The great king of Egypt, Amenophis III, built the temple of Amun about which Luxor has grown up. He did not finish it, and Rameses II added to it a huge columned court. But this temple was never altogether completed. Still, it measures almost 900 feet from front to rear.
Rameses II also erected outside some colossal statues and a pair of obelisks. One of these obelisks now stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. It was taken there in 1831.
The chief religious festival of Thebes was that of "Southern Opi," the ancient name of Luxor. The sacred ships of the gods, which were kept in the temple of Karnak, were then taken in procession to Luxor and back.
Most of the old village of Luxor lay inside the courts of the temple. The Christians built churches within the temple. Luxor was also called Abul Haggag, from a Moslem saint of the seventh century. His tomb stands on a high heap of debris in the court of Rameses.
Today Luxor is a tourist center, and several fine hotels have been erected to accommodate the many visitors to the famous ruins. Nearly all the debris has been cleared away by the Service des Antiquités, which took up this work in 1885. Most of the natives thereabout are engaged in the manufacture of forged antiques, which they sell to the unwary traveler.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 42, SERIAL No. 42
COPYRIGHT, 1913. BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
KARNAK—VIEW FROM SACRED LAKE, EGYPT