âDescription: Constructed in the 14th century BC by Amenhotep III, the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the Luxor Temple was part of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes.
The Ancient Egyptian temple complex of Luxor was founded in 1,400 BC and was expanded by 18th Dynasty Pharaohs Amenhotep III and Tutankhamun, and later by Ramesses the Great, and under the Roman Empire it was used as a fortress and government building.
The Romans constructed a military fort around the temple that the Arabs later called Al Uqsur (The Fortifications), which was later corrupted to give modern Luxor its name.
The Temple was also known as the Southern Sanctuary, its main function was during the annual Opet celebrations, when the statues of Amun, Mut and Khonsu were brought from Karnak, along the Avenue of Sphinxes, and reunited here during the inundation.
In the 14th century, a mosque was built in one of the interior courts for the local sheikh Abu Al Haggag. Excavation works, begun in 1885, have cleared away the village and debris of centuries to uncover what can be seen of the temple today, but the mosque remains and has been restored after a fire.