Avenue of Sphinxes

The Avenue of Sphinxes

The Avenue of Sphinxes is a 2.7-kilometer processional road that once connected the temples of Karnak and Luxor along the east bank of the Nile. Lined on both sides with sphinx statues — ram-headed criosphinxes near Karnak and human-headed sphinxes near Luxor — the avenue served as the ceremonial route for the annual Opet Festival, during which the sacred barque of Amun was carried in procession between the two temple complexes.

After decades of excavation and an ambitious restoration project, Egypt reopened the full avenue in November 2021 in a celebrated ceremony attended by the head of state. Today visitors can walk the entire route on a paved promenade alongside the sphinx statues, most of which stand on restored stone plinths. Many sphinxes still show damage from centuries of occupation and construction over the ancient road, adding archaeological texture to the walk.

The avenue is particularly striking after dark, when the sphinxes and flanking monuments are lit up along the full length of the road. Walking from Luxor Temple toward Karnak at dusk, with the illuminated pylons visible in the distance, gives a sense of the processional grandeur that ancient Egyptians experienced during the Opet Festival.

The Avenue of Sphinxes was first laid out during the New Kingdom period, with early sections constructed under Hatshepsut and Amenhotep III (c. 1473–1353 BCE). Nectanebo I of the 30th Dynasty (c. 380–362 BCE) later extended and formalized the full 2.7 km length, adding the human-headed sphinxes that now line the Luxor Temple end of the route.

The Opet Festival, which took place annually during the inundation season, was one of the most important religious events in the Egyptian calendar. The procession transported the divine statues of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu from Karnak to Luxor Temple, where rituals were performed to renew the king’s divine power and the fertility of the land. Tens of thousands of people would have lined the avenue to witness the event.

Over the centuries, the avenue was buried under medieval and modern Luxor. Systematic excavation began in the 1940s and continued in phases for over 70 years. The final restoration, completed in 2021, involved relocating hundreds of residents and businesses, recovering over 1,000 sphinx statues, and reconstructing the stone paving of the original road surface.