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A “Southern Sacred Lake” with a Rare Twin-lake Layout
The newly uncovered basin lies west of the Temple of Maat (dedicated to Maat, the goddess associated with truth, justice, and cosmic order) and covers more than 50 square meters, according to the mission’s announcement. Archaeologists noted it had not appeared in earlier archives, suggesting it either remained buried or overlooked despite decades of work at Karnak.
Crucially, the team says this “Southern Sacred Lake,” together with a previously known sacred lake at Montu’s precinct, forms a distinctive north–south alignment of two sacred lakes within the Karnak enclosure walls. If confirmed through continued excavation and mapping, that paired arrangement could help scholars rethink circulation routes, purification practices, and spatial symbolism within the Montu sector.
Jia Xiaobing, the Chinese head of the Egyptian-Chinese archaeological mission, presents archaeological discoveries in Luxor, Egypt, Jan. 24, 2026. (Xinhua/Xin Mengchen)
What sacred lakes were for in Ancient Egypt
Sacred lakes were not decorative ponds. In temple settings, they were typically reserved for ritual use - especially purification rites performed by priests before entering more restricted sacred spaces. They also carried symbolic weight, echoing Egyptian creation ideas in which life emerges from primeval water, explains the Egypt Museum.
Karnak’s best-known sacred lake - inside the Precinct of Amun-Re - is widely described as a major ritual feature with stairways leading down into the water and associations with ablution and festival activity. That broader context is part of why a newly excavated lake in another precinct at Karnak matters: it can provide fresh physical evidence (materials, repairs, deposits) rather than relying mainly on assumptions drawn from better-known examples, reports the Madain Project.
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This photo shows relief-carved stone at the Montu Temple precinct in the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Egypt. (Xinhua/Xin Mengchen)
Osiris chapels, cow jaws, and elite Late Period connections
The lake was not the mission’s only headline find. In nearby excavation areas, archaeologists reported dozens of cow jaw remains and reused stone blocks associated with kings and the “Divine Adoratrice” tradition from Egypt’s Late Period (747–332 BC). Such reused blocks can be crucial for dating and reconstructing building phases, even when groundwater prevents digging down to original foundations.
Staff members work at the Montu Temple precinct in the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor, Egypt. (Xinhua/Xin Mengchen)
The mission also uncovered three chapels dedicated to Osiris, along with dozens of Osiris statuettes of varying sizes and materials. Team leaders suggested these finds could add archaeological evidence for reconstructing Thebes’ history under powerful female religious officials known as Divine Adoratrices (also called God’s Wives of Amun), especially in the 25th and 26th Dynasties.
Top image: Guests visit the ruins of the “sacred lake” at the Montu Temple precinct, Karnak, Luxor.
Source: Xin Mengchen/Xinhua
By Gary Manners
References
Madain Project, N. No date. Karnak Sacred Lake. Available at: https://madainproject.com/karnak_sacred_lake
Egypt Museum. Sacred Lakes. Available at: https://egypt-museum.com/sacred-lakes/
Xin, Mengchen, 2026. Egyptian-Chinese archaeologists uncover ancient “sacred lake” in S. Egypt. Xinhua. Available at: https://english.news.cn/20260125/a88a29485ae84df1b945f3037353a902/c.html
