One area in Egypt that is highly concentrated with sites of historical value is Luxor. Luxor is located in Upper (southern) Egypt and is easily accessible by train from Cairo. Standing upon the site of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, there are many fantastic things to see in the Luxor area, for instance the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Colossi of Memnon, Hatshepshut's Temple, and lots of others. The Luxor area is absolutely a required part of anyone's Egypt experience. But one of the sites stands out from the pack, and that is Karnak Temple, a massive temple complex right inside the town of Luxor.
Known as Ipet-Isut by the ancient Egyptians, this temple was the focal point of the city of Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt at the time. Thebes was the capital for 1500 years, beginning around 1900 BCE when the Temple of Amun (within the temple complex of Karnak) was built. The Karnak complex served a number of purposes: it was the center of worship of the Thebean trinity (Amun-re, Mut, and Khonsu); the residence of the pharaoh; and the center of the kingdom's administration.
The reason the complex of Karnak is so gigantic is that is served not only as a temple but also the city center of the capital of the kingdom. In person, its size is quite overwhelming. One hall called the Great Hypostyle Hall is made up of 134 gigantic columns, each of which measures between 15 meters (50 ft) and 21 meters (69 ft) in height. The pillars are so thick that six people are needed in order to reach all the way around its outside edge. If you can envision the statues of the pharaohs that were once situated in this hall amongst the pillars, then you can easily imagine the scale of Karnak's glory.
It is easy for travellers to reach Karnak, since it is just a short walk from the town center. It opens at 6 am, when it is magically illuminated by the rising sun. At night there is a different kind of illumination, when Karnak puts on an amazing sound and light show that is known to surprise tourists with its scale and its eery effect on the mystical surroundings.
