Egypt and the whole world are waiting for an important event, which is reviving the grand avenue of sphinxes in the eastern bank of Luxor after restoration and development. This event will be no less important than the procession of transferring the royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC).
The ancient name of this road is the road of the great parades or the road of religious ceremonies.
History of the Sphinx Avenue:
Excavation work began on this road on March 18, 1959, by the Egyptian archaeologist Zakaria Ghoneim. These excavations continued until 2011 and stopped due to the revolution of January 25, 2011. Then it has resumed again in 2017.
This avenue was mentioned from the inscriptions in the red chapel of Queen Hatshepsut in the Karnak complex. The text is mentioned that Queen Hatshepsut built this avenue for her father, the god Amun-Ra, to pass the procession during several celebrations such as the Opet feast, where the procession was passing from Luxor Temple to Karnak and vice versa.
Also, she mentioned that she decorated this road with statues and 6 chambers for a break to the Holy boats of the triad of Thebes (Amun, Mut, and Khonsu).
The ancient Egyptian kings added to this avenue many statues, either the head of the Sphinx or the head of a ram. It is believed that the avenue began during the period of the New Kingdom and its construction was completed in the 30th Dynasty during the reign of the king Nectanebo I.
The road is divided into two parts:
The first part is in front of Luxor Temple and contains statues of the Sphinx.
The second part is in front of the Karnak complex headed with rams.
These statues were made of sandstone.
The avenue of sphinxes is a world heritage site. The reviving of this avenue will transform the eastern bank of Luxor into an open museum that enables tourists to walk from Luxor Temple to Karnak Complex.
The length of this avenue will be 2,700 meters, and its width is 7 meters. It will contain 1,200 statues on both sides. The avenue of sphinxes will be lighted at night to add charm to the place.