Broken carvings on the pillar of the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

The Karnak temple in Luxor is very old, having been constructed by several pharaohs over a period of time (when Luxor, in its earlier form being the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes was the center of Egypt during the time of the New Kingdom). The Karnak temple is believed to be around 35 centuries old. Inside the Karnak temple, the Hypostyle Hall is one of the greatest creations from that time, covering a vast area of 50,000 square feet.
In this photo, you can see how the carvings on the pillar have become damaged over the vast period of time.

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Detailed view of paintings on the undeside of architrave in the Hypostyle Hall

In the previous photo, I had shown a view of the underside of the architrave on 2 of the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall. However, the painting on the underside was not so clear since it was taken without much zoom; in this photo, I took the camera lens to maximum zoom and focused on the painting on the underside of the structure.
The painting in this photo was inverted, but you can get a view of the painting very clearly, the painting is pretty clear. The depiction of the Hieroglyphs is very clear (although I cannot understand anything, not knowing how to read this ancient symbol based language). It felt so different, standing there and watching this ancient work put by the Egyptians from a different era.

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Painting under the architrave in the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

The Hypostyle Hall inside the Karnak temple in Luxor is a magnificent place. Imagine a giant hall, covering an area of 50,000 square feet with large pillars (and a total of 134 such pillars, each pillar covered with a lot of carvings). Now imagine that this was built around 35 centuries back, and you will be left with a sense of wonder.
The architraves covering the pillars have mostly fallen down, except for a few cases such as this one, where the architrave remains in place (or was put back during the restoration process). You can even see the paintings on the underside of the structure (and these were visible very clearly).

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Exhibit of the restoration of the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

The Hypostyle Hall is one of the most magnificent parts of the Karnak temple, an incredible temple in the city of Luxor built around 35 centuries back. There was a whole process of restoration that sought to bring back the old glory of those structures, even though this is a very difficult task. This is a sign of the exhibit that explains what the Hypostyle Hall is, and what efforts were undertaken to do a restoration of the structure.
As per the exhibit, the Hypostyle Hall measures 103 meters by 53 meters. As recently as 1899, a dozen columns in the Hypostyle Hall toppled over and a massive reconstruction work was started.

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Close up of paintings on the lower portion of the architrave inside the Hypostyle Hall

There are not too many architraves on top of the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall, with most of the pillars being uncovered. I tried to get more details of the underside of one such architrave, and you can see signs of the painting that was there below the architrave; in addition to the carvings on the side of a pillar.

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A number of pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

A large number of pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple. In previous photos, you can see many images of the pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall, but not too many pillars. In this photo, you see a large number of pillars (although most of the photos are not very big) in the frame, with a view of the carvings on the pillars of the Hall. The architrave on top of the pillars look a bit awkward though.

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Pillar inside the Hypostyle Hall with the architrave on top of the pillars

A view of the top section of an individual pillar inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple. There are a total of 134 pillars inside the temple, with the middle 2 rows having pillars of slightly increased height as opposed to the pillars in other rows.
You can see a number of carvings on the pillar, along with architrave on either side of the pillar, but there are very few pillars that actually have architraves, with most of them having fallen down.

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Many pillars of the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple covered by architrave at the top

When you see most of the structures belonging to ancient Egypt, a large number of these structures are in some state of ruin, with the typical example being that the roof has fallen down in many of these. Even when you go to the Karnak temple, you can see the temple in various states of ruin; even in this photo of the Hypostyle Hall, you can see the roof has fallen down - there are just some architrave on top of the pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall.

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Small gap between the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall inside the Karnak temple

In some places inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple, there are large spaces, enough for people to easily gather. However, near the edge of the hall, the space between the pillars is much reduced, as in this photo, where it would seem difficult for people to congregate in the space between the pillars at the floor level.

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Detailed carvings on a pillar inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

I was very impressed by the Karnak temple in Luxor. When you visit Egypt, you think of the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx, or you think of King Tutankhamen, but few people think of the Karnak temple. The temple is a huge structure, having been built by many pharaohs over a period of time, and containing the Hypostyle Hall, a huge structure covering an area of 50,000 square feet with 134 pillars.
I was looking at the carvings on a pillar inside the Hypostyle Hall, with the background coming in dark because of using the flash. Use of the flash took a meter reading from the carving and anything that was slightly darker became black.

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Carving on the pylon of the Karnak temple with some tents at the bottom

A large carving on the pylon of the Karnak temple in Luxor. These are huge gates with large surfaces, and a large scale carving on the surface of the pylon, typically showing the pharaoh in some sort of action.
At the bottom of the carving, there are these tents (with a color similar to the surface of the wall), part of the restoration work ongoing at the temple.

Architrave on top of the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall of the Karnak temple

A lot of the structure of the Karnak temple in Luxor is in ruins, or atleast has suffered for the over 35 centuries of wear and tear. The Hypostyle Hall, which covers an area of approximately 50,000 square feet is a magnificent structure, but the roof has mostly fallen down. In some sections, the architraves on top of the pillars still remain, and looks pretty well. You can even see some carvings and paintings on the bottom of the architrave, which is pretty remarkable.

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Shadows on pillar carvings inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Hypostyle Hall inside the Karnak temple in the Egyptian city of Luxor is one of the most interesting parts of the temple. The temple itself is an incredible structure, a huge temple constructed 35 centuries back, with multiple pharaohs adding their touches to the temple over a period of centuries.
Inside the Karnak temple, the Hypostyle Hall is a huge structure, with 134 large pillars arranged in multiple rows, and each of these pillars is huge. The Hypostyle Hall covered a large area, with a total coverage of approximately 50,000 square meters.

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Gap between pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Hypostyle Hall inside the Karnak temple in Luxor is an incredible piece of architecture, constructed approximately 35 centuries temple. The temple was constructed over a period of time by multiple pharaohs, with even hall having the imprint of many pharaohs.
The Hall had 134 pillars, with the 2 central row of pillars being taller than the rest of the pillars. When you look at the pillars, you can see how huge they actually are, and if there was a human in the photo, you would get a true measure of the size of the pillars.

Damaged carvings on the pillars inside the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

The Karnak temple is 35 centuries old, which is a huge timeline to cover, especially when the temple is exposed to the elements over the years, and to looters and others (especially people who had no concern for the conservation of the historical monuments); and when you see some of the better sections, you can forget the huge amount of time that has passed. But there has been a lot of damage over the years, as you can see in the erosion of the carvings on the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall as seen in this photo.
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People standing at the base of the huge pillars of the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple

The pillars of the Hypostyle Hall inside the magnificent Karnak temple in Luxor are huge and very well decorated. The Hypostyle Hall is huge, with a total of 134 large pillars covering a total (when constructed) area of 50,000 square feet.
The sheer size of the Hypostyle Hall can be seen, when you see the tourists at the base of the pillars; a lot of people find it hard to believe that this large structure was built over 35 centuries back and still stands tall.
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Pillars of the Hypostyle Hall in Karnak temple covered by architraves

When the Hypostyle Hall was re-discovered, it was in a mess. Now, if you visit it, it looks fairly nice. A majority of the pillars are all in position, the carvings and paintings on many of them look as if they were done only a few decades back, and in many of the cases, even the architraves on top of the pillars is in place (although the overall roof of the Hypostyle Hall has fallen down and most of the pillars are exposed to the elements).
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Carvings on the walls of the Karnak temple in Luxor

A set of carvings on the walls of the Karnak temple. As per the hieroglyphic language used by the ancient Egyptians, this would mean something that experts would be able to decipher (I was not able to decipher them obviously since I am not an expert); but it was interesting to see the carvings that were made on the stone of the temple, done so many centuries ago, retaining their form even after so many years.
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Exhibit showing restoration of the Cachette Courtyard inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Cachette Courtyard is the first court, with the courts being defined as the place between the pylons; the Cachette courtyard which was one of the first to be re-discovered. In addition, the Cachette courtyard was the location which was the start of the route taken by ceremonial processions to the Luxor temple. In addition, on the walls of the Cachette courtyard, the pharaoh Merenptah celebrated his victories over the Sea People.
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Gap between the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Hypostyle Hall inside the Karnak temple in Luxor is one of the most fascinating structures in the temple. This is a hall that was covering an area of approximately 50,000 square feet, and had a total of 134 pillars inside, with these pillars being well carved, and with paintings on the roof the hall. Now, very few portions of the roof remain, and most of these are now up after a lot of restoration that happened.
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Obelisk and tourists around it, seen from an archway inside the Karnak temple

The Obelisk is one of the most spectacular constructions inside the Karnak temple in Luxor (along with the pillars of the Hypostyle Hall); specially because the Obelisk seems in such a great condition when you compare this with the rest of the structures around it. The Obelisk remains popular to tourists, as you can see in this photo of a number of tourists surrounding the Obelisk (which is one of the 2 obelisks inside the Karnak temple).
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Photos of couple of obelisks inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Karnak temple in Luxor must be one of the rare such monuments which has 2 obelisks in the same complex (the ancient pharaohs used to place Obelisks at the entrance to temples, and the female pharaoh Hatshepsut created the obelisks, to be created in the city of Aswan).
In this photo, you can see the tops of both the Obelisks, rising above the structure of the Karnak temple.
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A couple of large statues against a wall inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

Temples inside ancient Egypt were built by pharaohs towards the gods, and also as a projection of their own divinity, with the temples showing statues of the pharaoh being close to the gods; the temples also showed statues of the pharaoh with arms crossed (which was a practice for mummies of pharaohs during the New Kingdom around 1500 BC).
You can also see the state of the temple at that time, with many walls standing, but an overall state of wear and tear.
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Side walls of the Karnak temple in Luxor, cordoned off for tourists

Large sections of the Karnak temple in Luxor are not open to tourists, with the precinct of Amon-Ra being the only open section. Even in the section open to tourists, restoration work is ongoing, with many structures and parts cordoned off (with rope, being just temporary cordoning off, since I could see a couple of people crossing the roped off section).
Here, the walls also show carvings, a lot of which is still retained even 35 centuries after the temple was built.
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An isolated section of the Karnak temple in Luxor, along with some palm trees

The Karnak temple in Luxor is a temple built of sandstone, with almost the entire structure made of stone, leaving very little greenery in the whole structure. However, we did see some trees inside the structure, such as the palm trees seen in this photo.
Most tourists do a quick round of the temple, see the Hypostyle Hall, and then come back; very few people bother to see the entire section visible to tourists (and there are large sections of the temple that are not open to tourists as well).
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View of 2 obelisks inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

This was a pretty rare sight. There are almost no other places in the world where you can see 2 such magnificent obelisks in the same location, and here they are in the Karnak temple complex in Luxor. As far as I can remember from my history, both these Obelisks were placed at the entry to the temple by the female pharaoh Hatshepsut, who is also famous for being the most powerful woman ruler for a long time (certainly at her time, there was no other woman ruler in such a position).
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Cordoned off structure inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

The Karnak temple was built in many sections by a number of pharaohs, and is one of the largest temple complexes inside Egypt. When inside the temple, I felt the need for a guide the maximum, since there were many structures inside that did not make sense to me, and a guide could have explained some of these.
One of these is this cordoned off structure inside the Karnak temple. It could well be the base of something much larger, such as a huge statue, but I did not anything similar to this inside the temple.
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Broken section of an obelisk inside the Karnak temple in Luxor

An Obelisk is one of the most famous symbols of ancient Egypt, with it being placed at the entrance to temples by the pharaoh of the day. And pharaohs considered it part of their honor to construct a temple (which also places them in the same position as the god), so there were a number of obelisks in ancient Egypt. Many of these were taken away / gifted away and find pride of place in many other cities of the world.
This is a photo of a well carved section of an obelisk lying on the ground inside the Karnak temple, most likely as part of a restoration effort.
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