Researchers have completed the most detailed geoarchaeological survey to date of the Karnak Temple complex in Luxor — one of the largest religious sites of the ancient world and a UNESCO World Heritage landmark that attracts millions of visitors each year.
The new study, published Monday in the journal Antiquity, sheds fresh light on when the temple was first inhabited, how the Nile’s shifting channels shaped its growth over three millennia, and why its location may have held deep symbolic meaning in ancient Egyptian belief.
“This research provides unprecedented insight into the evolution of Karnak Temple — from a small island to one of the defining monuments of Ancient Egypt,” said Ben Pennington, lead author and Visiting Fellow in Geoarchaeology at the University of Southampton.
Karnak stands about 500 metres east of the modern River Nile, in Thebes — the spiritual heart of ancient Egypt. An international team led by Angus Graham of Uppsala University in Sweden, alongside scholars from Southampton, collected 61 sediment cores in and around the site and analysed tens of thousands of pottery fragments to date the layers of human occupation.
The findings show that before around 2520 BCE, the area was frequently inundated by fast-flowing Nile waters, making permanent settlement unlikely. This places the beginning of occupation during the Old Kingdom (circa 2591–2152 BCE). Pottery fragments confirm this, with the earliest examples dating roughly between 2305 and 1980 BCE.
“The age of Karnak Temple has been hotly debated,” said co-author Kristian Strutt. “Our evidence now provides a firm timeframe for its earliest occupation and construction.”
The study reveals that the land on which Karnak stands formed as two river channels to the west and east gradually eroded their beds, leaving a higher mound — effectively an island — on the site’s eastern and southeastern side. Over the centuries, as these channels migrated apart, they created new ground that allowed the temple to expand.
The team also confirmed that the long-debated eastern Nile channel not only existed but may have been larger than the western one, which has traditionally received more attention. “The river channels dictated where the temple could grow,” the authors noted, adding that ancient builders may have deliberately altered the landscape by dumping desert sand into channels to reclaim land for construction.
This distinctive setting appears to echo ancient Egyptian creation myths describing the emergence of the creator god as high ground rising from the primeval waters. The researchers suggest Theban elites may have chosen the site precisely to evoke that sacred symbolism.
The team now plans to extend its geoarchaeological work across the wider Luxor floodplain to better understand how the Nile shaped one of Egypt’s most enduring religious landscapes.
