The Khonsu Temple was originally built first by Ramesses III, whose catrouche is seen frequently in the inner parts of the building. This little temple lies in the southwest corner of the Karnak complex and is little visited by tourists. That is a pity, for it´s a very good example of a New Kingdom Temple, almost complete and in fairly good shape. You would get a quick insight in the layout of a temple building from this period without walking a mile.

We came upon the Khonsu Temple from behind and could enter through a narrow side door. It led to a small hypostyle hall with 8 columns. Between the western columns a small statue of Djehuty (Gr: Thoth) in baboon-form had been placed. (As Djehuty was a moon deity, like Khonsu, this seems appropriate.) The athmosphere was peaceful, no people were around, the only sound came from the birds high up under the roof. There was an almost overworldly athmosphere around the little statue as it sat, alone and quietly contemplating among the massive columns.

The temple of Khonsu, the moon deity and the "son" of Amun and Mut, the Triad of Waset is a small New Kingdom temple has many fine reliefs still to be seen. It had probably been a very beautiful place, maybe because its small size had something appealing about it. Behind the hypostyle hall with eight columns, there is a pronaos with a pedestal still in place for the bark of Khonsu.

The pronaos with the Bark stand still in place, seen a little from behind.



Closeup on the Bark stand. Ramesses III ties the Two Lands together.

This inner part of the temple was decorated during the Ramesside period but also the Ptolemeians added some reliefs here. There are stairs in the southeast corner but they were barred so we missed the, said to be, splendid overview of Karnak from up there. Maybe another time. But it was up there, in a sun chapel, where the "hour priests" would have recorded the movements of the sun, to ensure that the temple rituals were performed at the exact hour.

The decoration in the small rooms behind the pronaos were also by Ramesses III. Each one of them is dedicated to a special deity; Amun, Re-Horakhty to the south-west, the central one for Khonsu, and the eastern chamber shows Osiris on a bier with Isis and Nephtys mourning on each side of it. There is also a south-eastern room dedicated to Ptah. In many places here, the original color is still there.

Reliefs above the entrance to one of the small side rooms off the pronaos. Cartouches show Ramesses III did this.

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Looking across the inner and outer courtyard, through the pylons.
Outside the gate begins the Processional Avenue for Khonsu towards the Precinct of Mut.


Passing through the pylons and turning around, this is how the Khonsu Temple looks like.
To the left the backside of the Opet Temple is showing.


The small Opet temple huddles close to the side of the Khonsu temple, with only a narrow alley to separate them.

Stones were reused from other temples to a great extent for the construction of this one. There are some places where decorations are not matched, however we didn´t get to notice any of these. But the builders would be many thought time, by the end of the reign of Ramesses IV, only the inner parts and the shrine were completed. The outer court was decorated by general Herihor, and the pylons were built by Nectanebo and decorated by Pinudjem I when he was still a high priest. The Propylon gate is a work by Ptolemy III and a processional avenue for Khonsu goes out from here, later joining the one leading between the Precinct of Mut and the temple of Amun

Above: The Propylon built by Ptolemy III.
Left: Closeup of a decorational element in the Hypostyle Hall

Outside the huge, renovated Propylon to the Khonsu Temple, a tiny girl pressed her nose to the bars. She shouted incessantly: "Madame! Hellooo! Caramella!" You find this happening quite a lot in places.

Next to it lies the Opet Temple, which right now is undergoing major reconstruction works. We walked around it and found a mass of construction scaffoldings and such things which are needed for reconstruction work. There was no way to get inside the Opet temple at this point and work was going on. Hopefully it will be open to visitors in a couple of years. Instead we took the short walk over to the Tenth Pylon, you can see photos here, and followed along its axis through the courtyards to the Sevent pylon.