Great Karnak Inscription

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First part of the inscription (lines 1-20, out of 79)
Location of Cachette court

The Great Karnak Inscription is an

19th Dynasty Pharaoh Merneptah. A long epigraph, it was discovered at Karnak in 1828–1829. According to Wilhelm Max Müller, it is "one of the famous standard texts of Egyptology... [and has been] ... one of the greatest desiderata of scholars for many years."[1]

The Great Karnak Inscription is located on the west (inside) of the east wall of the Cachette Court, in the Precinct of Amun-Re of the Karnak temple complex, in modern Luxor. It runs from the fourth pylon of the great sanctuary to the eighth pylon.[1]

It was first identified by Champollion, and later partly published by Karl Richard Lepsius.[2]

It includes a record of the campaigns of this king against the Sea Peoples.[3][4]

The 79-line inscription (which has now lost about a third of its content) shows the king's campaigns and eventual return with booty and prisoners.[5][4]

It is the longest surviving continuous monumental text from Egypt.[4]

It has been designated KIU 4246 by the Centre Franco-Égyptien d'Étude des Temples de Karnak.[6]

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