Karnak Temple is the largest temple complex of the ancient world. Twenty football fields of sanctuaries, columns, obelisks, and statues, built over 2,000 years. Each pharaoh added something of their own, competing with predecessors in grandeur. The result is a place that overwhelms with its scale even today.

Temple History

Karnak was the main sanctuary of Amun—"king of the gods" in the Egyptian pantheon. Construction began around 2000 BCE and continued until the Ptolemaic era. Thirty pharaohs participated in expanding the complex, each striving to outdo their predecessors.

During the New Kin...