1. Obelisk
2. Seated colossi of Ramesses II
3. Pylon of Ramesses II
4. Colonnade of Amenhotep III
5. Hypostyle hall
6. First antechamber (Roman sanctuary')
7. Second antechamber
8. 'Birth room'
9. Barque shrines of Amenhotep III & Alexander the Great
10. Traverse hall
11. Sanctuary of Amenhotep III

To the south of Karnak, within the heart of the modern city of Luxor, lies a temple, which was known to the ancient Egyptians as Ipet-Reseyt, 'the Southern Opet', and is now referred to as Luxor Temple. Unlike most other Egyptian temples, its main entrance does not face the river and its most obvious axis is aligned towards the temples of Karnak on the royal axis rather than the divine axis: it was connected to the complex there by an avenue of sphinxes. In fact it seems that this temple had two axes, a north-south axis, which is the one most visible today, and an east-west which is to be seen only in the southernmost parts of the temple, and which may have been aligned towards Medinet Habu on the West Bank.

The Temple served as a focal point of the Opet Festival each year and was therefore of major importance in maintaining the role of the king as the divine offspring of the state god. It is likely that there was already a temple in existence in this place in the Middle Kingdom, although the earliest remains found here date to the Thirteenth Dynasty.