Wender·Vista
Luxor Temple
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileEgypt
on the east bank of the Nile, in the city of Luxor

Luxor Temple

— — the stones that hold the heat of the day.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The temple sits at the center of modern Luxor, opened to the river and to the sky. By day the sandstone reads tawny. After sunset, floodlights find the colonnades and the great court of Amenhotep, and the carving comes forward. The Avenue of Sphinxes runs north from the gate, two miles of ram-headed stone, reopened to walkers in 2021. The call to prayer carries across from a mosque built inside the temple wall.

from the studio
Luxor Temple
— bring it home

Luxor Temple, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Luxor Temple

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Luxor Temple stands on the east bank of the Nile in modern Luxor, the city built atop the southern half of ancient Thebes. Construction began under Amenhotep III around 1400 BCE and continued under Tutankhamun, Horemheb, and Ramses II, who added the great pylon and the seated colossi at the entrance. The temple was dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu, and served as the destination of the annual Opet Festival, which carried the cult statues by procession from Karnak Temple, two miles to the north.

— the stone

The temple is built from Nubian sandstone quarried at Gebel el-Silsila, about a hundred miles upstream. The pylon of Ramses II stands 79 feet high, originally fronted by a pair of pink granite obelisks. The western obelisk left in 1836 as a gift to France and now stands at the center of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The colonnade of Amenhotep III carries fourteen columns rising 52 feet, each carved with papyrus capitals. A mosque dedicated to the 13th-century Sufi sheikh Abu al-Haggag sits inside the eastern wall, built when the temple lay buried in sand.

— the light

After dark the temple is lit, and the visit changes shape. Floodlights wash the pylon and pick out the relief carving on the columns of the Great Court. The walk through the colonnade reads more clearly at night than at midday, when the Egyptian sun flattens detail. Hours run later in the cool season, roughly October through April. The Avenue of Sphinxes, the 1.7-mile processional way reconnected to Karnak in November 2021, is illuminated end to end and can be walked between the two temples after sunset.

— where
Egypt · Luxor, Luxor Governorate
— elevation
76 m · 249 ft
— position
25.6995° N · 32.6391° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
3 km N
Karnak Temple
temple complex
8 km W
Valley of the Kings
royal necropolis
8 km W
Temple of Hatshepsut
mortuary temple
N
Luxor Temple
Karnak Temple
Valley of the Kings
Temple of Hatshepsut
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Luxor Temple — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Construction began under Pharaoh Amenhotep III around 1400 BCE. Ramses II added the great pylon and the seated colossi about a century later. Several later pharaohs left additions inside.

It was the destination of the annual Opet Festival, when the cult statues of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu were carried in procession from Karnak Temple, two miles north along the Nile.

In Paris, at the center of the Place de la Concorde. The Egyptian viceroy Muhammad Ali gave it to France in 1830, and it was raised on the Paris square in 1836.

Yes. The Abu al-Haggag Mosque, built in the 13th century when the temple was buried in sand, sits along the eastern wall of the Great Court and remains in active use today.

Karnak is the larger complex, two miles north. Luxor Temple is more compact, set within the modern city, and was the southern terminus of the Opet procession that connected the two.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Luxor Temple holds a place in Egyptian cultural memory beyond the tourist circuit. For someone from Cairo or the Nile valley, a Small or Medium with a handwritten note carries warmth.

The piece pairs with warm Mediterranean, North African, and earth-tone Maximalist interiors. The sandstone palette holds well against terra-cotta tile, dark wood, and brass.

Yes. Warm-minimalist palettes lean on tawny stone, oak, and clay, and the Luxor piece sits inside that range. The dim, lamp-lit feel of the artwork suits evening rooms.

A single Large reads well above a console. Above a sofa, a 4-tile Mural carries the wall, and a 9-tile Mural fills it. The colonnade subject rewards the larger formats.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and will not fade from steam or scrubbing. Microfibre and water is all the cleaning it needs.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.