Avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor

The Avenue of Sphinxes is an ancient ceremonial route that once linked two major temple complexes. Known in ancient Egyptian as Ta-Mit-Rahat, or “the Path of God,” it was used during religious festivals, especially the Opet Festival, when sacred statues were carried in procession. Nectanebo I built much of the final road, with earlier sections linked to Hatshepsut and Tutankhamun.

The avenue is lined with 1,057 original statues, including human-headed sphinxes and ram-headed figures linked to the god Amun. Excavations also revealed chapels, pottery areas, wine presses, flower basins with water channels, and a Nilometer. Hatshepsut built ceremonial chapels along the route, while Cleopatra VII later restored parts of it.

Modern rediscovery began in 1949, when archaeologist Mohammed Zakaria Ghoneim uncovered the first sphinxes by accident. Clearing the full 2.7-kilometer route took decades and required removing many later buildings constructed above the buried ruins. Today, visitors can see how ancient temples were linked by ceremony and worship.