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Karnak: Papyrus columns (1851 photo)    .


Papyrus columns at Karnak (photo: Teynard 1851).


Ancient Thebes (now called Luxor) is located on the east bank of the Nile. It contained a group of temple complexes at Karnak containing a vast zone of public and ceremonial buildings. First created during the 18th Dynasty (1550-1307 BC) when Thebes became the center of dynastic administration, the temple complex of Amun was expanded in the 19th Dynasty.

This early (1851) calotype print by Teynard shows, in the midst of  temple wreckage at Karnak, a series of four standing columns holding the remnants of a lintel. The columns have the characteristic shape of papyrus plants with unopened flower clusters (umbrels). Such papyrus columns formed the main structural supports for the (now vanished) roofs of the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak.
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