Colonnade of Amenhotep III

Spectacular double row of towering papyrus columns inside Luxor Temple, used for the Opet Festival procession

The Colonnade of Amenhotep III is the most architecturally imposing element inside Luxor Temple: a double row of fourteen papyrus columns, each over 19 metres tall, opening into the great processional court. The columns were built around 1380 BC and decorated with relief scenes by Tutankhamun after Akhenaten's religious revolution was reversed.

Walking through the colonnade gives a powerful physical sensation of scale — these are very large columns in a relatively narrow space, and the effect is one of compression and height simultaneously. The reliefs on the walls, showing the Opet Festival procession, are in good condition and worth examining with a torch. The colonnade connects the outer courtyard (added by Ramses II) to the inner courts of Amenhotep III's original temple, and the transition marks a clear change in the quality and character of the architecture.

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A story
The colonnade was built for the Opet Festival, when the statues of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu from Karnak were carried in their sacred barques the three kilometres to Luxor Temple and back. The walls of the colonnade are decorated with scenes of this procession — the boats on the Nile, the crowds of spectators, the priests bearing the barques — providing one of the most detailed accounts of any ancient Egyptian religious festival. The festival lasted up to 27 days and was the most important public celebration in the New Kingdom calendar.