A comprehensive geoarchaeological investigation around Karnak near Luxor found that the site became habitable only after 2520 BC, and points to an elevated island between ancient Nile channels that may also explain the religious logic behind the choice of location.
Groundbreaking research suggests that the famous Karnak Temple was built where ancient Egyptian mythology and the Nile “rose from the water” together – literally. An international team of archaeologists has completed the most detailed and comprehensive geoarchaeological survey ever conducted at the historic temple near Luxor, one of the largest and most impressive temple complexes in the ancient world and a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The innovative examination provides a much clearer picture of the date of the first settlement at this sacred site, and suggests a possible and fascinating connection between the choice of its precise location and ancient and profound Egyptian concepts about the creation of the world and the beginning of existence.
The fascinating findings, recently published in the leading scientific journal Antiquity, present surprising new evidence about the temple's true age, examine in depth possible connections to Egyptian mythology, and explain in detail how the changes in the Nile landscape decisively influenced those who lived at the site and expanded it over a vast period of some three thousand years.
"Our new research provides unprecedented detail on the remarkable development of the Karnak Temple, from a small island to becoming one of the most defining and central institutions of ancient Egypt," explains Dr Ben Pennington, lead author of the study and a Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow in Geoarchaeology at the University of Southampton.
The historical location of Karnak
The Karnak Temple is located about five hundred meters east of the modern Nile Valley, close to Luxor, in an area that was once the beating religious heart of ancient Egypt in the ancient and magnificent city of Thebes.
The new research suggests that the Karnak temple grew from what was once an island created by the Nile itself, significantly altering our existing understanding of its origins. The site's unique and special geography may have been deliberately chosen to reflect and embody ancient Egyptian beliefs about creation itself and the beginning of the world.
Reconstruction of the ancient environment around the Karnak Temple
The international research team was led by Dr. Angus Graham from Uppsala University in Sweden and included several leading researchers from the University of Southampton. The researchers carefully and in detail examined sixty-one sediment core samples taken from various locations within the vast temple complex and its immediate surroundings. To accurately and calibrate the historical timeline, they also analyzed tens of thousands of ancient pottery shards found at the site over the years of research.
A sophisticated combination of all this data allowed the team to reconstruct with great precision how the landscape around the site changed and developed during different historical periods. According to the careful analysis, around 2,520 years ago, the area was frequently flooded by rapid and powerful flood waters of the Nile, making long-term, stable settlement at the site completely impractical.
Therefore, the earliest continuous occupation of the Karnak temple probably dates to the Old Kingdom period of Egypt (approximately 2591 to 2152 BC). The ancient pottery finds also support this and reinforce this conclusion: the earliest fragments found date to the period between approximately 2305 and 1980 BC.
"The true age of the Karnak Temple has been a subject of heated and ongoing debate in the archaeological community for many years, but our new and solid evidence places a much clearer time limit on the earliest settlement and construction at the site," explained Dr Christian Sturt, a key research partner from the University of Southampton.
How river channels created sacred ground
According to the detailed research findings, the land on which the magnificent Karnak temple later developed was created when the ancient Nile channels eroded and deepened their banks to the west and east of the site. This natural geological process left behind an elevated "island" of more stable and harder ground in what is now the eastern and southeastern parts of the extensive temple precinct. This elevated and stable area provided an ideal and suitable base for early settlement and initial construction.
Over the following centuries, the river channels on both sides of the island gradually moved away from each other, a natural process of river channel alteration. This natural and slow movement opened up additional areas of stable ground, allowing the temple complex to gradually expand and grow over time to its enormous dimensions.
A surprising and unexpected finding concerns the eastern channel of the Nile: in previous archaeological studies it was largely considered a theoretical hypothesis, but the new and solid data clearly show that there was a well-defined and active channel there, and it is very possible that it was even larger and wider than the western channel on which earlier studies emphasized and focused.
"The ancient channels that surrounded the site on both sides directly and decisively shaped how the temple could develop and where it could be built," explained Dominic Barker, a key research collaborator from the University of Southampton. "New construction and expansions were often built over old river channels that were no longer active, having naturally filled in with silt and sediment."
He added and emphasized: "We also clearly see how the ancient Egyptians deliberately shaped and changed the course of the river itself, for example by deliberately dumping sand from the nearby desert into certain channels, perhaps to consciously create new, stable ground for the construction and further expansion of the temple."
The fascinating resemblance to Egyptian creation myths
The reconstruction of the ancient landscape and geology beneath the Karnak temple site bears a striking and fascinating resemblance to the imagery and descriptions found in the famous creation stories of ancient Egypt. This striking similarity has led researchers to propose a fascinating theory that religious ideas and cosmological beliefs significantly influenced the choice of the temple's exact location.
Ancient texts from the Old Kingdom of Egypt describe the creator god as appearing and manifesting as a high mound of solid earth rising from the “primordial lake” or “waters of the abyss.” Of particular note: the natural island on which the Karnak temple was eventually built is the only known elevated area in the wider area that was once completely surrounded by water on all sides.
"It is very tempting to suggest and raise the possibility that the ruling Theban elite deliberately chose the specific location of the Karnak temple as a suitable place for the abode of a new and renewed manifestation of the creator god, 'Ra'-Amon,' precisely because the natural site perfectly suited the creation scene described in the myths: high, stable land rising and emerging from deep waters surrounding it," Dr. Pennington enthusiastically explains.
Later religious writings and texts from the Middle Kingdom period (approximately 1980 to 1760 BCE) expand and deepen this theological idea, describing in greater detail a "primordial mound" or "first hill" rising and emerging from the "waters of chaos" or "primordial ocean." At that historical period, the retreat of the seasonal and cyclical flood waters of the Nile would have illustrated and demonstrated this religious myth directly to the believing observer: the natural mound beneath the Karnak temple would have appeared to actually rise and spread as the waters gradually receded after the flood season.
Expanding research in the Luxor floodplain
Having received official approval from Egyptian authorities to explore and survey the vast, expansive floodplain of Luxor, the international research team is now expanding and scaling up its scientific and field work to other key and significant archaeological sites in the historic region. The stated goal of the expansion is to better and more comprehensively understand how natural landscapes and ancient waterways shaped and influenced the development of the entire space of the religious and cultural capital of ancient Egypt over thousands of years.
Advertising and funding details
Scientific reference: "Conceptual origins and geomorphic evolution of the temple of Amun-Ra at Karnak (Luxor, Egypt)" by Benjamin Thomas Pennington and colleagues, published October 6, 2025 in the scientific journal Antiquity. Digital identifier: DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2025.10185
The comprehensive research project was financially supported by the Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse Foundation (grant number KAW 2013.0163) and Uppsala University (grant number HUMSAM 2014/17), as well as by an additional small grant from the M och S Wångstedts Stiftelse Foundation. The field and archaeological research was carried out entirely under the auspices and supervision of the Egypt Exploration Society and with official and explicit permission from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of the Government of Egypt.
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