The Temple of Khonsu, moon god and third member of the Theban Triad, lies in the southwestern corner of the Central Enclosure. One walks from the Hypostyle Hall of the Temple of Amen south along a stone path through a great field of decorated temple blocks that await re-installation
in various Karnak monuments.

 A spectacularly old and gnarled tamarisk tree stands just east of the temple. It has figured in artists’ paintings of the area for well over a century and offers a delightful spot to take a brief rest.
The Temple of Khonsu lies immediately north of the monumental gateway built by Ptolemy III Euergetes, called the Bab al-Amara. The gate stands 21 meters (68 feet) high and is one of the bestdecorated examples of Ptolemaic architecture to be found at Thebes.

Atext on the gate mentions that a law court, A Site for Giving Ma’at, stood just outside it in Ptolemaic times. The gate also leads to the avenue of sphinxes, perhaps established by Amenhetep III but here built by Nectanebo I in Dynasty 30, which extends nearly three kilometers (1.8 miles) southward to Luxor Temple. At this end of the avenue, the sphinxes are
in poor condition; they have served for centuries as playthings for nearby village children. A shorter row of sphinxes and pillars extends inside the enclosure from the gateway to the temple.Like the Shrine of Rameses III in the Great Court of the Temple of Amen and his West Bank temple at Madinat Habu, the Temple of Khonsu is lso a well-preserved monument with its walls and ceiling still intact. All of these monuments were in large part the work of Rameses III, although the Temple of Khonsu probably was begun in Dynasty 18 by Amenhetep III, then enlarged and extensively decorated by later rulers, especially Rameside rulers, Herihor (the High Priest of Amen), and Pinedjem. The last two were responsible for building the temple pylon and its peristyle court. The Temple of Khonsu is an important monument for Egyptologists because it is one of the few that makes contemporary reference to the serious changes Egypt underwent at the end of the New Kingdom.

 Rameses XI was the last king of Dynasty 20 and his reign witnessed the collapse of Egypt’s fortunes. Foreign relations were at a low, trade was non-existent, and the government was faced with economic depression and civil war. Rameses XI, who resided in the north, could barely control Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt was in the hands of the High Priest of Amen, a former military officer named Herihor, who had adopted several senior titles including that of vizier. Herihor proclaimed that he was re-establishing “divine rule” in Thebes and would restore Egypt’s former glory.

Khonsu, in his form as Khonsu-in-ThebesNeferhetep was an especially popular deity at this time, perhaps more popular even than Amen, and Herihor chose Khonsu’s temple as the place in which to commemorate this change in administration. Here, Herihor confidently represented himself at the same size as Rameses XI and wore costumes usually restricted to the king. With the wealth and backing of the prie sthood of Amen, Herihor had in fact become the ruler of Upper Egypt. The temple’s first pylon is 17 meters (55 feet) high, 32 meters (104 feet) wide, and 10 meters (33 feet) thick. Its face is carved with scenes of Pinedjem I of Dynasty 21 and his wife Henuttawi, offering to Amen, Mut, and Khonsu. In later scenes on the jambs of the doorway, Alexander the Great offers to the triad.

The peristyle court has double rows of columns on three sides. It was the Dynasty 21 work of Herihor, who is shown with the goddess Hathor offering to the Theban Triad on the right (east) wall. To the right of this scene the Temple of Khonsu itself is shown, and one can identify the façade of the first pylon with flagpoles standing in its four niches. Other offering scenes can be seen on the rear wall of the portico. Beyond the peristyle court, a doorway inscribed with the name of Ptolemy IV leads to the hypostyle hall. It has eight columns with papyrus capitals standing over 7 meters (22 feet) tall, each carved with figures of Ramses XI and Herihor. As usual in such halls, the four columns along the main axis are higher than those on the sides. A statue of Khonsu in the form of a baboon has been placed here. The sacred bark of the god was housed in the next chamber, originally made by Amenhetep II and then usurped by Rameses IV.

 Its walls are decorated with scenes of Rameses IV and various deities. Holes in the floor may have heldposts that supported a woven reed mat hiding an altar or shrine from view. Chapels on either side of this sanctuary have wellpreserved color in scenes that show the king and various deities. One of the most interesting scenes, in the right (eastern) chapel, includes a rare figure of an ithyphallic lion-god on the left (west) wall. Most lion deities were female. Behind the sanctuary, a small chamber for the god Khonsu has four sixteensided columns and reliefs that show Rameses III in some scenes, the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar in others. To its northeast, another chamber is decorated with figures of the dead Osiris, lying on his bier with Isis and Nephthys in attendance.

From" The Illustrated Guide to Luxor" by kent R.Weeks ,published by the American University in Cairo Press. Copyright © 2005 White Star S.p.a