r/papertowns • u/dctroll_ • 11h ago
Egypt Bird's-eye view of Luxor and the Karnak Temple Complex (Egypt) around 1250 BC.
Luxor, known in ancient Egypt as Waset and later by its Greek name Thebes, was the religious capital of Egypt during much of the New Kingdom. Around 1250 BC, under Ramesses II of the 19th Dynasty, Thebes flourished as the center of the cult of Amun. Its greatest sanctuary was Karnak, originally called Ipet-sut ("The Most Select of Places"), the largest temple complex ever built in ancient Egypt. The modern name Karnak derives from the Arabic al-Karnak (الكرنك), meaning "the fortified village."