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Karnak: Hypostyle Hall (German Exped. 1843-4)    .


Hypostyle Hall at Karnak (Lepsius, Denkmäler aus Aegypte und Aethiopia 1849).


Largest of all the temple complexes at Karnak is the precinct of Amun in its northern section, begun by Akhenaten (1353-1335 BC). The massive Hypostyle Hall, built during the 19th Dynasty by Seti I (1306-1290 BC) and Ramesses II (1290-1223 BC), is located between the 2nd and 3rd pylons of the temple precinct of Amun.

The Hyptostyle Hall, once roofed, had a total of 134 papyrus columns, and 12 central columns covered with painted reliefs (Baines and Malek 1980; Hobson 1987). The central columns are 22 meters high, with lotus capitals.

This colored lithograph of the Hypostyle Hall, based on a drawing made during the German Expedition in 1843, is comparable to the scene portrayed in the 1839 drawing by David Roberts (published in 1842). Both show details of the painted reliefs on the central columns, and hieroglyphic inscriptions on the bars they support, once part of clerestory openings which provided light into the temple.
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