An English Egyptologist named Amelia Edwards was visiting Karnak in the 1870s. She peeked into the huge stone temple. Its courtyard was lined with towering statues of a pharaoh. “It would have been called large anywhere but at Karnak,” she wrote.

Karnak is called the city of temples. It is one of the largest temple complexes ever built, but it wasn’t built by just one person. Generations of pharaohs, maybe as many as 30, added their contributions. Karnak is divided into four main areas called precincts, but the Precinct of Amun-Re is the most famous. It holds the Great Hypostyle Hall. Inside, over 100 columns rise like a forest. The biggest columns are taller than 10 adults and so wide that it would take at least five adults holding hands to reach around them. Everything is covered in inscriptions: the columns, the walls, and even the ceiling. The inscriptions celebrate many of Egypt’s powerful rulers, including Pharaoh Ramesses II.

West of the Nile, you will find two valleys. Dry sand and rock cover the ground as far as the eye can see. There, hidden underground, you will find over 60 tombs. These royal tombs are the final resting places of Egyptian kings and queens. The tombs were hidden so thieves would not discover the splendor inside. The passages were painted, sculpted, and covered in sacred writing. The burial chambers held the real treasure. Mummies lay in gold sarcophagi decorated with precious stones and surrounded by gifts, treasures, and supplies for the afterlife. But even if robbers had found a tomb’s entrance, they might not have found the treasure inside. Decoy passages formed a maze of dead ends and dark corners, allowing the dead to rest in peace.

The first sliver of sun peeks over the horizon in Egypt. It shines on a mountain, but the front of the mountain has been cut away. Huge statues of Ramesses II are carved out of the rocky cliff. They guard a small door, and behind it, an entire temple has been sculpted out of the mountain. This is the entrance to the main temple of Abu Simbel. Twice a year, the first sunbeam of the morning shines through the doorway, straight down the middle of the temple. This sunbeam illuminates the statues hidden inside—statues of Ramesses and Amun-Re, the god of air and sun.

Near the main temple, Ramesses also built a smaller temple. It honors his wife, Nefertari. In a rare sign of love and respect, he commanded that the statues of her be just as big as the statues of himself.

Pharaoh Hatshepsut had spent decades building her legacy as one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs. She needed her funerary temple to show that she had a right to rule. That’s because Pharaoh Hatshepsut was a woman, and almost every pharaoh before her had been a man. She started building her temple in Deir el-Bahri. It was surrounded by majestic red cliffs and had already inspired an earlier ruler, King Mentuhotep II, to build a temple there. Hatshepsut covered the walls inside her temple with images of her achievements and divine birth.

Years later, Pharaoh Tuthmosis III tried to erase her name from history and also built a temple at Deir el-Bahri. Despite his efforts, Hatshepsut’s name, legacy, and stunning temple would not be forgotten.

Luxor Temple was connected to Karnak Temple by a path. Both sides of this path were lined with statues of sphinxes. Once a year, their stone eyes would watch an important ritual: people would carry the statues of three gods from Karnak to Luxor Temple and back again. This ritual was part of the Opet Festival and one of the most important festivals in ancient Egypt. Luxor Temple was dedicated to the gods of the Opet Festival: Amun-Re, his wife Mut, and his son Khonsu. Most ancient Egyptian temples run east and west, following the path of the sacred sun. But Luxor Temple runs north to south so that it points at Karnak. Its sandstone towers loom over almost everything in sight. Only a great obelisk rises taller, marking the entrance to this holy building.

The Pyramids of Giza rise tall overhead, and in their shadow lies one of Egypt’s most famous landmarks: the Great Sphinx. The sphinx has the head of a pharaoh in a royal headdress, which symbolizes the king’s human cunning and intelligence. The head sits on top of a lion’s body, which symbolizes the king’s might and power.

The entire statue is carved into the stone plateau that the pyramids rest on. It is one of the largest statues in the world, standing 66 feet tall. While nobody knows for certain, many experts believe the statue honors the pharaoh Khafre. They also have found leftover bits of color on the sphinx. While today, it blends in with the surrounding landscape, it probably used to be painted and gave a bright welcome to any ancient visitors to the pyramids.