It is many centuries since the Feast of Opet was last celebrated on the banks of the Nile. When ancient Egypt was at its zenith, dancers and musicians would have serenaded priests bearing portable shrines to the great Theban gods, Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. Reaffirming the Pharaoh’s divine right to rule, this vibrant annual celebration was the highlight of Thebes’ calendar and it followed a sphinx-lined avenue running between the temples of Karnak and Luxor.
Time and desert sands have long since erased this processional avenue. The two great temples still stand sentinel over the Nile’s eastern bank, but for centuries they have been disconnected. Separated these days by modern Luxor’s (once known as Thebes) urban sprawl.
Now, in what is perhaps the most remarkable archaeological excavation since Howard Carter unveiled Tutankhamen’s tomb on Luxor’s west bank in 1923, the 2.7-kilometre-long Avenue of Sphinxes is being restored. This hugely ambitious excavation of the avenue is key to a plan to recapture the architectural grandeur of Thebes’ halcyon days during the pharaonic New Kingdom dynasties (approximately 1550-1070 BC). For decades Luxor’s heritage has been under pressure from unplanned urban growth and expanding tourism. The Luxor master-plan, devised under the auspices of the Egyptian government, aims to protect the city’s ancient heritage and improve its tourist appeal by creating the world’s greatest open-air museum by 2030. As a precursor, visitors will soon be able to follow the pharaohs’ footsteps between the Karnak and Luxor temples.
I sample how a resurrected Avenue of Sphinxes will eventually look at Luxor Temple. The place’s assemblage of pylons (gateways), obelisks, gargantuan images of pharaohs, temples and courts date from the 18th-Dynasty reign of Amenhotep III (circa 1391-1353 BC) and were added to by successive rulers.
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