At the end of the sun axe of the Karnak temple and behind the holy of holies lies the Akhmenu or the festival hall of Thutmose III. Acually, it was built to celebrate the Heb Sed festival of Thutmose III during the 18th dynasty. In fact, later the Akhmenue was used to celebrate the Opet Festival. Moreover, the building provide very vailable information about some Egyptian kings especially in one room where we can see the Karnak Kings List of 61 Pharoahs. Meanwhile, in what’s called Botanical Garden we can see all the rare birds, animals, trees Thutmose III brought to Egypt.
Opet Festival in ancient Egypt | New Kingdom of Egypt | Egyptian Festivals What is the Opet Festival? The Opet Festival was one of the most important religious festivals in ancient Egypt, especially during the New Kingdom in Thebes. It was an annual festival during which the sacred barks of the triad of Thebes, Amun, Mut, and Khonsu journeyed from Karnak to Luxor and back since the 18th Dynasty. According to some, the Opet Festival continued into the Roman and the Coptic Period. What is the most important festival in Egypt? Ancient Egyptian history is very rich with feasts and celebrations since the beginning of history. For example, the Saqqara complex has a huge place where they were celebrating the Heb Sed Festival. Meanwhile, during the New Kingdom of Egypt when Luxor was the capital, we found a lot of their feast during that time. During the Greco-Roman era, temples such as Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Philae still keep a lot of these feasts decorating their walls. Surprisingly, the Palermo stone dates back to 2500 BC and mentioned many of these feasts. Feats in ancient Egypt varied from religious to political feasts allowing all people to share both rich and poor. In fact, one of the most important feasts in the past was the Opet Festival together with the beautiful feast of the Valley. Meanwhile, they have much more feasts like gods’ feasts such as Min Festival, Sokar Festival, Bastet, Hathor, and Isis. The Purpose of the Opet Festival? The purpose of this festival was to give energy to the Netjer—divine power—and to reestablish the pharaoh’s divine right to rule. Queen Hatshepsut who ruled Egypt as a Pharaoh during 1473–1458 BC) is believed to have been the first to develop and celebrate the Opet Festival. During her reign, the
Opet Festival in ancient Egypt | New Kingdom of Egypt | Egyptian Festivals What is the Opet Festival? The Opet Festival was one of the most important religious festivals in ancient Egypt, especially during the New Kingdom in Thebes. It was an annual festival during which the sacred barks of the triad of Thebes, Amun,
