight displacement of the axis of the temple, and increased the total length to 583ft/260m. Thereafter the temple underwent little alteration. In Christian times it was converted into a church.

Head of Sesostris III

Notable items here include a head of Sesostris III in reddish granite (found at Karnak in 1970), a statue of Tuthmosis III in greenish graywacke (from Karnak), a bust of Amenophis 11 wearing the double crown (reddish granite; from Karnak), a large and historically important limestone stela celebrating Kamose's victory over the Hyksos (from Karnak) and a squatting figure of Yamu-Nedieh in black granite (from Qurna).

 Colossal Statues of Ramesses II

On the south side of the Great Court of Ramesses II, between the front columns, are colossal statues of Ramesses II, with an average height of 23ft/7m, all of red granite except one which is of black granite. The finest of these figures, whose crown, carved from a separate block, has fallen off, was 17.5ft/5.30m high; on the base and the apron are carved the King's names. On each side of the south doorway is a colossal seated figure of the King with the Queen seated on his right.

October - March

June - August -> 41(°C) - Summer
January - March -> 5(°C) - Spring

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