Ancient site · Luxor
Khonsu Temple
A nearly complete New Kingdom temple within the Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak, standing at the end of the avenue of sphinxes that runs to Luxor Temple.
Listen to the guide
The story
Khonsu Temple lies inside the great Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak in Luxor and is an almost complete example of a New Kingdom temple. Ramesses III began it on the site of an earlier shrine, and its gateway sits at the end of the avenue that ran to Luxor Temple. In Ptolemaic times Ptolemy III added a monumental gateway and enclosure wall, of which only the gateway survives. The hypostyle hall is attributed to a Thirtieth Dynasty king, Nectanebo, and inverted blocks and mismatched decoration show how material from neighbouring temples was reused.
Good to know
- The American Research Center in Egypt carried out conservation work at the temple from 2006 to 2018.
- Two baboon carvings found inside the hypostyle hall appear to date from the time of Seti I.