The Travel Bug: Wonders of Egypt #8/12 (Luxor - Karnak)

The Temple of Karnak is actually a complex made up of smaller temples. The ruins are huge and in amazingly good condition.

The Avenue of Sphinx with Ram heads lining the entrance. These used to extend all the way to Luxor Temple about 2 miles away.

There were originally 4 obelisks in the Obelisk Court, but only 2 remain standing.

One of the fallen Obelisks remains in the premises...

...near the sacred lake that was used for purification.

Near the lake also stands a scarab statue, symbol of the Sun god. According to the guide, if you walk around the scarab 7 times it will bring you good luck.

In one of the back temple areas, a lot of the red and blue colours can still be seen on the ceilings.

Christians used to occupy part of the temple, and some of the relics left by them still remain.

In the Hypostyle Hall stand a 134 columns all with beautiful carvings on them. We loved wandering around the pillars and admiring the way the late afternoon sun shone through them.

As always, don't forget to look up where a lot of the carvings and colours still remain.

To be continued...