The First Courtyard at the Temple of Amun, Karnak , Egypt

The First Courtyard at the Temple of Amun, Karnak

In the first courtyard of the Temple of Amun at Karnak, on the inside of the courtyard abutted up against the inside of he first pylon is a construction platform built of brick caissons enclosing packed earth between retaining walls perpendicular to the pylon, which is evidence that the first pylon was still under construction when the work was abandoned. 
The first, western pylon of the Temple of Amun at Karnak (in modern Luxor, ancient Thebes) forms the facade to a large, somewhat square courtyard measuring some 84.12 by 99.4 meters. It is bordered on two sides by a portico with columns built during the 22nd Dynasty rule of Sheshonk I (Shoshenq I) , though he left the columns here undecorated except for the five standard bands indicating constriction that separate the column shafts from the capitals. The capitals themselves or in the form of closed buds. 
About in the center of the northern enclosure wall behind the columns is an enigmatic, but interesting depiction. This is the so called magic image of Amun. Here, the pharaoh is referred to as per-aa in the two cartouches, and he is making libation in the presence of a very strange image. The representation has the head of Amun, wearing a crown topped by a solar disk surmounted by two large feathers, which emerge from a goatskin bottle embraced by the extended wings of Ma'at. In turn, this depiction surmounts a pedestal crowned by a uraeus, in front of which is a lion whose chest comes up to the level of the shafts. It would seem that this "magic image of Amun" was perhaps paraded during processions. This scene then sits upon a table fronting a series of lotuses, each of which is giving birth to a new lotus framed by two buds. 
The first open courtyard in the Temple of Amun at Karnak was originally outside the temple proper, so the row of Cryosphinxes outside the temple would have continued unabated within. However, the statues that once occupied the space within the courtyard (some were completely removed) had to be repositioned. They were placed further to the side, just before the columns of the courtyard's flanking porticos. This courtyard includes edifices dating over a thousand year period that extended from the end of the 18th Dynasty to the Ptolemaic Period.
Barque Chapel of Seti II
As one passes through the first pylon, to the left is the quartzite and sandstone triple Barque Chapel of Seti II, sometimes referred to as the repository of Seti II but known in ancient times as "Castle of Seti Merneptah in the Temple of Amun". Its facade, reaching some 7.1 meters above the surrounding pavement, is marked by sloping walls that are capped by the standard torus (a large convex molding, semicircular in cross section) and cornice. The central doorway measures 4.5 meters high, while the side doorways are each 3.79 meters.
The foundation, the first course of stone, and the doorway are all made of quartzite that probably came from Gebel el-Ahmar near Cario. The rest of the building is made of more ordinary sandstone, probably from Gebel el-Silsila. Hence, this edifice is made of white blocks of sandstone from the South placed on red stones coming from the north. The quartzite blocks of the first course of stone also have a much more pronounced slope than the rest of the building. 
In the eastern area of the northern facade of the building we find depictions in two registers of tableaux presenting Seti II offering to the Theban gods. In the lower of these registers the gods are upright and walking, while in the upper they are seated on a cubic throne and holding the was scepter and the ankh (the key of life). The west side of this facade is divided lengthwise by a vertical column of text. here, the king on the left, facing west, claps Amun Re Kamutef around the waist. On the Right, the king is turned to the east, and gives unction to his father, the ithyphallic Amun Re. 
It has three deep chambers for the barques of Mut (left), Amun (center) and Khonsu (right). These chambers have no common entryways. The sanctuary consecrated to Mut has two niches in the back and on its wall is a depiction of the barque of of that god. The central chamber has three niches in its rear wall, and likewise contains representations of the barque of Amun. Here, however, is inscribed the name of Menmaatre (Seti I) rathe than Set II. On the doorway to the Khonsu chamber, neither the lintel nor the jamb of which is adorned with any decorations. However, on the sandstone partition to the right of the doorway are representations of "Khonsu in Thebes Neferhotep", and Thoth, who resides in Hermonthis preceded by Amun. In the chamber for the barque of Khonsu, there are two niches on the rear wall, as well as three more on the east wall. All of these niches probably at one time held statues. Also on the east wall of the Khonsu chamber is a stairway that gives access to the roof of the structure. 
Opposite this triple shrine is a small sphinx, we believe, with the features of Tutankhamun.
The Kiosk of Tahraqa
Centered in the courtyard are the the remains of a huge kiosk of Tahraqa (Taharqa), which was usurped by Psammetichus II (Psamtik II), and the restored during the Greek Period.  It originally consisted of ten, tall, slim papyrus columns linked by a low screening wall, though open at its eastern and western ends. This building now retains only one great column and a large block of Egyptian alabaster (calcite) that resembles an altar that perhaps was once surmounted by a pedestal. However, Champollion tells us that:

"Twleve (?) columns, or rather twelve large scale imitations of the wadj amulets that served as props for the sacred tokens of Amun and the king who inhabited this building, were once in the center of  the large courtyard of the palace. It should in fact be noted that these constructions posses in no way the curve of a column but are lengthier and narrower below the bell of the capital...
It becomes obvious in view of this decoration that the author of the pillars is the king Taharqa, who, after the expulsion of the Ethiopians under Psamtik, the first of the dynasty, has replaced the inscriptions left by the foreign king with those of the native king. However, the proper name of the former, although hammered out, is still quite visible on the second ring of the column of the first Babastite portico."

Left: Colonnade of Taharqa; Right: Heiroglyph Wadj Symbol

Champollion believe that these columns were standard holders. Indeed, the columns the average diameter of the shaft of these columns is round one-seventh the size of the total height, whereas normally this proportion is hardly greater than one-sixth. Their total height is 21 meters, with the aver diameter being 2.99 meters. 
Traditionally, this building has been considered to be another barque chapel, yet, the fact that it was an open structure suggests otherwise. Some Egyptologists today believe that it may have had a function in ritual activities associated with a "uniting with the sun" ceremony, as was practiced in later times at Dendera and elsewhere. However, others maintain that this structure was not open at all, but roofed with timber and was used as a way station for the sacred barques. Indeed, the columns appear to have an abacus (though this is called a dado), usually used to support an architrave. This area was later paved with irregular slabs of red granite.
First Barque Chapel of Ramesses III
In the Harris Papyrus written during the 20th Dynasty, Ramesses IV, recording on behalf of his father Ramesses III, said:

"I made for thee a mysterious horizon in thy city of Thebes over against thy forecourt, O lord of gods (named): 'House (pr) of Ramesses Ruler of Heliopolis, L.P.H., inn the House of Amun", abiding like the heavens bearing the sun. I built it, I laid it in sandstone, having great doors of fine gold. I filled its treasury with the things which my hands carried off, to bring them before thee every day."

He was most likely speaking of Ramesses III's barque chapel in the right (southern) part of the  first courtyard of the Temple of Amun at Karnak. This temple is built on a platform with the profile of a cavetto cornice. The facade of the building is in the form of a pylon, in front of which once stood two squat, six meter royal statues carved from red sandstone. Champollion tells us that the pylon would have been much larger, but its upper portion is destroyed today, so it is missing the cornice, the frieze and the upper section of the tableaux that decorated it. In fact, in antiquity, this was probably a much larger edifice. 
The chapel is indeed an elaborate barque chapel today, but originally it was designed as a miniature version of this king's mortuary temple at Medinet Habu. The monument was entirely crowned with a grooved cornice capping the standard torus that also bordered the corners of the pylon. Champollion described the two underpinnings of this pylon very well, telling us that:

"On the left underpinning, the king Ramessses Meryamun, wearing the pschent [white crown over the red], holds a group of begging prisoners by the hair as he massacres them with his white club. Facing him, Amun-Re presents the harpagon to the pharaoh and holds with his left hand the bonds to which the captives with the coats of arms are attached. These are the people of the North and the Central regions."

A similar scene on the right underpinning portrays the king wearing the red crown. Legrain adds that:

"The door posts and the cornice are of gray speckled granite. This was the great doorway of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usermaatre Meryamun. Hardly any of the blocks that composed it remain."

The splay of the right door post as one enters this chapel from the first courtyard is adorned with horizontal inscriptions of royal titles alternating with baskets that are surmounted with three symbols, including a was, ankh and djed, meaning prosperity, life and stability. 
The first court is lined with eight Osride statues of the king, with those to the west wearing the crown of the red crown of the south, while those on the east, the while crown of the north. The Osirde statues on the west hold the hek scepter in the left and and the nekhakha scepter in their right. The architrave surmounting the Osride pillars (see also Osiris), which once supported a grooved cornice, provide the dedication written by Ramesses III, in two lines, which states:

"He has made the house of Ramesses, sovereign of Heliopolis in the house of Amun, in perfectly sound white stone"

The interior walls are decorated with various festival scenes and texts. 
Beyond the court is a vestibule on a higher level that was also fronted by similar Osiride pillars between which runs a parapet 1.83 meters high, except for the central area. The east face of the pillar to the left of the entranceway provides an excellent example of the royal name of Ramesses III, Usermaatre Meryamun, and below that the name of Mut (the vulture) is carved. A row of bud papyriform columns is set behind the Osiride pillars. Here, the walls are adorned with scenes of sacred processions. The remains of two large statues of Sekmet produced in black granite, similar to those in the temple of Ptah, were found on each side of the doorway that communicates with the next chamber (they hypostyle hall). On the pedestal of the statue on the left was written, "Beloved of Mut-Sekhmet, lady of Asheru", while on that of the right, "Beloved of Sekhmet-Menhit". 
A small, shallow  hypostyle hall follows with two rows of four bud columns each. The shafts of these columns emerge from eight leaves that are carved above the pedestals. Two of the royal cartouches, with a uraei crowned by the solar disk, are engraved in sunk relief, alternate between each of these leaves. Surmounting these cartouches is a register of tableaux carved in very light relief. Above the five constrictive bands of the shaft of these columns, and just below the abacus, the two cartouches found at the bottom of the shaft are repeated, though here only is flanked by uraei. These cartouches are crowned by solar disks.  Scenes within this hall portray the daily worship of Amun, with the king entering the room followed by two gods, including Montu.  
In the rear of the hypostyle hall, a darkened area contains three contiguous chapels for the barques of Karnak triad, as well as a few small rooms. Here, the ceiling was at one level except for the sanctuary of Amun and its flanking rooms, so that a row of clerestory windows at the rear of the hypostyle hall lighted the back of the temple, with additional light provided by slots between the slabs of the ceiling. 
There was a drainage system for water here on the roof, with three gargoyles on each side of the temple. The roofing slabs were placed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, except above the vestibule. 
The Bubastite Portal
Just beside this temple between it and the second pylon is the so called "Bubastite Portal", which gives access to the now famous scenes of Sheshonk I (Shoshenq I), believed to be the Shishak of biblical fame (1 Kings 14: 25-26). The inscriptions on the architrave and pillars that frame the portico are in the name of Sheshonq I and his successors of the 22nd Dynasty. The scenes depict this Libyan king smiting captive enemies on the south face of the main temple's walls. These scenes graphically portray his successful campaign into Palestine, which is believed to be recounted in 1 Kings 14, and 2 Chronicles 12 of the Bible.  Sheshenq himself is presented on the posts of the doorway, along with his son, Iuput, high priest of Amun at Karnak. 
A portal on the courtyard's opposite, northern side communicates with the open-air museum where a number of small monuments have been reconstructed from dismantled blocks found within the temple's walls and pylons. These include the nearly complete limestone barque chapel of Senusret I, shrines of Amenhotep I and II, and Hatshepsut's red quartzite "Chapelle Rouge", which has only recently been reconstructed.
The Second Pylon
At the rear of the courtyard is the second pylon and a vestibule that precedes it, but architecturally forming one building. The western section of the vestibule preserves the vestiges of the tableaux carved in the name of Horemheb, but who's cartouches were subsequently added on to by Ramesses I and II. On the south wall of the vestibule is carved a relief of Amun, who is holding the scythe in his right and and the was scepter in his left. 
This pylon was fronted by two striding colossi of Ramesses II, of which only the feet of one remain. Fronting these is a third, standing statue of the king with the small image of his daughter and queen, Bent'anta, standing between his feet. The statue was later usurped by both Ramesses VI of the 20th Dynasty, and Pinudjem I of the 21st Dynasty. This pylon was begun during the reign of Horemheb, but was not completed until perhaps the reign of Seti I (though also perhaps Ramesses I). Now removed, its core was filled with many sandstone talatat blocks of an earlier temple of Akhenaten. In the southwest corner of the second pylon is an unfinished Anta Pillar with a depiction of Prince Osorkon I being breast fed by Hathor. 
Like the first pylon, this one also has grooves (four) for flagstaffs in each tower. A staircase in the northern tower rises to the top of the pylon. There are decorations on this pylon that were begun by Horemheb and completed by several of his successors. The gateway of this pylon was called "Illuminating Thebes". The Greeks entirely reworked this large doorway. 

The Approach to the Temple of Amun at Karnak in Egypt

The Temple of Amun, which actually houses a number of integrated temples and chapels, is both the central and principal construct at Karnak. It's primary modern entrance is on the west (northwest), and consists of a number of structures and statues leading up and through the first Pylon. In the approach to the Temple of Amun at Karnak in ancient Thebes (modern Luxor), a canal was originally dug out to the Nile terminating at a quay built by Ramesses II located on the western extremity of an avenue bordered with two rows of ram-headed sphinxes. The avenue comes to a holt about twenty meters before the first pylon on the northeast of the main structure which faces the Nile River. The avenue is cut into by the royal highway which went from Coptos to Syrene (Aswan) by way of Thebes, passing between the seventh and eighth sphinxes. 

A modern view of the avenue of Sphinxes showing the Quay

Branching off from the royal highway, a slight ramp climbs toward the quay. Where the ramp begins, there were two human headed sphinxes holding a ram-headed urn in their hands, of which nothing remains but their pedestals, which are 1.5 meters in height. 
The various heights of the annual Nile floods that were marked during the time between the 22nd Dynasty reign of Shoshenq I and the 26th Dynasty reign of Psamtik III can be seen on the western side of the quay. For example:

"Year 3, first month of the third season, day 5 under the majesty of King Shabata. When his majesty was crowned as king in the House of Amun, he granted him that he should splendidly appear as favorite of the Two Goddesses, like Horus upon the throne of Ra. [The Nile] which his father Amun the great, Hapi the great, great in Niles, granted him in his time: twenty (cubits), 2 palms."

These measurements are believed to be marked with regard to a horizontal line that must have formerly served as a reference for the augmentation of the average level of the flood over the course of the seasons. It should be noted that the quay does not bear measurements from the first five years of Taharqa's reign, which is known to have been a period of drought. Once the flood finally did occur, Tahraqa had two stela carved, one in Coptos and the other at Mataanah, to commemorate the event. 
On the northeast and southwest corners of the quay, Seti II had two small obelisks erected. Today, nothing remains of the northern one except the pedestal, but the southern obelisk, which is almost intact, is interesting because it presents Seti II's complete titles, which reading from top to bottom, include his Horus name, his "Two Crowns" name, his Golden Horus name, his throne name as the king of the South and the North, and his "Son of Ra" name, repeated in four vertical columns. Also, a small barque chapel of Hakoris stands to the right of the quay, which once acted as a resting station on the gods' processional journeys to and from the river. 
The avenue of sphinxes consist of statues with lions' bodies and the heads of rams, symbolizing Amun, each of which protect between their front paws a royal effigy of Ramesses II in the form of Osiris. Around each of their pedestals is an extra inscription added during the 21st Dynasty by the high priest Pinedjem, son of Piankh. 
The first pylon, which is the current entranceway to the great Temple of Amun, is composed of two massive blocks framing a large portal. On the west face of each block, for vertical grooves served to house the poles, made from Lebanon cedar and stitched with copper. These poles were adorned with banners (flags) at their tops. 
The pylon may have been built by Nectanebo I, who raised the temenos walls to which the pylon is attached, though this is by no means certain. Hence, it would have been a relatively late addition built during Egypt's 30th Dynasty. However, it is also possible that an earlier pylon may have stood on this same spot. While the pylon is undecorated, high up on its thickness is an inscription left by Napoleon's Expedition, which remains visible today.
The pylon remains unfinished. The north wing has only thirty-two courses and measures 21.70 meters high, while the southern wing has fort-five courses and measures 31.65 meters high. Its thickness at the base is bout 14.5 meters. Though the pylon's four faces remain unfinished, an examination of its construction reveals the extreme care taken in the precision with which the slope of the monument is drawn on each of the blocks. As an example, the ten lower courses and the upper courses marking he projection of the torus in the southwest corner bear a groove indicating its exact slant. 
the doorway of the pylon is rather odd. All of the blocks that constitute its jambs are very carefully jointed, not only on the west facade and the interior of the passageway, but also on their faces joined to the pylon, while the entire eastern facade has remained in a state of construction. The doorway has an interior width of 7.4 meters and a height of 19.36 meters. On the inside of the doorway, to the upper right, the French scholars of the Bonaparte expedition carved the latitudes and longitudes of the principal monuments they surveyed.

The Temple of Montu at Karnak in Egypt

Toward the end of the Middle Kingdom, before the rise of Amun as a truly national god, Montu-Re, a falcon headed god, was the supreme deity of Upper Egypt, where his four bulls were worshiped in sanctuaries at Karnak (modern Luxor, ancient Thebes), Medamud, Tod and Armant.

Just outside of the enclosure wall of the Temple of Amun at Karnak, to the north, are the remains of another quadrangular wall that enclosed the temple dedicated to the Montu triad at Karnak, which was oriented on a north-south axis. This is the smallest of Karnak's three walled compounds. Along with the temple of Montu, there are several other small chapels in this area dedicated to various deities.
For many years, there was a legend of a fabulous treasure belonging to the temple, transmitted across the ages. Legrain reported that:
"North of the temple of Montu stands the Gate of the Slave. Once I was told how in the evening a large Negro would stand there waiting for passersby to whom he would offer access to an underground domain full of fabulous treasure. The entrance was located in the west part of the gate's frame, exactly under the spot where the sculptor Castex carved his name in the year VII of the French Republic. Those invited would enter confidently and return laden with gold, but suddenly, the black slave would rise up in their path and demand, as in the tale of Ali Baba, that the secret word be spoken immediately. If this wasn't done, the wall would close back up and crush the treasure hunter, while the Negro would burst into laughter, revealing all his large white teeth."

The Temple Precinct of Mut at Karnak in Egypt

Aerial View of the Temple of Mut at Karnak

Mut was the consort of Amun-Re, King of the Gods, and mother of Khonsu, who was associated with the moon. Like many other goddesses, Mut had a human and a feline form. In her human guise, she was a protective mother. As the lioness-headed Sekhmet, she was a fierce defender of Egypt who could turn against humankind if angered. Many of the rituals in Mut’s temples were aimed at keeping the goddess content.

One of Mut's primary temples was located at Karnak. This temple for many years laid in ruins beyond the south gate (200 meters south of the 10th pylon of the Amun Temple) of the Karnak precinct. For some time now it has been undergoing restoration work. However, it remains today a wilderness of grass and cracking pavement. Yet, the temple retains much of its charm on this hilly land with a beautiful view of Luxor (ancient Thebes) and the Nile River.

The Napoleonic Expedition of 1798-1801 recorded one of the earliest plans of the Mut Precinct at Karnak. Another 19th century explorer who visited the site and recorded his observations was Nestor l'Hôte. Interestingly, his drawings, made in 1839, recorded details not present on other plan created both earlier and later, but which have now proved to be accurate. The Royal Prussian Expedition of 1842-1845 led by Karl Lepsius and the first directors of the Department of Antiquities of Egypt, August Mariette and Gaston Maspero, also recorded the sites monuments. However, the first serious archaeological work carried out at the site was actually conducted by two English women, Margaret Benson and Janet Gourlay, between 1895 and 1897. They mostly concentrated on the main temple of Mut.

Then, for over twenty years, not more archaeological work took place until the 1920s, when Maurice Pillet, who was then working for the Department of Antiquities of Egypt, excavated the Temple of Khonsupakherod (or Khonsupakhred, Khonsu the Child), also sometimes referred to as Temple A, located in the northeast corner inside the enclosure wall, and the Temple of Ramesses III, referred to as Temple C, west of the sacred lake. The French archaeologist Henri Chevrier, also working for the Department of Antiquities, carried out limited excavations within the Mut Temple during the 1950s and, Serge Sauneron, Director of the Centre franco-égyptien des Temples de Karnak, began work on the hieroglyphic texts of the Propylon, the site's main entrance during the 1970.
In 1976 the Egyptian Department of Antiquities granted permission to the Brooklyn Museum (now the Brooklyn Museum of Art) to begin a systematic exploration of the site and its monuments. The Detroit Institute of Arts has been associated with this ongoing archaeological project since 1978.
The temple was primarily built by Amenhotep III but other rulers, from the New Kingdom and into the Ptolemaic (Greek) Period also added and enhanced the temple. Recent excavations indicate that much, and possibly all, of the present precinct was village settlement, until some time in the Second Intermediate Period.
During the reigns of Queen Hatshepsut and King Tuthmosis III, the entire precinct probably consisted of the Mut Temple and the sacred lake, but by Ptolemaic times, it had grown to over twenty acres, including massive mud-brick walls, three large temples, smaller temples and chapels, and housing for priests and others. The Mut Temple was enlarged later in the 18th Dynasty, when the main temple building was completely enclosed by new construction, probably by Amenhotep III. The Mut temple's present second pylon, of mud-brick, dates no later than the 19th Dynasty, and may have replaced an earlier precinct or temple wall. Its eastern half was built of stone late in the Ptolemaic period. The temple's first pylon, also of mud-brick, has a stone gateway built no later than the 19th Dynasty, and displays at least one major repair. This pylon may also replace an earlier northern precinct wall. Parts of the west and north walls of this precinct have been uncovered, including a gate bearing Tuthmosis III's name (possibly usurping that of Hatshepsut), an Amarna Period effacement of the name of Amun and a Seti I restoration inscription. The eastern and southern boundaries of this precinct are as yet undefined.

The temple of Khonsupakherod to the northeast of the Mut Temple was originally outside the Mut Precinct. First built during the 18th Dynasty, it was renovated and expanded by Ramesses II, who made the building a "temple of millions of years" dedicated to himself and to Amun-Re. He added a forecourt, a pylon, two colossal granite statues of himself and two colossal alabaster stelae. The first, recording his marriage to a Hittite princess, was uncovered by Maurice Pillet in the 1920s. The second was discovered by the Mut Expedition in 1979 and records Ramesses' work on a temple, most likely the temple before which the stela stood. In the Mut Temple itself, it was probably Ramesses II who added a stone facing to the south side of the temples' mud brick second pylon and new inscriptions and reliefs to the walls of the second court.

Later Ramesside kings also worked in the area of the Mut Precinct. Ramesses III erected a temple to the west of the Isheru and outside the precinct's walls, but it was later incorporated into the precinct.. This temple is on the same plan as Ramesses III's temple in the Amun precinct and bears on its outer walls the remains of the king's depictions of his Syrian and Libyan wars.
Under King Taharqa of the 25th Kushite Dynasty, the Mut Precinct grew dramatically. This work apparently overseen by one of Taharqa's most important officials, Montuemhat, Mayor of Thebes and Governor of Upper Egypt. Taharqa and Montuemhat rebuilt much of the Mut Temple using blocks from the earlier temples as building material for their expansion. Blocks of relief and inscriptions from 18th through the 20th Dynasties are visible today in the foundations of Taharqa's temple. They also added two long columned porticoes to the north of the Mut Temple's first pylon.
It was also in the reign of Taharqa that the Mut Precinct was expanded to include the Temple of Khonsupakherod. By the 21st Dynasty, this temple may have already become a mammisi, a temple celebrating the divine birth of a god (in this case Khonsu, son of Amun and Mut), and of the king himself. Apparently the temple of Ramesses III was no longer in use, for the second pylon of the Temple of Khonsupakherod seems to have been constructed in part of stone quarried from Ramesses III's temple, including the feet, torsos and heads of colossal statues that once stood in its court. As part of the precinct's expansion and the rededication of the Khonsupakherod Temple, Taharqa created a processional way leading from a gate in the newly built western wall of the precinct to that temple.

Montuemhat and his work did not go unrecorded. A small chapel dedicated to him was created in the eastern wall of the Mut temple has long been known, and in recent years, the remains of at least two other private chapels that relate to Montuemhat and to his son Nesptah have been uncovered. In fact, there seems to have been a proliferation of small chapels in the precinct beginning in the 25th Dynasty and continuing into the 26th Dynasty. One 26th Dynasty chapel was dedicated to Nitocris, God's wife of Amun, and was built in the first court of Temple of Khonsupakherod. Another was a magical healing chapel dedicated by Horwedja, Great Seer of Heliopolis, It was probably during the 30th Dynasty that the precinct achieved its present size and its distinctive trapezoidal shape.
However, the Mut Precinct continued to prosper under the Ptolemies. During the Ptolemaic Period the precinct was given a new main entrance gateway and significant parts of the Mut Temple and the Temple of Khonsupakherod were rebuilt. Elsewhere, Ptolemies V and VII built a chapel, only recently excavated, just inside the Taharqa gateway and dedicated to both Mut/Sekhmet and possibly to the Ptolemaic ancestor cult as well.
Even after the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30 B.C., the Mut Precinct remained an important site. Two stelae record work at the site carried out under the auspices of the Emperors Augustus and Tiberius and this is evident in the temple walls. It seems, however, that beginning in the first century A.D. the Mut Precinct began to decline. The Taharqa gateway was blocked off and a village grew up outside the gate but within the protection of the massive enclosure walls. By late Roman times the Mut Temple had ceased to function. When worship of the goddess died out, people even built houses within some of the temples. Over the centuries, the Mut Precinct’s buildings were a convenient source of pre-cut stone, and as a result, few of its buildings now are taller than six feet. In fact, in 1840, a large part of the temple was dismantled for the erection of a factory.
An avenue of sphinxes leads one through Karnak village to the temple. However, prior to entering the gate of the enclosure wall, there are two small temples located to either side of the avenue of sphinxes. On the eastern side of the avenue is the temple of Amun-kamutef, an ithyphallic god whose name means "Bull of his Mother", and to the east side was a barque shrine built by Tuthmosis III and Hatshepsut. It should also be noted that outside of the eastern section of the enclosure wall is a very small temple built by Nectanebo II.

The overall plan of the Mut temple complex

Inside the enclosure wall, which measures some 250 by 350 meters, were at least six sanctuaries. However, pausing to examine the gate dating to the Ptolemaic era and probably built by Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes I, we find on the east doorpost of the passage a sistrum player, a harpist and a tambourine player who are standing in the presence of Mut who sits upon a throne. Since the earliest of times, music, song and dance played a part in many if not most sacred ceremonies. The harp is very ancient, known from tombs of the 5th Dynasty, and the sistrum, a sort of rattle, is also very old. However, the rhythm of the hymns and dances was usually accompanied by hand clapping and so the tambourine made a rather late appearance in such religious ceremonies. Below these scenes is a long text that relates to the feasts of the temple of Mut. On the east doorpost, we find a frieze of flowing papyrus and buds emerging from a base of wavy lines that signify water, in a style that was typical of the Ptolemaic Period.

Upon entering the precinct, we might first wish to take a brief look at the temple of Khonsupakherod. Notable is the Osirian Statue which is attached to a stela whose edge bears the titles of Ramesses II (Ramesses the Great). Curiously however, the vertical band that descends beneath the two crossed fists of the figure is a combination of the names of Ramesses II and Tuthmosis IV, which are superimposed together in the reverse direction. The inscription reads, "King of Upper and Lower Egypt, master of the Two Lands, usermaatre Setepenre, Son of Ra".
The second cartouche belonging to Ramesses II is not visible, but the inscription is, and may be translated as "Neter-nefer, master of the Two Lands, Menkheperre, Son of Ra, of his breast, Tuthmosis IV, endowed with eternal life.
Within this small temple, on the northern wall, is an unusual scene depicting the circumcision ceremony. Herodotus tells us that:

"They (ancient Egyptians) drink only from copper vessels, which they polish and clean every day with a great deal of care... They wear clothes of linen that are always freshly washed and that they take pains never to stain. They have adopted circumcision in their search for cleanliness, and appear to think more highly of a perfect physical purity than any other adornment."

The circumcision scene in the Temple of Khonsupakherod

Of course, birth scenes of the king and Khonsu are also present.
The main Mut temple is surrounded on three sides by a sacred lake, called the Isheru, that could contain the fierce Sekhmet. Isheru is a term used to describe sacred lakes specific to precincts of goddesses who can be leonine in form. The Mut Precinct's Isheru, fed probably by an underground spring, is the largest in Egypt that is preserved.

The temple consists of an entrance pylon which is fronted by a kiosk of Tahraqa, followed by a court with eight central columns, which in turn is followed by a second pylon and an inner court with Hathor pillars and Sekhmet statues. Afterwards, there is a small hypostyle court flanked by two chapels, which is followed by the sanctuary surrounded by a number of small chambers. A small addorsed temple stands against the back of the main structure. However, the ruined condition of the structure precludes a detailed knowledge of its original form and decoration. The whole of the main temple is oriented towards the Temple of Amun, more or less facing north.

In the remains of the entrance pylon, which was built by Seti II, there is a relief of the dwarf-god Bes and Ptolemaic texts of a Hymn to Mut.

Within the temple, we find a great quantity of statues with the body of a woman and the head of a lion, though many of these statues have been removed and now stand in a number of museums. In fact, most of the statues of Sekhmet that inhabit the museums of the world came from this temple, where it has been estimated that 700 such statues originally stood around three sides of the first court. While mostly identical, these statues of the goddess Sekhmet were dedicated by various individuals, including Ramesses II, as well as the High Priest Pinedjem (who actually ruled southern Egypt) and Henuttawy. However, most bear the name of Amenhotep III. Each of them reveals different inscriptions, such as, "Sekhmet, beloved of Ptah", "Sekhmet, mistress of the western desert", "Sekhmet in the house of Bastet", "Sekhmet the great" and "Sekhmet, beloved of Sobek". Each of these is connected with the myths surrounding this goddess. For example, the first is attributed to Sekhmet as the feminine principle of Ptah.

Most Egyptologists now believe that most if not all of these statues did not originally stand in this district but rather in the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III on the West Bank. They were probably brought to the Mut precinct during the 19th Dynasty when Mut and Sekhmet became more closely associated and rituals involving both with the Isheru first appear to have gained prominence.

Though the temple built by Ramesses III is almost gone, two ruined colossal statues of the king with his queen remain at its entrance, and it still retains some of the military scenes on its outer walls.

Otherwise, not much remains of this great temple complex. Sometimes it seems that more of its artifacts are scattered about in museums than remain in place. However, excavation continues in this area under the direction of the Brooklyn Museum and the Detroit Institute of Arts, and doubtless we will learn much more about it in the future. In fact, finds continue to make news every so often.