Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III on the West Bank at Luxor

Amenhotep III, not only to build the largest temple at Thebes (Luxor West Bank), but in Egypt, which measures 700 by 550 meters. It covers 385,000 square meters (4,200,000 square meters). The largest of the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak. Architect of the Temple of Amenhotep was also named, but he was Hapu. Unfortunately, it seems that the structure began to decline rapidly, and during the reign of Merneptah, actively used as a source of blocks of limestone for the temple of sovereignty.
The reason may have been great, but the concept of religious unfortunate. The temple was built on what appears to be only in the floodplains. The temple was built on the lower end so that the flooding of the Nile flooded out, and courtrooms, and perhaps leaving only the inner sanctum, which was built on a hill above the water and dry. Even when the water receded, and the Temple of the whole to symbolize the emergence of the world's water makeshift. Of course, this did not do anything to preserve the temple, especially given that many of the walls of the temple was built from mud brick. Add to the devastation, many of the huge pillars of sandstone columns were too heavy for the weak, or even missing out on the basis built.
However, we have the actual description of Amenhotep III of the complex:
"It (her) as a teacher of (his) father Amen, the Lord of the Throne earths, which makes it a great temple to the right of good, a bastion of white sandstone eternity well - worked with gold throughout time., Soil and purified with silver, and all entrances and electricity. .. "
Many of the temple which was built during the last ten years of Amenhotep III and the rule about three festivals dam.
Although this temple was not thoroughly investigated, and the only real still appeared to be two giant statues called Memnon Giants, with some parts of the towers, and statues and different parts of the column quartzite and witness has been set but it was probably originally part of a couple placed at the entrance of the Court have made the achievements of the construction of Amenhotep III. Moreover, in the vicinity of the Court of solar energy and there are many bases of the pillars, although it covered and difficult to detect, along with parts of the statues of Amenhotep III standing, such as Osiris. Some of the rules a large column of interest to Egyptologists, for they reveal the names of foreign places known at the time of Amenhotep III, including references to the Aegean Sea.
Other statues discovered at the site represents the goddess Sekhmet, the Sphinx, with some of the bodies of crocodiles and other deities. Old documents tell us that there was a sitting and standing statue of Sekhmet each day of the year. A lot of the giant statues built here, including a few strides of the king figures around the northern entrance of the temple, and the fragments that still exist. In fact, some Egyptologists believe that some of the giant statues in Ramesseum, including the fall of the statue of the famous "Ozymandia" may have been usurped from Amenhotep III complex.
Of course, the Giants are truly grateful Amenhotep III. As a result of the earthquake in 27 BC, and became known as the statues of the bell as a signal that usually occurs in the morning due to high temperatures and humidity. This was offset by ancient Greek travelers with the figure of Memnon, the son of Aurora's mother, Eos, the goddess of dawn. Roman emperor Septimius Severus, in an attempt to restore the statues, not wanting to silence forever.
This set the giant statues in front of the temple, which is located almost directly across the Nile from Luxor Temple in Kom - Hetan. Behind including two large courtyards with others in the giant statues of their seats. There were a total of three towers. Before the second set of towers are huge statues of quartz, and before the third tower was enormous additional statues of alabaster. Betsy Bryan and suggested that this is the largest program in the history of sculpture.
And there is a long processional similar to those constructed by the king in the Temple of Luxor, which is lined with the Sphinx, stretching from the towers closest to the court for a large roof of solar energy.
A considerable part of the temple was dedicated to Amen, but it is also known that the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the deity of Memphis, Ptah, or Ptah, sugar, Osiris, including Amenhotep also built a temple in honor of Memphis.
There is also a small group of limestone separate temple dedicated to Ptah - sugar - Osiris on the north side of the compound. It's private gate flanked by two standing statues of Amenhotep III quartzite. However, it was by the thieves to destroy the stone can not guess at the factory.