Temple of Merneptah, Luxor (must see)

Merneptah succeeded his father Ramses II and ruled for 10 years during the 13th Century B.C. The Temple of Merneptah is modeled on the Ramesseum and is located behind that of Amenhotep. Merneptah succeeded to the throne as an old man following the deaths of 12 brothers with stronger claims since Ramses II lived and reigned for so long that he outlived many of his heirs. Close to the entrance to the temple there is a small museum explaining the layout of the design and providing information about the artifacts excavated at the site. Just east of the Sacred Lake, you can find several jackal-headed sphinx statues that still have their original coloring. It is thought that these were taken from the nearby Temple of Amenhotep along with stone slabs.

There are some impressive statues and reliefs that have been rescued from the site and these are kept in a permanent storage shed at the site. Some of the wall decorations on display are astonishingly well preserved and still exhibit strong colors. Many of these, too, come from the Temple of Amenhotep. The renovations done at the site are controversial since rather than trying to piece together the temple, they have merely sured the slabs up in the locations where they were found.