who was the first king to start building the temple of karnak
Senusret I
title: History of the Karnak Temple complex text: Karnak area. The unification of Egypt brought Amun (the tribal god of the region) increased power and wealth, and he was gradually merged with the sun god Rê, to become Amun-Re. The White Chapel of Senusret I and the Middle Kingdom court are the earliest remains of buildings within the temple area. Close to the Sacred Lake, excavations have located a planned settlement. The major construction of this era was the laying out of the Middle Kingdom court, The New Kingdom saw the relatively modest temple expanded into a huge state religious centre, as the wealth of Egypt increased. Major title: History of the Karnak Temple complex text: of Amun ruling in Thebes. The northern kings seem to have constructed nothing and added little to the complex, but the High Priests continued to decorate the Temple of Khonsu, especially Herihor and Pinedjem I. The Libyan kings of the 22nd Dynasty seem to have planned to layout the area to the of the Second Pylon with a colonnade and a new gateway (which has since been replaced by the First Pylon). This new construction surrounded the barque shrines of Seti II and Ramesses III. Between this later temple and the Second Pylon Shoshenq I commemorated his conquests and military title: Karnak text: Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, from Arabic "Khurnak" meaning "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings near Luxor, in Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom and continued into the Ptolemaic period, although most of the extant buildings date from the New Kingdom. The area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian "Ipet-isut" ("The Most Selected of Places") and the main place of worship of the eighteenth dynasty Theban Triad with the god Amun as its head. It is part title: Karnak text: building was destroyed by invaders. The earliest known artifact found in the area of the temple is a small, eight-sided column from the Eleventh Dynasty, which mentions Amun-Re. Amun (sometimes called Amen) was long the local tutelary deity of Thebes. He was identified with the ram and the goose. The Egyptian meaning of Amun is, "hidden" or, the "hidden god". Major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Re took place during the Eighteenth dynasty when Thebes became the capital of the unified Ancient Egypt. Almost every pharaoh of that dynasty added something to the temple site. Thutmose I erected an title: History of the Karnak Temple complex text: spirit". It is now known as the Festival Hall of Thutmose III, which is seemingly decorated to echo a huge tent shrine, complete with awnings and tent poles. In this temple, the Karnak king list, shows Thutmose III with some of the earlier kings that built parts of the temple complex. After a brief period of interruption during the Amarna Period, when the Egyptian capital was moved to Akhetaten, construction resumed at Karnak under Tutankhamun and Horemheb. The Ninth pylon was erected along the southern axis using material known as talatat from the now demolished Akhetaten. Construction of the Hypostyle