Most Impressive Ancient Egyptian

Temples Still Standing Today

If you’ve been to Egypt before, it might have felt like a whirlwind of temples, tombs, monuments, pyramids and artifacts that probably wowed and confused you in equal measure. So long as temples were a huge part of Ancient Egypt, and luckily we still have some mighty impressive ones still standing in Egypt today. 

Temple of Hatshepsut

Temple of Hatshepsut, Luxor

The Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt from around 1479 BC until her death in 1458 BC, is situated on the west bank of the Nile. It is a colonnaded structure, which was designed and implemented by Senemut, the royal architect of Hatshepsut, to serve for her posthumous worship and to honor the glory of Amun. The temple is built into a cliff face that rises sharply above it and consists of three layered terraces reaching 30 meters (97 ft ) in height. These terraces are connected by long ramps 

which were once surrounded by gardens.

Luxor Temple

Luxor temple, Luxor

The Luxor Temple is located on the east bank of the River Nile in the ancient city of Thebes and was founded in 1400 BC during the New Kingdom. The temple was dedicated to the three Egyptian gods Amun, Mut, and Chons. The temple was the center of the festival of Opet, Thebes’ most important festival. During the annual festival the statues of the three Gods were escorted from the temple of Amun in Karnak to the temple of Luxor along the avenue of sphinxes that connect the 2 temples. Today Luxor is the premier travel destination in Upper Egypt and many Nile cruises start or end in the city.

Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel, Aswan

The twin temples of Abu Simbel were carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses The Great in the 13th century BC, as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari. The complex was relocated in its entirety in the 1960s to avoid their being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of a dam on the Nile. Abu Simbel remains a top Egypt tour destination

Philae Temples

Philae Temples, Aswan

The island of Philae was the center of the cult of the goddess Isis. The first temple on the island was built by native pharaohs of the 30th dynasty. The temple construction continued over a three century period by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty and the Roman rulers. The Roman Emperor Trajan built the Trajan’s Kiosk in 100 AD which probably served as a river entrance into the larger temple of Isis. In the 1960s the temple and other monuments on the island were transported to the island of Agilika by UNESCO to save it from being submerged by the rising waters of the Nile due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The island of Philae is now buried beneath Lake Nasser.

Karnak Temple

Karnak Temple, Luxor

Although badly ruined, few attractions of an Egypt tour are more impressive than Karnak. It is the largest ancient religious site in the world, and represents the combined achievement of many generations of Egyptian builders. The Temple of Karnak actually consists of three main Egyptian temples, smaller enclosed temples, and several outer temples located about 2.5 kilometers north of Luxor. It took millennia to build and enhance the massive Karnak Temple. However, most of the work on Karnak was done by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom (1570-1100 BC). One of most famous structures of Karnak is the Hypostyle Hall, a hall area of 5,000 m2 (50,000 sq ft) with 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows.

Temple of Seti I at Abydos

Abydos Temple, Sohag

The Temple of Seti I is one of the most impressive temples found in Abydos, an ancient sacred city in the modern Egyptian governorate of Sohag. It was built as a memorial to Seti I, a New Kingdom pharaoh, and is famous for being where the ‘Abydos King List’ was carved; it was a chronological list of pharaohs (that Seti recognized), starting from Narmer/Mena, the first Egyptian pharaoh, up to Ramses I (Seti’s father).

Temple of Hathor at Dendera

Temple of Hathor at Dendera, Qena

Known for its still-startling blue more than 2,000 years later, the Temple of Hathor is the most impressive site at the temple complex at Dendera. Built in the Ptolemaic era, it shows Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman influences and has several shrines to different gods. It’s also known for the clear depictions of Cleopatra and her son Caeserion, fathered by Julius Caesar.