The Ancient Gods Luxor Temple
Known as the City of a Hundred Gates, modern-day Luxor was once the capital city of ancient Egypt. It was called Waset or Thebes back then, full of splendour inhabited by Thutmose III, Akhenaten, and Rameses II. Its majestic temples are still visible today, with the most prominent of them being the temple of Luxor found along the riverbanks of the great Nile. The great temple of Luxor was built by Amenhotep III in1390 BC and later completed by Tutankhamun (1336-27 BC) and Horemheb (1323-1295 BC). It was later expanded by Rameses II (1279-13 BC). The temple also contains a shrine dedicated to Alexander the Great.
Over the centuries, the temple has been used as a church and later a mosque which helped preserve it for thousands of years. It has been in almost continuous use until today. You can still see the remains of the Coptic church in the temple’s hypostyle hall as well as the Sufi Shaykh Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj mosque. The entrance has seven pairs of papyrus columns that go as high as 52-foot (16m), and the hall has thirty-two such columns. Visitors get to explore the anti chambers at the rear of the temple, the birth room and a sanctuary dedicated to Alexander the Great.
