Waset to ancient Egyptians and Luxor today, Thebes is best known probably for its Greek name – not to be confused, of course, with the city-state in ancient Greece. Thebes in upper Egypt also served originally as a city-state. The city developed into the ascendant city of all Egypt around 2000 BC. Armies from Waset went forth to reunify the country at the end of the First Intermediate Period – 2125-2010 BC. Today’s armies are tourists from all over the world seeking to recapture some of the glory of the ancients.

THEBES

City leader, Mentuhotep II ended a longstanding civil war with forces located in Herakleopolis – Roman name (in ancient Egyptian nn nswt or also Henen-Nesut and Ihnasiyyah al-Madinah in Arabic. Mentuhotep went on to establish the Eleventh Dynasty (2080-1938 BC) and the Middle Kingdom. Thebes hit its apogee during the years of the New Kingdom (1539-1069 BC) especially during the reign of Amenhotep III (1390-1353 BC). He raised many of the monumental buildings making the city one of the best known in all ancient Egypt.

Thebes was the largest city for much of ancient Egypt’s history. Set on the east bank, the flood plain of the Nile at a particular wide spot, the city can be divided into two entities both geographically and ideologically by the Nile. The east was for the living. It lay, also, in the direction of the sunrise. The west side with its desert mountains encroaching on the much smaller flood plain, existed mostly for the dead – the land of sunset. A city of the river, like most in Egypt, Thebes also controlled many of the tracks in the desert to the west of the mountains lining the west bank.

Some historians estimate Thebes was the largest city in Egypt with a population around 40,000 – Memphis, capital of the Old Kingdom had shrunk to 30,000 by 1800 BC. One historian, Ian Morris, pegs the population growing to 75,000 by 1500 BC, making it the largest city in the world. Other sources estimate much larger populations. It would remain important until about 900 BC.

BASIC EASTSIDE LAYOUT

Two magnificent temple complexes – several other temples associated within the complexes – anchor the sites of the New Kingdom here. To the north is the Karnak complex, the religious center for Egypt. To the south, you find the Luxor Temple complex, smaller in layout and not as old, but still dramatic and full of tourists.

Both complexes stand linked together by the 3-kilometer-long Avenue of the Sphinxes. This served as a processional path between the two temples leading from the Temple of Mut by the tenth Pylon at Karnak south to the Luxor Temple – note separate tickets need purchase for the walk. Luxor is 500 Egyptian pounds while Karnak is 600. Walking from Luxor to Karnak, you can buy the additional Karnak ticket from the Misr Public Library.

inevitable crowds

Note that both complexes can feature huge crowds of tourists – many staying in Luxor or on Nile River cruise ships, but also hordes of tourists on day trips from the Red Sea vacation beaches around Hurghada.

Crowds here can give the Sistine Chapel a run for their money. The Karnak bus parking area is jam packed. Of course, everyone involves themselves in taking selfies or circumnavigates around the statue of the scarab beetle near the Sacred Lake – supposedly for good luck. Maybe the crowds thin out during the summer, but then the temperatures rise into the high 40’s C.

EGYPTIAN TEMPLE DESIGN

General temple appearances followed a similar pattern in ancient Egypt, except for the reign of Akenaten and his newly created city of Akhet-Aten (better known today as Amarna). An open court or possibly a series of courts, brings one to a large columned hall. The inner sanctuary contained a statue of the god within a confined dark space, symbolic of the darkness found in primordial times. Walking back from the shrine takes you out through a hall of columns shaped as gigantic marsh plants, papyrus and lotus, plus one or two more courts representing a newly created world. Pylons marking temple entrances showed smiting scenes guarding the sacred space of the temple from the chaos of the outside world. Thus, the temple exemplified through its process of creation and daily rituals the proper balance of the created world. Maat – order – was maintained with the help of the temple.

Temples required a large amount of resources – agricultural lands, fowl, cattle, as well as access to ships and expeditions aimed at procuring items necessary for the rituals such as incense and ostrich feathers. Possibly, normal people were allowed into the open courtyards in front, especially during time of festivals. They were not allowed into the temples, however, only priest and highly ranked royals. The work of temples geared at maintaining maat, also important with funerary and afterlife practices.

IPET-ISUT

The whole site covers 250,000 square meters with the main temple occupying 61 acres. Karnak’s ancient name, Ipet-Isut, translates to “most select of places”. It comprises one of the largest religious sites of the ancient world. The main deity served was Amun who was the God of choice in the New Kingdom. Most of the complex dates to the New Kingdom with several kings – about thirty pharaohs in all contributed in some way adding on to the site.

The main pharaohs playing a role in the development were Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III and Ramses II. Construction continued during the Ptolemaic era. the last hieroglyphics addition dates to 81 AD. For most visitors, Karnak equates to the Precinct of Amun-Ra, but there are three other main precincts, Precinct of Mut, Precinct of Montu and the Gem-pa-Aten, an addition dating to Amenhotep IV/Akhtenaken (the latter is closed to the public). Beyond these four precincts, there exist other smaller temples and sanctuaries.

BEGINNINGS OF GRANDEUR

While most of the temple complex here dates to the New Kingdom, evidence puts early construction back as far as 2120 BC – First Intermediate Period. There is a reconstruction of this limestone temple built in the time of King Senwosret I – 1970 BC – to the left of the first large courtyard you come to passing through the First Pylon. The original pieces became recycled as parts of Amenhotep’s Third Pylon – 1390-1352 BC. The pieces were removed between 1927-1930 and reassembled in the small building seen today. It served as a barque shrine where the barque of Amun during the Twelfth Dynasty kings Amenemhat III or Amenenhat IV 1818-1760 BC.

Originally the building served as a Jubilee (White) Chapel for Senworset. Jubilees typically occurred during the 30th year of the king’s reign – though other kings-queens such as Hatshepsut and Akhenaten reinterpreted the festival for political and symbolic purposes rather than strict tradition. Jubilees formed reaffirmations of the king’s right to rule, his union with the gods and eternal guardian of maat – order as opposed to chaos.

THEBAN TRIAD

Things really got going during the reign of Amenhotep III 1390-1352 BC. Ruling for 38 years, he dismantled the White Chapel to use it as fill for his Third Pylon which served as the entrance to his new Temple dedicated to Amun-Ra. Earlier, Amun-Ra worship had centered further north in Heliopolis – a suburb of modern Cairo near the International Airport. Temples to Mut (Hatshepsut) and Khonsu (Ramses III) developed later in honor of the Theban triad – Mut, the mother; Amun, the father and Khonsu the son.

Khonsu, the traditional God of the Moon, shared links to other divine children like Horus (both Khonsu and Horus are often depicted as men with the head of a falcon and both are associated with protection and healing) and Shu (God of light, peace, lions air and wind was also spouse and brother of the goddess Tefnut). Creation stories seem to vary in Egypt. Here, Khonsu becomes a great snake involved with fertilizing the Cosmic Egg to create the world. He was instrumental in creating new life in all creatures.

khonsu and the ogdoad

The story here in Thebes is that the god Amun emerged from the Nun as a serpent and depositing his semen into primordial waters in the form of a falcon egg. Khonsu, a second primordial snake and son of Amun, devours the semen becoming pregnant. As a crocodile, Khonsu travels to the primordial mount cleansing his mouth of the waters of Nun. There, copulating with the goddess Hathor-in-Benenet, the city of Thebes is born with Khonsu becoming responsible for the birth to the eight gods of the Ogdoad. The Ogdoad then ascends to the Island of Flames, where they create the sun god.

AMUN-RA

Amun and his doublet Amunet gained worshippers in the Old Kingdom as members of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad – the eight primordial deities of Hermopolis and Memphis. With the influence of Thebes politically predominate after the expulsion of the Hyksos at the end of the Second Intermediate Period, Amun had risen from relative obscurity to become the patron deity of Thebes with the Eleventh Dynasty replacing Montu (traditional Egyptian God of War). Amun was known as the “Hidden One” shown sometimes with blue skin in human form wearing a crown of tall double plumes, though he could also take the form of a ram or goose. While one of the eight Ogdoad gods, Amun did not become prominent until about the time of the Eleventh Dynasty. Theban-based, the royal family raised Amun to national prominence, especially after combining him with Ra to become Amun-Ra.

the creator

Amun-Ra was seen as the ultimate creator. He made himself when nothing else existed. Out of nothingness, he transformed himself into the Ogdoad with each of the eight deities taking on a specific quality. This enabled the creation of a pre-creation universe – infinity now existed and darkness filled with an expanse of motionless water. Amun-Ra then manifested himself as the first mound of earth – traditionally, right here at Karnak. He then became the sun and the gods of Heliopolis, together with whom the physical world was formed.

Trinities seem to play roles in many religions and Egypt was no exception. Amun made up the Theban Triad with Mut as his wife and Khonsu as their son.

The “Hidden One” likes his offerings

But after all of that hard work, Amun-Ra receded from the picture. No one – including the gods he created – knew or could know his true appearance. If one could ascertain an inkling about him, you simply fell dead, even if you had found him by accident. He plays little part in the myths of Egypt, though many hymns praised him and his name.

With the re-unification of Egypt, Amun became a national god fusing with the sun god Ra as Amun-Ra, now the King of the Gods. As Amun-Ra, he maintained chief importance in the pantheon of Egyptian gods and goddesses.

With the central temple created here at Karnak, where land originally popped out of the primordial seas, incredible wealth gathered in the form of treasures in the form of minerals, jewels, agricultural goods, animals – the priesthood owned fields, gardens, boats, livestock brought in from all over an ancient Egypt at the peak of its political sway during the Nineteenth Dynasty.

Huge numbers of people worked here – 81,322 recorded working here in the time of Rameses III. Each day, the priests would offer up to Amun-Ra 1,600 liters of grain to go along with bird, wine, fruit, incense, etc. The Temple of Montu recorded during the reign of Amenhotep III receiving 2,300 kilograms of gold among all of the precious goods given to support temple construction, and that was just for the Temple of Montu.

INFLUENCES BEYOND THE NILE

As chief deity, Amun-Ra (who possibly could have originally had Libyan beginnings) gained followers outside Egypt – Zeus Ammon and Jupiter Ammon. There was one oracle credited to Amun in the Western Desert near the Libyan border at Siwa Oasis. There, Alexander the Great became pronounced as the son of Amun in 332 BC. Alexander referred to his true father as Zeus-Ammon.

Amun already served as chief deity for Kush kingdom located much farther to the south along the Nile between the Third and Sixth Cataracts. In Kush, Amun was depicted as a woolly ram with horns. As rams were considered a symbol of virility, Amun also began to absorb some of the identity of Min who earlier during the Middle Kingdom years had closely linked with Horus to form Min-Horus. By the time of the New Kingdom, Min fused with Amun as Amun-Min. This is the form of Amun found along the Avenue of Sphinxes where he is Ka-mut-et, “Bull of His Mother”, a ram-headed lion. In the Amun-Min form, depictions show him as an ithyphallic figure. With a erect penis he represents fertility among other implications.

Amun-Ra and a re-unified Egypt

With Egypt re-unified construction began in earnest in the Karnak Temple complex. With the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhotep I (1514-1493 BC) built a barque shrine and gateway, today known as the Second Pylon. His successor Thutmose I (1493-1481 BC) built an enclosure wall around the earlier Middle Kingdom temple connecting with the Fourth and Fifth Pylons making up the oldest part of the temple still standing in their original places.

Hatshepsut (1475-1458 BC) added fourteen papyrus columns between the Fourth and Fifth Pylons as well as to obelisks later hidden from view by walls built by her son Thutmose III (1479-1425 BC). Earlier, Thutmose II (1481-1479 BC) had a large festival courtyard built in front of the temple. That courtyard does not exist anymore, built over with the Third Pylon – Amenhotep III (1390-1353 BC) – and the Great Hypostyle Hall which took place mainly during the reigns of Seti I (1290-1279 BC) and Ramses II (1279-1213 BC).

RELIGIOUS SIDETRACK

Amenhotep III’s son, Amenhotep IV – later Akhenaten (1353-1336 BC) – completed his father’s enlargement of the main temple with the completion of a new temple behind the old one, the Temple of Akhmenu – “most glorious of monuments” or also translated as “monument to living spirit”. It was during Amenhotep III in which worship of Amun as a solar deity solidified. His son took things in a new direction. For the first five years of his reign, he continued the work his father began.

He also added a large new open temple devoted to Aten, Gem-pa-Aten – “The sun disc found in the Estate of the God Aten”. This temple existed outside the Precinct of Amun-Ra to the east. Without a roof and built quickly with the use of talatat blocks – standardized limestone blocks in size and of weights more amenable to movement by one person – there is very little left today of the temple. The blocks were reused by Horemheb (1319-1292 BC last of the Eighteen Dynasty) and Ramses II. The talatats made up fill for newer pylons and as foundations for other buildings – much of the Great Hypostyle Hall used the blocks as a foundation.

ATEN

Originally Aten served as merely an aspect of Ra as the disc of the sun. Aten enjoyed worship as a solar deity under Amenhotep III depicted as a falcon-headed god like Ra. At this time, Aten gained center stage of the pantheon of Egyptian gods as the pre-eminent creator deity. Amenhotep IV eventually made Aten the sole god of the Egyptian state religion. With his wife Nefertiti, Amenhotep IV – now known as Akhenaten – moved the capital downstream to found a new city known as Akhetaten. Akhenaten’s religio-political move did not outlast him as his son, Tutankhamun (1332-1322 BC) moved everything back to Thebes restoring Karnak to interrupted glory.  

THEBAN APOGEE

The pharaohs of the Nineteenth Dynasty brought the Karnak Temple complex to its highpoint. Seti I and his son Ramses II finished the magnificent Great Hypostyle Hall. For most visitors, this area constitutes their vision of what Karnak is. Their successor, Merenptah (1214-1204 BC) commemorated his victories over the Sea People and Libyans in prose on the wall beside the Sixth Pylon. The new dynasty focused upon re-establishing order in the kingdom after the era of Akhenaten.

With Egyptian domestic distractions, the Hittites had begun encroaching upon Canaan and Syria, lands under Egyptian sovereignty since early in the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Seti I confronted the Hittites in battle several times reconquering most of the lost grounds, but it would be Ramses II who would finally bring the Hittites to heel. Both pharaohs placed scenes of their successes on the walls here at Karnak focusing on the Great Hypostyle Hall – Seti I’s deeds engraved on the northern section while Ramses II got his on the southern walls.

political capital on the move

Seti I changed the political capital back to Memphis. The city of Memphis enjoyed a more central location from which to control both halves of Egypt. Ramses II moved his capital even further to the north founding a new city, Pi-Ramses, located near the old Hyksos capital of Avaris in the eastern area of the Nile Delta. Merneptah (1213-1204 BC) would move the capital back to Thebes where it remained during the later run of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Dynasties. With the death of Ramses III (1187-1156 BC) due to an assassination centered upon his harem, Egypt’s time in the sun of power began to fade.

AFTERGLOW

Ramses III and IV both added the Temple of Khonsu on the site of an earlier temple. Constant turnover led to civil war bringing division of the country during the Third Intermediate Period 1069-664 BC. Dynasties continue to rule in the north with the High Priests of Amun ruling the south from Thebes. Minor changes to the complex occurred in these years with the last major change being the addition of the First Pylon and walls enclosing the entire Karnak complex in the time of Nectanebo I (380-362 BC Thirtieth Dynasty). During the Ptolemaic era, Ptolemy III had a large stone gateway built to the south side of the Temple of Khonsu leading to one of the processional avenues which in turn led to the Avenue of the Sphinxes.

VISITING THE TEMPLES

Karnak consists of four main sections. They are all contained in a large open space making up the entire complex, second most visited in the country. First off, if you are on a tour, which the majority seemed to be part of when we visited, then with 1-2 hours onsite, you will stick to the Precinct of Amun-Ra. There is much more to the complex though nowhere near as restored.

Other precincts include the Temple of Montu, Temple of Khonsu and the Temple of Mut. The last two are open to the public – an extra 200 Egyptian pound cost for the latter, while Montu looked closed at my visit. In addition, there is a wide vast open area where Amenhotep IV – better known as his later name Akhenaten – placed his large open Gem-pa-Aten, “The Sun Disc is Found in the Estate of the God Aten”. This area lying just outside the enclosure walls to the northeast past the Temple of Ramses III at the very east end though the Temple of Amun-Ra remains closed today..

WESTERN PROCESSIONAL WAY

But let’s see what is normally seen by tour groups and that is the Precinct of Amun-Ra. Purchase your tickets – 600 Egyptian pounds in February 2026 – and you wander across a large forecourt that stretches from the Nile to the entry of the complex through the First Pylon. Originally, a canal led into a basin in front of the massive pylon. You cross over the now dry basin – look to the right to see the former landing area where boats could be taken in and out of the water – on a bridge lined with rams-headed sphinxes.

The river seems to have slowly shifted to the west over the centuries. The canal and t-basin during the time of the Eighteenth Dynasty bordered the main temple on its wester side – now, where the Second Pylon stands. Those waterways became filled in to make room for temple expansion during the time of Horemheb.

basrque shrines

A century later, both Seti II (1204-1198 BC) and Ramses III both left barque shrines in front of Second Pylon, probably near the banks of the Nile at that time. The river channel kept moving westwards with the new western entrance, quay and revetment wall were built – in front of Pylon One. Here is where the river channel ran during the time of the Twentieth through Twenty-fifth Dynasties. The river shifted further during the Ptolemies, silting up the areas around the quay making new land possible to build on though by that time temple expansion was at an end.

RAM-HEADED SPHINXES

The sphinxes, different from the much more numerous sphinxes found along the Avenues of the Sphinxes leading from the Amun-Ra Temple to the Luxor Temple, date probably back to the era of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. The ram-headed sphinxes represent Amun-Ra in the form of Ka-mut-ef, the “Bull of his Mother”.

Within the forepaws of the ram-sphinxes are a small statue of Ramses II stand. These sphinxes originally stood at the Luxor Temple. High Priest of Amun Pinedjem I (1063-1033 BC) – he elevated himself to kingship for Upper Egypt during the Twentieth Dynasty – moved the 100 sphinxes to Karnak where his builders established a 200-meter-long procession way leading from the temple quay to the temple entrance of the time – Pylon Two. A large stone fragment stands on the south side of the walk bridge leading to the sphinxes. The cartouche of Pinedjem I recall his efforts here.

Some shuffled aside to make room for new “improvements”

During Shoshenq I’s reign (945-925 BC), a new forecourt was added in front of the former entrance cutting the line of sphinxes almost in half. Some remained in the forecourt while others remained in front of the new gate to the temple. The wall enclosing the new courtyard attached the formerly independently standing Temple of Ramses III to the Amun-Ra complex. Taharqo (690-664 BC, a Kushite king of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty) moved the sphinxes in the forecourt away from the center to the north and south edges of the courtyard to make room for a large central kiosk. Of the original ten columns standing, only one remains with inscriptions left behind by Taharqa.

GREAT FORECOURT

Passing through the western gateway of the First Pylon, you come into the Great Forecourt. This area was formed by Shoshenq I when he added walls linking the Temple of Ramses III on the south side with Pylon 2. The area includes a triple barque repository on the northwest edge from Seti II – one barque each for the Theban Triad, Amun, Mut and Khonsu.

The walls of Pylon One – started during the time of Nectanebo I – were never finished. You and still see the mud-brick remnants of construction ramps on the inside of the walls. Forecourts allowed the general population into contact with the Gods. Further entrance was limited to priests and royalty.

There is one lone column remaining from Taharqo’s kiosk in the middle of the forecourt with the Temple of Ramses III on the south side. Two giant statues of Ramses II flank further entrance into the Temple of Amun-Ra.

TEMPLE OF RAMSES III

On the south side of Pylon Two, Ramses III had a new triple barque shrine built which was enclosed later by the walls of Shoshenq I. A small pylon in front of the shrine shows the king smiting his foes. Sixteen statues of Ramses III were found inside the first temple court. Beyond lay a small vestibule and hypostyle hall. The main shrine which normally held a statue of the god being honored was replaced with three barque shrines – Amun, Mut and Khonsu – held inside here for festival days.

GREAT HYPOSTYLE HALL

Sety I and Ramses II built this magnificent hall during their reigns. Sety I began the works building the exterior walls, the hypostyle hall and the Third Pylon. His military exploits became inscribed on the northern walls. Ramses II continued finishing the hall and the walls. He also finished a small temple attached to the eastern end of the main temple.

Filling the hall are 134 massive stone columns with 12 columns with open papyri lining the center of the hall and 122 closed-bud papyri columns aligned on either side of the center – 61 columns to a side. The first row supported the stone ceiling and clerestory windows. Your neck will get tired from craning back to take in the numerous inscribed hieroglyphs on the columns and walls of the hall. This is ground zero for most visitors today, though the holiest part of the temple lay still further back.

Ramesside Reliefs

On the exterior walls on the south side, you find a record of his military expeditions against the Hittites. The first record of a peace treaty between governments is recorded here. Inside, the interior walls of the south side of the Hypostyle Hall are in better condition than the outside with some of the color preserved even. Scenes here include the annunciation of Ramses II as an heir to the throne; his offering given in honor of his father’s death and his eventual coronation as pharaoh.

THIRD PYLON

Thutmose II  1481-1479 BC) added a pylon to the temple placed west of the Fourth Pylon. It enclosed the obelisk of Thutmose I and created a jubilee hall of the king. The pylon was removed during the time of Thutmose III. He also would add the Akhmenu adding onto the east side of the main temple by almost 50%. His workers dismantled much of the jubilee court of Thutmose II to construct the new pylon.

The new pylon shifted the main temple entrance further to the east. It also lay at the intersection of the north-south and east-west processional axis.  Inscribed onto the pylon are scenes from Amenhotep’s jubilee festival – heb sed.

WADJYT

The narrow area separating the Fourth and Fifth Pylons gains the name Wadjyt. Wadj – papyrus – columns held up the roof giving the name to the area. This represented the heart of the Amun-Ra sanctuary. The Fourth Pylon served as the entrance to the Temple of Amun for over a hundred years. The Wadjyt saw completion during the time of Hatshepsut. She replaced earlier stone columns from Thutmose I with the wadi columns – the wooden roof – latter replaced with a stone roof – stood supported by the columns. She placed two red granite obelisks with the hall inscribed with scenes showing her – as a male – making offerings to the gods.

Two other obelisks commissioned by her husband Thutmose II (1481-1479 BC) in the jubilee hall west of the pair erected by Thutmose I. In niches of the Fourth Pylon, she placed Osirian statues – statues showing a pharaoh in the form of a mummy leaning back against a wall or column expressing the pharaoh’s assimilation with Osiris after death (Osiris equaled the God of fertility, resurrection and the underworld). Only one of the two tall – 27 meters –obelisks remain standing. The top part of the second obelisk stands near the Sacred Lake.

SACRED LAKE

The Sacred Lake began when Thutmose III dug a new lake to replace an earlier sacred lake. The lake was used during religious festivals for flotillas of sacred barques and for daily life of the geese of Amun. Priest daily purified themselves in the waters. Tharqo further modified the lake and surrounding structures.

Oh the northwest side lies a monument dedicated to Ra-Horakty. Here, the rising sun finds representation in the form of a dung beetle – the scarab beetle representing resurrection. Around the lake, temple offerings lay stored and dwellings for priests took form on the east side. Waters came from the high-water table being close to the river.

BEYOND

There is a lot more to see here at Karnak, but we – and many other tour groups – were short on time. The actual temple of Amun-Ra built by Thutmose I and added to extensively by Thutmose III lay beyond our walk. To the south, the Temple of Khonsu can now be visited. An extra 200 Egyptian pounds gives you access to the Temple of Mut. It is easy to spend a day here, but you definitely need to pre-plan your visit. Get a good guide and come early or late for the best color for pictures.

While Karnak is not unique compared to other Egyptian temples, it is simply by far the largest. Also, the length of time the complex operated over and with other thirty pharaohs making diverse contributions over time.

FURTHER READING

Toby Wilkinson: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt

Gary J. Shaw: Egyptian Mythology: A Traveler’s Guide from Aswan to Alexandria

Toby Wilkinson: The Nile: A Journey Downriver through Egypt’s Past & Present

And a few excellent websites focused upon the Temple Complex of Karnak:

Digital Karnak: The development of the Temple of Karnak developement-of-karnak-pdf_compressed.pdf

The Digital Karnak site developed by US Santa Cruz Digital Karnak – University of California Santa Cruz

University of Memphis’ Great Hypostyle Hall Project Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall Project – Hypostyle

And their French partner Presentation of the KARNAK Project – Franco-Egyptian Center for the Study of the Temples of Karnak – CFEETK – UAR 3172 of the CNRS – MoTA/SCA