" A MARVEL IS A TRUE MARVEL ONLY WHEN YOU SEE IT"- A TRAVEL QUOTE
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KARNAK TEMPLE
In the Egyptian tour, this one was a real pleasant surprise.
The Karnak temple complex is located in Egypt near the city of Luxor. It is the second most visited historical site in Egypt after the Pyramids. The key difference in this and other sites is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Contributions have been made by approximately thirty Egyptian kings [Pharaohs]. Construction of temples started around 2000 BC and continued upto 30 BC.
The vast complex of temples demonstrates the religious significance of the area in ancient times.
The temple was built on two axes and spread outwards from a small shrine, as successive kings made their own contributions in the form of pylons, chapels and obelisks. In antiquity, the temple was connected to Nile by a canal. Leading to the first pylon is an avenue of ram headed sphinxes protecting the figure of a king. The first pylon leads to the Great court of kings. In the centre of the court is an impressive open papyrus column.This precinct also has one of the largest obelisks, standing 95 feet tall [29 meters].
The Hypostyle Hall
This is part of the largest precincts of the temple complex and is dedicated to Amun-Re, the chief deity of the area Thebes. This hall, measuring 50000 square feet is the mainstay of this temple complex, which has made it world famous.
The hall is made up of huge 134 columns. The columns are in the style of Papyrus flower, the most important plant as far as Egyptians are concerned. 122 columns are 10 meters tall and are in the closed papyrus bud style and 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over 3 meters and in the open papyrus bud style. The larger columns are aligned along the aisle of the hall.
The roof of the hall was made of massive sandstone blocks. The hall would have been completely dark but for the windows near the roof, which allowed shafts of light to penetrate and illuminate parts of the hall.
Huge columns of the Hypostyle hall, Karnak temple
Huge column in Great court of Kings, Karnak temple and the statue of the King Ramesses II
OBELISKS
Obelisks are the tall rectangular tapering pillars made of up of single piece of stone, usually granite. They have a square or rectangular base and taper upwards and ending in a conical structure, called pyramidion.
The obelisks were made to commemorate an event or person and honour the gods.The granite obelisks were made from stone quarried in the southern Egyptian town of Aswan. They have an unfinished obelisk in Aswan even today. These obelisks were stationed at the entry of Egyptian temples, one on each side of the main entry gate. One of the tallest obelisks is seen in the temple complex at Karnak.
What is surprising is that in today's world, more obelisks are found in Rome including Vatican city [eight ancient Egyptian and five Ancient Roman] than in Egypt. It is because the rulers of the Roman Empire took a fascination for these columns and after conquering Egypt, took these precious structures with them to their own land. Later on some of the obelisks were gifted by the Egyptian government to other friendly countries. As a result these obelisks are now found in many countries, the largest one of them [96 feet] is found in Lateran square in Rome.
A list of the obelisks in world is given below:
- Egypt has 11 in the cities of Cairo, Karnak and Luxor and Aswan [Unfinished]
- Italy has 12, in Rome [7 Egyptian obelisks and 5 roman obelisks]
- Vatican city has 1
- France has 1,in paris
- United states of America has 1, in New York
- United Kingdom has one, in London
- Poland has one, in Poznan
- Turkey has one, in Istanbul
- Israel has one, in Caesarea
I have been fortunate to see the Egyptian, Italian, Vatican city, French and English obelisks during my travels.
I didn’t know that Egypt was a cold place because you are rarely seen in pullovers
ReplyDeleteWe were there in the month of January, that is why it was mildly cold.
DeleteThank you for providing us with so much information
ReplyDeleteThank you for your travel update about obelisks( The needles ) Believe it, living in London since 1978, I saw the obelisk after nearly 30 yrs of residence here although saw the others much sooner. 😇
ReplyDeleteGhar ki murgi dal barabar! I heard the term Needle only in London and Paris, rest of the places they called it Obelisks only.
DeletePraveen, well written travel blog,have been to Egypt after saturating myself with 5000 years of Golden Pharonic history.. mummies & Nile are inseparable part of Egyptian civilisation...well they can covered in the next blog...
ReplyDeleteyour cartoons are v witty,has contemporary humour,& don't appear to be,an amateur's work..
Keep it up......arup kundu, Delhi NCR
Thanks dear. I know you are a history buff, that is why I shared it with you. I have already published two articles on Egypt and rest are following. Will keep you updated to refresh your memories.
DeletePraveen, well written travel blog,have been to Egypt after saturating myself with 5000 years of Golden Pharonic history.. mummies & Nile are inseparable part of Egyptian civilisation...well they can covered in the next blog...
ReplyDeleteyour cartoons are v witty,has contemporary humour,& don't appear to be,an amateur's work..
Keep it up......arup kundu, Delhi NCR
Praveen. Thanks for your uplift compliments. Cleopatra needle time be precise. Did you know that in UK, school children have a full term dedicated to Egyptology early on on their career. What’s the need? Of course with a strong British background of discovery of Tutakamen mummy and ( 1925) and the tomb few yrs later by Howard Carter, they hammer it down on young minds. Wish the history syllabus in UK included the unfair, abominable and powerful British colonialism which is never described and taught.
ReplyDelete