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Avenue of the Sphinxes, Thebes
The Avenue of the Sphinxes is a 3-km ancient processional route that once linked Luxor temple with the Temple of Mut at Karnak to the south. The avenue and sphinxes were built during the reign of Nectanebo I (380-363 BCE) who ruled during the 30th Dynasty. Each of the approximately 1350 sphinxes that originally lined the route is inscribed with his name.
Questions & Answers
When did ancient Egyptian architecture begin and end?
- Ancient Egyptian architecture developed during the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150-2613 BCE) and continued through the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30 BCE) and then, sporadically, during the Roman Period of Egypt (30 BCE-646 CE).
What is the first pyramid built in Egypt?
- The first pyramid built in ancient Egypt is Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara c. 2670 BCE.
What inspired ancient Egyptian architecture?
- Ancient Egyptian architecture was inspired and informed by the concept of ma'at (balance, harmony) and stability. Buildings were designed to represent the order established by the gods.
What is the most famous architecture in Egypt?
- The Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx are the most famous pieces of architecture from ancient Egypt.
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License & Copyright
This image was first published on Flickr.
Original image by sdhaddow. Uploaded by Jan van der Crabben, published on 26 April 2012. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
