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the "Temple of the Southern Harim" of Amon was not just another temple of that mighty god. It was the repository of the divine spirit which had the power to transform a king-co-be to an actual divine ruler of Egypt. Consequently, it was only after having entered the Temple of Luxor, shortly 'åfter the death of his predecessor, that each new ruler of Egypt was invested with that special aura which marked him as a legitimate (and the only living) member of the long line of Egyptian god-kings.
Unlike the other temples, whose main axes were traditionally oriented east-west, the temple of Luxor runs parallel to the Nile, on its eastern bank. It was conceived as a remote ern annex to the temple ofKäinak, at a distance of about 3 kilometers from if.-Hence, it faces the Karnak Temple an was connected to it by a logg_processional avenue, '[flanked by rows of sphinxes on either side. Many of those sphinxes have been unearthed and guard the entrance to the temple, but more still lie buried beneath the buildings of modern Luxor.
Built along the corniche of the Nile, within the modern tourist quarter of the city, the Luxor temple constitutes its most important monument, and. most sacred of sites.. In fact, its precinct retained its sanctity in the course of the millenia, and it has served as a cult center to pharaonic Egyptians, pagan Romans, Coptic Christians and Moslems alike, to this day. The elegant mosque of the Moslem saint Abu el-Haggag, patron of the modern inhabitants of Luxor, occupies the eastern half of the ramesside court of the pharaonic temple.