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A hieroglyph walk through Karnak
25 October 2026
Karnak holds more royal hieroglyphs than any other place in Egypt. On one walk you can read the cartouches of Seti I and Ramesses II on 134 columns, the boast on Hatshepsut's obelisk, the conquered towns of Shoshenq I and the provinces of Egypt listed on a Middle Kingdom chapel.
The temple of Amun at Karnak, on the edge of modern Luxor, was built and rebuilt for about 2,000 years. Each king added a gate, a hall or an obelisk and signed it. Five stops, taken in the order you walk in, show how the writing changed and what it says.
Cartouches circle the columns of the Hypostyle Hall
Past the first two pylons, the Great Hypostyle Hall covers about 5,000 square metres with 134 columns. The twelve down the middle are about 24 metres high. Seti I built it and decorated the northern half. His son Ramesses II carved the southern half and the central columns.
Bands of cartouches run round the column shafts. Look for Seti's throne name, Menmaatre, with the seated goddess Maat (C10), and Ramesses' Usermaatre, with the head of a canine (F12) for wsr, "strong". Ramesses changed his carving as his reign went on, from raised relief to sunk relief, and changed the form of his throne name too. Columns on the south side sometimes show both.
The outer walls tell two kings' wars
Walk out of the hall to its outer walls. The north wall carries Seti I's battles in Syria and Libya, with chariots, forts and long captions. The south wall carries Ramesses II's wars. Captions name the towns and the enemies, and the king's cartouches stand over his chariot.
On a wall joining the south side of the hall is Ramesses II's peace treaty with the Hittites, made in his 21st year, one of the oldest peace treaties known. A copy in cuneiform was found at the Hittite capital, Hattusa, in Turkey.
Hatshepsut's obelisk boasts of seven months' work
Further east, between the Fourth and Fifth Pylons, Hatshepsut's obelisk still stands, 29.56 metres of pink Aswan granite, the tallest standing obelisk in Egypt. Its partner fell in antiquity. Nearby stands an obelisk of her father, Thutmose I.
Her inscription runs down each face. It says the obelisks were each cut from a single block of hard granite with no seam, that the quarrying took seven months, in her years 15 and 16, and that their tips were covered in electrum, a gold and silver alloy, for her father Amun. Her name was later attacked on other monuments. Here the base was walled in and the lower inscription survived.
Shoshenq I listed the towns he took
Back by the Second Pylon, on the south side, is the Bubastite Portal. Shoshenq I, who ruled around 925 BC, grasps a bunch of captives by the hair and raises his mace. Behind and below him run rows of ovals, each with the head and shoulders of a bound captive on top. Each oval holds the name of a town in Canaan. There were about 156.
Many names are lost or worn. Shoshenq is often identified with Shishak, the king of Egypt who attacked Jerusalem in the Bible, though how far his list matches that story is still argued.
The White Chapel lists the provinces of Egypt
To the north, the Open Air Museum holds chapels rebuilt from blocks found inside later pylons. The White Chapel of Senusret I, built for his jubilee around 1930 BC, is the finest. Its reliefs show the king before Amun, carved with great care. Round its base runs a list of Egypt's provinces, each with its emblem and its size.
Next to it stands the Red Chapel of Hatshepsut, rebuilt from quartzite and black granite blocks, and an alabaster chapel of Amenhotep I. The Open Air Museum has needed a separate ticket.
Low morning light brings out the signs
Come early. Sunk relief, the signs cut into the wall, shows best when low sun throws shadows into the cuts. At midday the walls go flat. Learn a few signs before you go: the game board (Y5) for Amun, the hoe (U7) for "beloved", the sun disc (N5) for Ra and the ankh (S34), which Amun holds out to the king on almost every wall.
Frame one cartouche at a time with the camera. On worn or high walls, take a photo, zoom in and trace the sign. Look for cartouches with the signs chiselled out: Hatshepsut's and Akhenaten's names were removed, and their empty outlines often remain.
Questions
What hieroglyphs should I see at Karnak?
The cartouches on the columns of the Great Hypostyle Hall, the battle reliefs on its outer walls, Hatshepsut's obelisk, the Bubastite Portal and the White Chapel in the Open Air Museum.
How tall is Hatshepsut's obelisk at Karnak?
29.56 metres. It is the tallest obelisk still standing in Egypt.
How long do you need at Karnak?
Three hours for the main temple. Reading inscriptions properly, with the Open Air Museum, can fill half a day.
Glossary
- ankh
- The sign of life, ꜥnḫ, a cross with a loop on top. Gods hold it out to kings in temple scenes.
- cartouche
- An oval ring drawn around a royal name, a loop of rope tied at one end. Kings wrote their two main names in cartouches.
- hieroglyphs
- The picture signs of ancient Egyptian writing, used from about 3200 BC to AD 394. A sign can stand for sounds, for a whole word, or for the kind of thing a word means.
- hypostyle hall
- A temple hall whose roof stood on many columns, like the great hall at Karnak with its 134 columns.
- Maat
- Truth, justice and the right order of the world, shown as a goddess with an ostrich feather on her head. Kings claimed to uphold it.
- Middle Kingdom
- The age when Egypt was united again, about 2055 to 1650 BC. Its texts became the classic form of the language that later scribes copied.
- obelisk
- A tall, four-sided stone pillar with a pointed top, usually set up in pairs before a temple and carved with the king's names.
- pylon
- The huge gateway of a temple: two sloping towers with a door between them, carved with scenes of the king.
- relief
- A carving on a flat surface. In raised relief the background is cut away. In sunk relief the figures are cut into the stone.
- temple
- The house of a god, where priests served the god's statue. Temples for dead kings kept up their offerings after death.
- throne name
- The name a king took when he came to the throne, written in the first cartouche after the title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt". Egyptologists also call it the prenomen.
People in this article
Where to see it
- Karnak Temple site
Sources
More to read
- Reading Abu Simbel: the king's name in stone, from façade to sanctuary Abu Simbel hieroglyphics to read: the rebus of Ramesses II's name over the door, Greek soldiers' graffiti, the Kadesh reliefs and Nefertari's temple.
- Ten inscriptions to read at the British Museum British Museum hieroglyphics to read: the Rosetta Stone, Ramesses II's cartouches, the Abydos king list, the Shabaka Stone, Nebamun's paintings and more.
- The Abydos King List: 76 kings in a row The Abydos King List: 76 kings in a row in Seti I's temple at Abydos, from Menes to Seti himself. Where it is, which kings it skips and how to read it.