There are smaller rooms and halls around it for various ritual purposes and the most particular of these is the so called Botanical Garden, a hall where the walls are covered with depictions of flora and fauna encountered on Thutmose´s many military expeditions. On the frieze below you can see no less than nine different kinds of birds, all sos exactly rendered, that you chave no trouble seeing what kind of bird it is. The same goes for flowers and various kinds of plants. It must have looked fantastic once.

A frieze of birds from the 'Botanical Garden', part of the Thutmose Festival Temple.


The backside, view over the 'Botanical Garden'.

But Karnak doesn´t stop here. At the eastern end, behind the Festival Temple, Ramesses II had another temple built, for Re-Horakhety. Rests of great sphinxes show where a processional route going east, once went. At the entrance there are still two big Osiride statues of Ramesses II, but not much more is standing.

This is a little visited part of Karnak. Rubble, stone blocks and coarse grass is what you walk among. Here and there a carving or a fragmentary cartouche emerges. This block with baboons in the posture of greeting the rising sun suddenly appeared by the path:

They had probably adorned a wall in the temple of Ra-Horakhety, which is the form of the sun in the morning as it rises.

The athmosphere is silent, deserted and you almost expect to hear the hissing of a cobra. But no, these are modern days, and the only sound which meets you is the hail from a ghaffir who wants to show you the two small remaining features: to the north just by the path was a small 22nd dynasty shriene to Osiris-HekaDjed and other small shrines.

The gaffers now, these often elderly men in grey-green galabayas which are present everywhere, they are employed by the Egyptian government, to guard the temples and monuments for a probably very small salary. They are happy to be of assistance at all times and have numerous entertaining ways of enticing you to pay an extra pound to them.

Then, finally we have reached the farthest end of Karnak and can gaze up at the portal of Nectanebo I, which, with its 22 m can be seen almost everywhere you go on the temple area. If you look closely at the gate in the picture, you will see a little shadow. It´s the "portal gaffer", sitting silently watching our every movement.

The far end of Karnak. Turn around and...


...this is the view. To the right are some columns of Taharka, and to the right of these is the area where the small shrine of Osiris-HekaDjed is.
Follow the path through the portal and you see the top end of the Thutmose Festival Temple.
Behind it, the Hatshepsut obelisk points to the sky.


One of Thutmose´s birds come alive?

With by now aching feet we walked back along the Sacred Lake and burrowed through thirsty visitors by the café tents which are set up outside the shrine of Taharqa. Through a small door in the Third pylon we came back into the Great Hypostyle Hall. Even if there are several photos from there which can be reached here, still I can´t resist adding just a few here too, for the sake of being somewhat complete about Karnak.

Walking around the Hypostyle Hall, means walking with your head bent backwards a lot, to be able to see the underside of the ceiling beams. Many of them still have the original color and are in such a good shape that you just cannot imagine they have been up there - with no renovation, mind you - for over 3000 years!

A part of the ceiling...


... and a closeup of of a part of that.
This cartouche belongs to the ever-present Ramesses II.

The Great Hall gives a well needed rest from the sun, and if you are careful, you can even sit down a little on the base of a column. Do pay attention, however, that you only use one which is a reconstruction. Too often you can see careless and thoughtless visitors leaning against three thousand year old reliefs...

As you sit there and look arund, you suddenly see something intriguing. Just behind the Second pylon, in the corner by the eastern wall, there is a door. There is no sign, nothing to tell what this little opening leads to, and just now there isn´t even a gaffer to tell you. Probably it is used to keep tools and utilities for the sound & Light Show in but you can´t stop wonder if this was made in antiquity and if so, for what purpose? We refrain from going in there, I have heard an unconfirmed rumour that there actually are cobras at Karnak. But next time, I don´t think I will stay out. I will take out my torch and find out!

. Store room?

Just as we pass the portal in the Second pylon, to go back out into the First Court, we stop. there is another door on our left. And this one is securely filled up with cement and closed. Apparently this pylon had rooms inside at one point. Yes, there must have been stairs going up to the roof, this was very normal. But why is it closed today? To keep tourists from straying up there and fall down? Such a thing actually did happen a few eyars ago. since then, the only rooftop accessible for visitors is at Dendera, and that one doesn´t even bring you to the topmost level. More of that later.

Mysteriously and permanently(?) closed? Why? What was inside?