Karnak Open Air Museum
Egypt · Africa
About
Karnak Open Air Museum is an archaeological museum in Luxor, Egypt. It is located in the northwestern corner of the Precinct of Amon-Re at the Karnak complex. The Open Air Museum contains reconstructions of structures that have been dismantled and buried or hidden inside the massive pylons in the complex. As Karnak became more prominent, pharaohs sought to leave their mark on the temple complex with their own monuments. As successive rulers built their monuments, they dismantled the old ones and utilized the materials in their own designs. Preventive archaeological excavations before the renovation of Amenhotep II's calcite shrine were observed in this area by the Centre Franco-Égyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak (CFEETK), including an urban unit with mudbricks walls of Saito-Persian time. Also discovered during CFEETK excavations were terracotta figures with female representation called "concubines;" such figures are commonly found in levels related to construction and may be votive objects which ensure the sustainability of construction.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.