The Temples of Karnak

Description

The Temples of Karnak is a magnificent excursion to the monuments, ruins, statues and bas-reliefs of the ancient Egyptian temples of Karnak and the only complete photographic record of this important historic site. Because of recent vandalism, many of the buildings are no longer intact, and it is now impossible to see the details so beautifully captured in these images by award-winning photographers Georges and Valentine de Mire. The unconventional insights of R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, the renowned Egyptian scholar, illuminate more than 450 full-page plates and delicate line drawings. In chapters on 'The Land of the Nile', 'The Writing', 'Myth', 'The Royalty' and 'The Temples of Karnak' Schwaller de Lubicz describes in mystical terms the enigmatic beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. Situated just a few miles from Luxor, the temples of Karnak reveal the remains of a world devoted to an unimpeachable faith in the afterlife - a faith whose conviction exalted its builders and artists to produce one of the most magnificent buildings of ancient Egypt.

R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz (1887-1961) is most renowned for his stufy of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbolism and temple architecture. His other books include The Temple of Man. Georges de Mire specialised in photographing the ancient sites in Egypt.