Amun Temple Enclosure - Main Axis

The most important place of worship at Karnak was the massive Amun Temple Enclosure (Precinct of Amun), dominated by the great Temple of Amun-Ra, which contains the famous hypostyle hall, a spectacular forest of giant papyrus-shaped columns. On its southern side is the Mut Temple Enclosure, once linked to the main temple by an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes. To the north is the Montu Temple Enclosure, which honoured the local Theban war god.

The 3km-long paved avenue of human-headed sphinxes that once linked the great Temple of Amun at Karnak with Luxor Temple, is now again being cleared.

The Quay of Amun was the dock where the large boats carrying the statues of the gods moored during the festivals. From tomb paintings such as those in the Tomb of Nakht we know that there were palaces to the north of the quay surrounded by lush gardens. On the east side is a ramp sloping down to the processional avenue of ram-headed sphinxes which leads to the massive unfinished first pylon, built by Nectanebo I of the 30th dynasty. On the inside is a massive mud-brick construction ramp, onto which the blocks of stone for the pylon were dragged up with rollers and ropes. When Napoleon's expedition visited there were still blocks on the ramp.

Behind the first pylon in the Amun Temple Enclosure lies the Great Court, the largest area of the Karnak complex. To the left is the Temple of Seti II with three small chapels that held the sacred barques of Mut, Amun and Khonsu during the lead up to the Opet Festival. In the southeastern corner (far right) is the well-preserved Temple of Ramses III, a miniature version of the pharaoh's temple at Medinat Habu. The temple plan is simple and classic: pylon, open court, vestibule with four Osirid columns and four columns, hypostyle hall with eight columns and three barque chapels for Amun, Mut and Khonsu. At the centre of the court are two rows of five columns. Only one still stands 21m tall with a papyrus-shaped capital, and a small alabaster altar at the middle: all that remains of the Kiosk of Taharka, the 25th-dynasty Nubian pharaoh.

The second pylon was begun by Horemheb, the last 18th-dynasty pharaoh, and continued by Ramses I and Ramses II, who also raised three colossal red-granite statues of himself on either side of the entrance, one is now destroyed.

Beyond the second pylon is the awesome Great Hypostyle Hall, one of the greatest religious monuments ever built. Covering 5,500 sq metres - enough space to contain both Rome's St Peter's and London's St Paul's Cathedral - the hall is an unforgettable forest of 134 towering papyrus-shaped stone pillars. It symbolised a papyrus swamp, of which there were so many along the Nile. Ancient Egyptians believed that these plants surrounded the primeval mound on which life was first created. Each summer when the Nile began to flood, this hall and its columns were under several feet of water. Originally, it would have been brightly painted - some colours remain - and roofed, making it pretty dark away from the lit main axis. The size and grandeur of the pillars and the endless decorations are overwhelming: take your time, sit for a while and stare at the dizzying spectacle.

The hall was planned by Ramses I and built by Seti I and Ramses II. Note the difference in quality between the delicate raised relief in the northern part, by Seti I, and the much cruder sunken relief work, added by Ramses II in the southern part of the hall. The cryptic scenes on the inner walls were intended for the priesthood and the royalty who understood the religious context, but the outer walls are easier to comprehend, showing the king's military prowess and strength, his ability to bring order to chaos.

On the back of the third pylon, built by Amenhotep III, to the right the pharaoh is shown sailing the sacred barque during the Opet festival. Tuthmosis I (1504-1492 BC) created a narrow court between the third and fourth pylons, where four obelisks stood, two each for Tuthmosis I and Tuthmosis III (1479-1425 BC). Only the bases remain except for one, 22m high, raised for Tuthmosis I.

Beyond the fourth pylon is the Hypostyle Hall of Tuthmosis III built by Tuthmosis I in precious wood, and altered by Tuthmosis III with 14 columns and a stone roof. In this court stands one of the two magnificent 30m-high obelisks erected by Queen Hatshepsut (1473-1458 BC) to the glory of her 'father' Amun. The other is broken but the upper shaft lies near the sacred lake. The Obelisk of Hatshepsut is the tallest in Egypt, its tip originally covered in electrum (a commonly used alloy of gold and silver). After Hatshepsut's death, her stepson Tuthmosis III eradicated all signs of her reign and had them walled into a sandstone structure.

The ruined fifth pylon, constructed by Tuthmosis I, lead to another colonnade now badly ruined, followed by the small sixth pylon, raised by Tuthmosis III, who also built the pair of red-granite columns in the vestibule beyond, carved with the lotus and the papyrus, the symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt. Nearby are two huge statues of Amun and the goddess Amunet, carved in the reign of Tutankhamun.

The original sacred barque sanctuary of Tuthmosis III, the very core of the temple where the god Amun resided, was replaced by a granite one, built and decorated with well-preserved painted reliefs by Alexander the Great's successor and half-brother: the fragile, dim-witted Philip Arrhidaeus (323-317 BC).

East of the shrine of Philip Arrhidaeus, is the oldest known part of the temple, the Middle Kingdom Court, where Sesostris I built a shrine, of which the foundation walls were found. On the northern wall of the court is the Wall of Records, a running tally of the organised tribute the pharaoh exacted in honour of Amun from his subjugated lands.

At the back of the Middle Kingdom Court is the Festival Hall of Tuthmosis III, the Akh-Menou, Brilliant of Monuments. It is an unusual structure with uniquely carved stone columns imitating tent poles, perhaps a reference to the pharaoh's life under canvas on his frequent military expeditions abroad. The columned vestibule that lies beyond, generally referred to as the Botanical Gardens, has wonderful, detailed relief scenes of the flora and fauna that that the king had encountered during his campaigns in Syria and Palestine, and had brought back to Egypt.

For the many people not allowed inside the temple's sacred enclosure, Tuthmosis III built a small chapel onto the back of the temple wall behind his festival hall, at either side of which can be seen the enormous bases for two of Hatshepsut's obelisks that once stood here. Beyond this, further to the southeast, Ramses II built a similar chapel, the Temple of the Hearing Ear, again with a base for a single obelisk standing 32.2m tall and which Ramses usurped from Tuthmosis III. Removed from Karnak on the orders of the Emperor Constantine (AD 306-337) and bound for Constantinople, the obelisk was redirected to Rome to stand in the Circus Maximus. It was re-erected in 1588 on the orders of Pope Sixtus V where it now stands, in front of the church of St John (Giovanni) Lateran.

Against the northern enclosure wall of the Amun Temple Enclosure is the well-preserved cult Temple of Ptah, started by Tuthmosis III and finished by the Ptolemies and Romans. Access to the inner chambers is through a series of five doorways, which lead to two of the temple's original statues. The headless figure of Ptah, the creator god of Memphis, is in the middle chapel behind a locked door - the custodian will often unlock it for some baksheesh. To his left is the eerily beautiful black granite statue of his goddess-wife Sekhmet (the spreader of terror), bare-breasted and lioness-headed.