A final image of hieroglyphs from the walls of the Great Hypostyle Hall in Karnak. Oh My! Temple erection of a different sort. One of the pharaohs offering gifts to the god of fertility, who is naturally very well endowed. I can almost see the stonemason joking with his co-workers as he says "Is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?". HA!

With the subsequent rise of Islam in the region, a small mosque was built in the interior court. Did those called to prayer climb a ladder to access the door? Actually at that time (13th century A.D.) it was ground level. Silt and mud from the flooding Nile and wind-blown sand and dust from the desert having accumulated over the centuries.

During Roman times the Egyptian temple was transformed into a Christian church. The hieroglyphs were plastered over and frescoes depicting New Testament scenes were painted in their place. In some temples like Edfu the faces of the Egyptian gods carved on walls and pillars were simply gouged out to remove the "blasphemous" images.

I imagine an average modern tourist feels much like an average ancient Egyptian in the sense that as you gaze up at these gigantic statues you find your own sense of self importance diminished. For me, Luxor had the most impressive entrance of a standard temple (Abu Simbel excluded). Notice the baboons on the base for the obelisk.

Four obelisks used to tower over the Karnak temple complex but only two remain. Concerning the other two, one can be found near the Louvre in Paris and the second along the banks of the Thames in London.