24/50.- Luxor, Karnak Temple, fortune beetle

To the south of the standing obelisk is its fallen companion (at our left). Both obelisks were made of a single block of pink granite, quarried at Aswan. The stones were moved several hundred miles over to the river and shipped down to Thebes.

In the photo you can see the sacred beetle. This beetle was dedicated to aton. The temple guides say that if you go round the beetle once, you will have good luck. If you want a merry marriage you should go round it three times and if you go round it seven times, it will bring good luck to your first son.

At our back there is the sacred lake, where the priests of the temple purified their bodies before the ceremonies.

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