Karnak. His successors continued improve-
ments to the temple’s ceremonial spaces, con-
structing processional avenues, courts, and
pylons. Karnak grew to become one of the
largest religious complexes, measuring nearly
two square miles.
Famous for its soaring columns and statues
of Ramses II, the impressive Luxor Temple was
built between and during the reigns of Amen-
hotep III and Ramses II, circa 1400 to 1200 B.C.
Archaeologists believe a smaller temple stood
there originally before Amenhotep III, Tut-
ankhamun, and Ramses II enlarged the com-
plex and added a large court,
numerous halls, a majes-
tic colonnade, a pylon,
and obelisks.
The proces-
sional route be-
tween the tem-
ples varied with
time, sometimes
traveling by foot
along the Avenue
of Sphinxes, a road
nearly two mileslong and lined with statues of the mythical
beasts. At other times, the sacred statue trav-
eled from Karnak to Luxor in a specially made
bark, known in Egyptian as the Userhat-Amun
(“mighty of prow is Amun”). This vessel was
built of Lebanon cedar covered with gold. Its
prow and stern were decorated with a ram’s
head, sacred to the god.Evidence in Pictures
Most of what is known about the festival is
iconographic and comes from artwork found
at the temple precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak,
the Temple of Luxor; and the mortuary temple
of Ramses III at Medinet Habu.
The earliest evidence comes from the Red
Chapel of Queen Hatshepsut (reigned 1479-
1458 B.C.). During her reign, only Amun-Re
traveled from Karnak to Luxor. The reliefs from
the Red Chapel depict the god’s shrine being
carried by priests. Initially, the journey was
made on foot, stopping at six altars constructed
by Hatshepsut along the Avenue of Sphinxes
that ran between the two temples. The reliefs
then show both statue and the priests return-
ing downstream to Karnak by boat.A Sacred
Boathouse
THE OLDEST evidence of the Opet festival
dates from the reign of Hatshepsut and
consists of carvings on the south side of
the Red Chapel at Karnak. Made of blocks
of red quartzite and gray diorite, the chapel
housed the sacred bark of Amun when not
in use for Opet or other festivals.
FOLLOWING THE QUEEN’S DEATH, her
chapel was broken up, and parts of it used
to fill in the third pylon of Karnak, built by
Amenhotep III. Following an earthquake
in the 19th century, the blocks were redis-
covered. After painstaking research, and
significantly aided by piecing together
the scenes depicting the Feast of Opet,
researchers were able to reconstruct the
chapel. Its dimensions have also helped
historians estimate the size of the bark
MAGICA/ALAMY/ACI that it housed.STONE
SPECTACLE
Drawn on a
limestone
fragment, this
13th-century B.C.
sketch (below)
shows Amun’s
bark borne by
priests. Egyptian
Museum
and Papyrus
Collection, Berlin
M. BÜSING/RMN-GRAND PALAISTHE RECONSTRUCTED RED CHAPEL OF QUEEN HATSHEPSUT
AT KARNAK. THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURE CONTAINS THE
EARLIEST DEPICTIONS OF THE FEAST OF OPET.36 MAY/JUNE 2019