Hypostyle

About Hypostyle Meaning & Function Reliefs & Inscriptions The Project

Hypostyle

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Welcome to the Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall Project!

About the Architecture

Tour the Hall

Epigraphy Methods

The Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall Project

Support The Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall project

Contact Dr. Peter J. Brand Associate Professor of Ancient History Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology to learn how you can support the project

Learn about the Architecture

All of these columns upheld a roof consisting of networks of massive stone beams called architraves.

The Dimensions

Covering an area large enough to accommodate the whole of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, the size and splendor of the Great Hypostyle Hall is enough to astound even the most jaded observer.

Aerial view of the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak

Not only is the Great Hypostyle Hall the grandest of such halls (at Karnak and throughout all of Egypt), it is also the most richly decorated.

The War Scenes of Seti I reliefs depicting Egyptians activities

Copied by the Epigraphic Survey of the University of Chicago in the 1970s, this definitive record is already invaluable since the reliefs have decayed rapidly since then.

Check out Updated Field Reports

Since 1992 the Karnak Hypostyle Hall Project has conducted field seasons of epigraphic documentation and physical conservation of the reliefs and inscriptions from this ancient building.

The Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall Project is a joint endeavor of the University of Memphis, in Memphis, Tennessee (U.S.A.), and the Université de Québec à Montréal (Canada). We work in cooperation with Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Centre Franco-égyptien d'études des temples de Karnak (France). For more information contact the Project Director Dr. Peter J. Brand.