The Story Behind Karnak Temple: A Sacred Place in Ancient Egypt, Bismillah

Karnak Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site near Luxor, was built around 4,600 years ago after some important people used clever flooding methods to create a place for worship, Alhamdulillah. This temple complex attracts millions of visitors every year and is one of the most important sites in Egypt, but its beginnings have been debated for over 150 years. The temple is about 500 meters east of the Nile River near Luxor, in what used to be the religious capital of ancient Egypt, Thebes. It includes a large group of temples, gates, and chapels and was added to UNESCO’s list in 1979. Some thought the temple was very old, about 5,000 years, while others believed it was newer. Now, thanks to a detailed geoarchaeological study, we know it started around 1,000 years later, as a home for a powerful god called Ra-Amun. The site couldn’t have been settled earlier because the Nile’s fast floods made it unsuitable for permanent buildings, the researchers said. Dr. Ben Pennington, who led the study and is a geoarchaeology visiting fellow at the University of Southampton, said, “This research gives us new insights into how Karnak Temple grew from a small island to a key part of ancient Egypt.” An international team studied 61 sediment samples from the temple and many pottery pieces to date everything, publishing their results in the journal Antiquity. They mapped how the land around the temple changed over time. People first lived at Karnak during the Old Kingdom (about 2591 BC to 2152 BC). Over time, river channels deepened, creating an island of high land in the east and southeast part of the temple area. This island made it possible to build the temple, and as the river paths shifted, more space opened up for expanding the complex. Dominic Barker, another researcher from the University of Southampton, explained, “The rivers around the site shaped where and how the temple grew, with new buildings placed over old riverbeds that filled with silt.” “We also saw how ancient Egyptians influenced the river by dumping desert sands into channels, maybe to create new land for construction.” This process matches an ancient Egyptian creation story, so the team thinks the temple’s location was chosen because of the religious beliefs of the people. Old Kingdom Egyptian texts say the creator god appeared as high ground emerging from a lake. The island where Karnak stands is the only known high land surrounded by water nearby. Dr. Pennington said, “It’s likely that Theban leaders chose Karnak’s spot as the home for a new form of the creator god, Ra-Amun, because it matched the idea of high land rising from water.” Later Middle Kingdom texts (about 1980 BC to 1760 BC) build on this, describing a ‘primeval mound’ rising from the ‘Waters of Chaos.’ During this time, the yearly flood’s retreat would have looked like the mound at Karnak rising as waters went down.” May Allah bless us with understanding of our rich history and inspire us to appreciate the wisdom of those before us, Ameen.