The great Hypostyle Hall at the Temple of Karnak

The temples Egyptologists call ‘God’s mansions’ come closest to our definition of a place of worship. These include major temples to a single deity, or to several deities, as well as mortuary temples, dedicated to a dead king (effectively gods). Within these, huge armies of people with different roles worshipped and cared for the gods. But, unlike our temples, they were private complexes with no communication between the gods and the public.

Mortuary temples were often associated with valley temples that were merely impressive gateways with no religious function. There were also many specialist temples such as Ka temples, to house the dead king’s soul, Sed-festival temples to celebrate the king’s jubilee, sun temples and coronation temples. Many temples were added to over the years to become giant complexes with multiple functions.