This open site in the desert south of Medinat Habu contains the ruins of a royal palace complex started in the 18th dynasty (14th century BC) by Amenhotep III. The palace, known in antiquity as the Palace of Joy, contained residences, a temple to Amenhotep's wife and Egypt's first glass factory. The palace was used into Byzantine times.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
4 MILES
Amun-Ra was the local god of Karnak (Luxor) and during the New Kingdom, when the princes of Thebes ruled Egypt, he became the preeminent state god, with a…
1.65 MILES
The west bank of Luxor had been the site of royal burials since around 2100 BC, but it was the pharaohs of the New Kingdom period (1550–1069 BC) who chose…
3.94 MILES
Karnak is an extraordinary complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks dedicated to the Theban triad but also to the greater glory of pharaohs…
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1.55 MILES
One of the great achievements of Egyptian art, this cathedral-like tomb is the finest in the Valley of the Kings. Long closed to visitors, it is now…
29.52 MILES
Dendara was an important administrative and religious centre as early as the 6th dynasty (c 2320 BC). Although built at the very end of the Pharaonic…
0.44 MILES
Ramses III’s magnificent memorial temple of Medinat Habu, fronted by sleepy Kom Lolah village and backed by the Theban mountains, is one of the west bank…
3.24 MILES
This wonderful museum has a well-chosen and brilliantly displayed and explained collection of antiquities dating from the end of the Old Kingdom right…
1.57 MILES
With some of the broadest corridors, longest shafts (117m) and greatest variety of decoration, KV 9 is one of the most spectacular tombs in the valley…
Nearby Luxor attractions
0.44 MILES
Ramses III’s magnificent memorial temple of Medinat Habu, fronted by sleepy Kom Lolah village and backed by the Theban mountains, is one of the west bank…
0.55 MILES
At the southern end of the Theban hillside, the Valley of the Queens contains at least 75 tombs that belonged to queens of the 19th and 20th dynasties as…
0.56 MILES
If you can't afford entry to the Tomb of Nefertari, the valley’s showpiece is the tomb of Amunherkhepshef, with beautiful, well-preserved reliefs…
0.62 MILES
The tomb of Queen Titi has a corridor leading to a square chapel, off which is the burial chamber and two smaller rooms. The paintings are faded, but you…
0.63 MILES
Like his neighbour Amunherkhepshef, Khaemwaset was a son of Ramses III who died young; there is little information about his age or cause of death. His…
0.66 MILES
Nefertari's tomb is hailed as one of the finest in the Theban necropolis – and all of Egypt for that matter. Nefertari was one of five wives of Ramses II,…
0.8 MILES
Peshedu was another 19th-dynasty servant in the Place of Truth and had himself portrayed praying under a palm tree beside a lake, an image that has become…
0.83 MILES
Inherka was a 19th-dynasty servant who worked in the Place of Truth in the Valley of the Kings. His beautifully adorned one-room tomb has magnificent wall…