Karnak temple, a few miles across from the Luxor Temple, connected by that sphinx-lined road that is now being reconstructed, is one of the oldest and largest temples of ancient Egypt, which is saying something. It's a sprawling elegant behemouth,first described by Diodorus of Sicily (whose name comes up a lot in Egyptian historiography). The Greeks called it Hermonthis.

It was January 1 and Jud and I wanted to do different things. He went to the Luxor Museum (not the Temple) and I went to Karnak, getting a taxi from our hostel and then picking up a guide once I got my ticket. My guide was Aladden, which seemed so fitting, because his magic lantern for me was his knowledge and reverence for the site. He had a quiet demeanor, and a generous view of the Temple built for the god Amon and his wife, the goddess Mut, often symbolically portrayed in the form of a vulture (I don't know why, but it may not have the rather negative connotations we associate with it).

Older than the Luxor temple, it astounds with beautiful columns in many styles, statues, the sphinx-lined avenue, a sacred lake, obelisks, and intricate carvings. A successive line of Pharoahs added halls and chapels to the original temple, as happened at the Luxor temple. The influence of trade with Ethiopia is reflected in what's called the "Ethiopian Courtyard," where extraordinary columns, carvings and hieroglypics tell the story of this interesting connection.

Noted for its "stylistic complexity," one guide said the Karnak Temple could serve as a base to study the evolution of architecture and art from the XVIII Dynasty to the end of the Ramses era. Part of this temple was also a Christian church at one time, much later of course.

For Aladdin, a sacred site at Karnak was the base and sculpture of a gigantic granite scarab, a symbol of eternal life, dedicated to the god Knepr by Amon-Ofis. Aladdin positioned me in front of the scarab and took a photo. "It is special to have this photo," he told me. Yes, and actually it was special to spend time with Aladdin among this sprawling Temple to the gods and goddesses of the great Egyptian past.