Great Hypostyle Hall and temple-building at Karnak

Date

c. 1290–1213 BCE

Category

Culture, arts & philosophy

Region

Egypt (Thebes / Karnak)

Era

Ancient Civilizations

Significance

Across the late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, the temple complex of Amun-Ra at Karnak grew into the largest religious structure of the ancient world. Its centerpiece, the Great Hypostyle Hall, was begun under Seti I and completed by his son Ramesses II in the early 13th century BCE.

The hall covers about 5,000 square metres and contains 134 sandstone columns, the twelve along the central processional aisle rising some 21–24 metres, their capitals shaped like open papyrus flowers. Seti I decorated the northern wing in fine raised relief and Ramesses II the southern wing largely in sunk relief, much of it recording royal piety and military achievements, including Kadesh. The vast scale of building at Karnak and the neighbouring Luxor Temple reflected the immense wealth of the Amun priesthood and the New Kingdom state's investment in monumental religious architecture, which projected royal and divine power on an unprecedented scale.

Empires active in c. 1290–1213 BCE

• New Kingdom of Egypt
  1550 BCE – 1077 BCE
• Shang Dynasty
  1600 BCE – 1046 BCE
• Hittite Empire
  1650 BCE – 1178 BCE
• Elamite Kingdom
  2700 BCE – 539 BCE

Related culture, arts & philosophy events

• Oracle-Bone Script: Earliest Attested Chinese Writing
  c. 1250 BCE
• Tomb of Fu Hao: An Undisturbed Shang Royal Burial
  c. 1250 BCE
• Merneptah Stele: earliest mention of 'Israel'
  c. 1208 BCE
• Olmec colossal heads carved at San Lorenzo
  c. 1200 BCE
• Compilation of the Zhouyi (Core of the I Ching)
  c. 9th century BCE
• Composition of the early Upanishads
  c. 800–500 BCE

Further reading

The Story of Art

The wider story

The Story of Art

E. H. Gombrich

The best-selling art history ever written, from cave paintings to the modern age.

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