From Karnak to the Provinces

The pylon form developed and grew across the New Kingdom and later periods, with successive pharaohs at major temples adding new pylons in front of earlier ones as they extended the building outward, so that a temple like Karnak eventually accumulated a whole sequence of pylons of different dates rather than a single original gateway. The First Pylon at Karnak, the outermost and largest, was begun only in the Late Period or Ptolemaic era and was never entirely finished, its mudbrick construction ramp still visible against one tower in modern times, a reminder that these enormous structures represented major, sometimes multi-generational, building commitments rather than quick additions.

Smaller and more modest pylons appear at provincial and mortuary temples throughout Egypt, including the well-preserved example fronting the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, where the smiting scene and battle reliefs survive in unusually good condition. Even where a temple's core sanctuary was comparatively small, its pylon was often disproportionately monumental, since the gateway, as the temple's public face, carried much of the burden of announcing royal power and divine favor to anyone approaching from outside.