Luxor Templewas known in ancient Egyptian language as Ipt-Rsyt, or the southern shrine, in order to differentiate between this temple and Karnak Temple, located at the northern house of Amon Ra.Amenhotep III built Luxor Temple. Amenhotep,The Temple ran close and parallel to the Nile River, from north to south, and was constructed on the site of a small Temple of Amon, built by the great kings of the 12th dynasty. At the time of Amenhotep III, the Temple was only 190m in length and 55m in width. Luxor Temple was consecrated to Amon Ra’s fertility aspectRamses II, with the help of his architect, Pak-in Khonso, added the front part and completed the Temple. He also added the now present impressive forecourt and a Pylon
At the (northern) front of the Temple. Kings Merenpetah, Seti I, Ramses III, Ramses IV and Ramses VI built many more small additions, and Alexander the Great rebuilt the sanctuary.
During the Christian era, the inner section was converted to a beautiful church. However, Muslims built the Mosque of Abou El-Hagag in sometime during the 10th century.
King Nektanebo built the Sphinx Avenue in front of the temple that leads to the entrance. In front of the Great Pylon of Ramses II, there once were 2 obelisks. Only one of them still stands. In 1819, the other was transported to La Place de le Concorde in Paris, as a gift to King Philip Louis of France by Mohamed Ali the Turkish king who ruled Egypt at this time, There were 6 standing statues in front of the Pylon, only one of them, located on the western side, remainsNext to the first pylon’s gate, which is 24m high, are two quite impressive, seated colossi representing King Ramses II, seated on his throneTo the right side of the open court is an ancient triple shrine made by Queen Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III, that they dedicated to the sacred boats of the “Triad of Thebes”. To the left is the Mosque of Abou El-Hagag.The open court of Ramses II leads to the colonnade, which was built by Amenhotep III, and decorated by Tutankhamenand later by Horemheb.
