Precinct of Amun-Re
Most of the southwest is an open-air assembling area containing millions of stone fragments, from small to huge, laid out in long rows, awaiting reassembly into their respective monuments.
The area is not closed, as the temples of Khons and Opet both lie in this corner and are open to the public, though both are rarely visited, relative to the huge numbers of tourists who come to Karnak.
The city does not appear to have been of any significance before the Eleventh Dynasty, and any temple building here would have been relatively small and unimportant, with any shrines being dedicated to the early god of Thebes, Montu.
[1] The earliest artifact found in the area of the temple is a small, eight-sided column from the Eleventh Dynasty, which mentions Amun-Ra.
[1] The tomb of Intef II mentions a 'house of Amun', which implies some structure, whether a shrine or a small temple is unknown.
[1] The ancient name for Karnak, Ipet-Sut (usually translated as 'most select of places') only really refers to the central core structures of the Precinct of Amun-Ra, and was in use as early as the 11th Dynasty, again implying the presence of some form of temple before the Middle Kingdom expansion.
The modern entrance is placed over the end of the ancient cult terrace (or tribune), causing most visitors to miss this significant feature.
The cult terrace is often mistakenly thought to be a dock or quay, but other examples, such as the one at the Hathor temple at Deir el-Medina, do not have access to water.
In order to construct this kiosk, the ram-sphinx corridor was removed and the statues moved to the edges of the open court.
Only one column remains in place, bearing inscriptions by Taharqa, Psamtik II and Ptolemy IV Philopator.
He began to decorate the southern side of the hall shortly before he died but this section was largely completed by his son, Ramesses II.
In building the Third Pylon, Amenhotep dismantled a number of older monuments,[6] including a small gateway he himself built earlier in the reign.
At the time of its construction, Amenhotep III had the Third Pylon gilded and covered with precious stones, as he relates on a stela now in the Cairo museum:[7] The king made a monument for Amun, making for him a very great gateway before Amun-Re lord of the thrones of the two lands, sheathed entirely in gold, a divine image according to respect, filled with turquoise [one-half ton], sheathed in gold and numerous stones [two-thirds ton of jasper].
[9][11] Five years of work have uncovered a religious complex approximately 70 m wide by more than 100 m long, "probably composed of concentric enclosures and peribolus walls surrounding stores, a front access platform and the "god's abode."
This complex seems to have been founded on a large area developed by the construction of earthwork walls, without traces of older architectural remains.
Between the sanctuary and the festival hall is an open space, and this is thought to be where the original Middle Kingdom shrines and temples were located, before their later dismantling.
It was originally built to celebrate the jubilee (Hed-Sed) of Thutmose III, and later became used as part of the annual Opet Festival.
[14] On the southern side, there is a carving of Thutmose III smiting Asiatic enemies, under which is a list of names of towns and peoples conquered in his campaigns in Syria-Palestine.
Again, it was Horemheb who built this last pylon, using the talatat from the dismantled Temple of Amenhotep IV as core building material.
In the Open Air Museum, located in the Northwest corner of the complex, there are reconstructions of some of these earlier structures, notable amongst them the Chapelle Rouge of Hatshepsut, and the White Chapel of Senusret I.
