It is, however, with the rise of the 18th
dynasty that the glory of Karnak becomes the increasing study of each
successive Pharaoh .
The work in Karnak begins with Ahmose I,
the expeller of the Hyksos conquerors ( 1580 B.C. ) .
An inscription found by Legrain at
Karnak gives us details of his enrichment of the temple furniture, with such
furnishings the ritual of Amûn must have been sufficiently gorgeous, though of
the temple within which it was conducted we know nothing, as its architectural
history only begins with Amenophis I, whose architect Ineni ( Anena ) mentions
the great pylon " 20 cubits in height, at the double façade of the temple,
of fine limestone of Ayan, which the Son of Rû, Amenophis living for ever, made
for his Father, Amûn " .
After Amenophis I, the first notable
additions to the building were made by Tuthmosis I . He erected a large court
to the north-west of the Middle Kingdom structure, with a new pylon, the
present No. V ; then, extending his plan, he reared still farther westwards
another and greater pylon ( No. IV ), and between the two great gates he built
a colonnaded hall, with columns of cedar . In front of the western pylon ( IV
), he set up a pair of obelisks of red granite, of which one, 64 feet in
height, is still standing, the architect employed was still Ineni .
Tuthmosis II also worked at Karnak, and
a statue of him has been found here . But the work of Queen Hatshepsut quite
eclipses anything that her weakling husband may have done . She erected two
superb obelisks, 97½ feet in height, unroofing part of the cedar-columned hall
of her father in order to find a site for them . One of these is still
standing, and is the tallest obelisk in Egypt, and only second to the shaft of
Tuthmosis III which now stands at St. John Lateran in Rome, and measures 105½
feet .
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