Thebes - Necropolis

The Necropolis of Thebes on the west bank of the Nile contains, in addition to the tombs, many temples, mostly dating from the New Kingdom, dedicated not only to Amun but also to the cult of the various Kings after their death. Associated with the temples were dwellings for the priests, libraries and schools, together with sacred groves and lakes, granaries, stalls for the sacrificial animals, barracks for the guards and prisons.

Close by were the villages occupied by the large numbers of workmen employed in the necropolis masons, painters, builders and above all the embalmers who prepared the bodies for burial. A whole town gradually grew up here, like the district around the tombs of the Mamelukes in Cairo. Under the New Kingdom its administration was in the hands of a special official, the "Prince of the West and Commander of the Mercenaries of the Necropolis".

All the temples on the west bank of the Nile are sited with the end containing the entrance facing the river. Their longitudinal axes accordingly run from southeast to northwest.