At Luxor Temple

Our last big Temple--built in the 18th and 19th Dynasty, largely by Amenhotep iii, and then Ramses ii. So beautiful and so interesting, it's impossible to pick one photo. Alexander the Great also modified parts of this Temple and has himself carved on the wall as an Egyptian King it is approached by an avenue of sphinxes which once stretched all the way to Karnak Temple - 1.2 miles. The gods were carried from one to the other in procession as part of an annual festival. the whole avenue is being restored, requiring the demolition of many buildings, including mosques and churches. Originally it had 2 obelisks to flank the main gateway, but one was given away by Mohammed Ali to the people of France and stands in the Place de la Concord in Paris. Eventually I'll post some of these pictures on another site, but I couldn't resist these darling Egyptian children posing for their father's camera in an inner hall of columns(somewhere between 1500 and 1100 BC) (Maybe I was thinking of the grandchildren???) it was school vacation but we didn't see a lot of school kids at most of the ancient sites.