Medinet Habu, Luxor

Medinet Habu tickets and entrance fee

Egypt's official ticketing system (Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities) lists Medinet Habu at EGP 220 for foreign adults and EGP 110 for students up to 24 with a valid student ID; children under 6 go free. One ticket covers the main temple, the palace remains and the Small Temple of Amun. Phone photography is free.

Tickets are dated and non-refundable. Buy them online at Egymonuments or in the Experience Egypt app; the ministry's FAQ says Visa and Mastercard work across all its channels, including site counters and kiosks. Sources disagree on whether the desk is at the gate or at the West Bank antiquities office, so buying ahead saves a detour.

Keep Egyptian pounds in cash for the ferry, taxis and tips. The unofficial Luxor Pass also covers Medinet Habu if you plan to see most of the city's sites.

Medinet Habu opening hours

The temple opens every day at 6:00. Last entry is 17:00 in summer and 16:00 in winter and during Ramadan, and the ministry asks visitors to arrive at least an hour before closing. Medinet Habu keeps the same hours as the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple and the Ramesseum.

Early morning gives you cool air and the east-facing gate in full sun. Early afternoon is quietest, as the coach groups head back to the East Bank. Midday in summer is hard work — the courts are open to the sky.

What is Medinet Habu?

It's the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, the last great pharaoh of the New Kingdom. He was buried in the Valley of the Kings; here, on the edge of the fields, priests kept his cult alive. The complex inside the walls also holds a much older Small Temple of Amun, chapels of priestesses and the foundations of a royal palace.

The scale is serious: a mudbrick enclosure wall about 18 metres high and some 7,000 m² of carved reliefs. What sets it apart from its neighbours is survival — the pylons and walls stand close to full height, and the paint in the second court still reads clearly. If you want to picture a working Egyptian temple, this is the one to see.

Is Medinet Habu worth visiting?

Yes — after the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut's temple, it's the West Bank's best use of two spare hours. It's better preserved and more colourful than the Ramesseum, cheaper than Hatshepsut and far calmer than either.

If you have only one day in Luxor, though, put the valleys, Hatshepsut and Karnak first; Medinet Habu is the next pick, not the first. Kids tend to enjoy it: a gate like a castle, ships and battles on the walls, and space to roam.

What to see at Medinet Habu

• The Migdol gate — a tall gatehouse styled on a Syrian fortress; the king's rooms upstairs show him at ease with women of the court.
• The first pylon — Ramesses III smiting enemies before Amun, with war scenes on the inner face.
• The first court — the palace wall and Window of Appearances on the left, Osiride statues of the king on the right.
• The second court — the temple's best colour: festival processions in blue, red and yellow on the columns and walls.
• The north outer wall — the Sea Peoples naval battle. Walk round the outside; many visitors miss it.
• The Small Temple of Amun, right of the entrance — built by Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, three centuries older than the main temple.
• The God's Wives chapels by the gate and the palace remains — mudbrick foundations with a throne room.

The Sea Peoples reliefs

In the 8th year of his reign Ramesses III beat off the Sea Peoples, a coalition that ravaged much of the eastern Mediterranean as the Bronze Age collapsed. The inscriptions name groups such as the Peleset — often linked to the biblical Philistines — the Tjeker and the Shekelesh.

The campaign fills the north outer wall. The famous scene is the sea battle: Egyptian ships ram the invaders' boats, and warriors in feathered headdresses tumble into the water. Nearby, a land battle shows ox-carts carrying the invaders' families. For historians it's one of the key records of the Late Bronze Age collapse.

History of Medinet Habu

Ramesses III reigned around 1186–1155 BC and modelled his temple closely on the Ramesseum of Ramesses II, a short drive north. The ground was already sacred: Hatshepsut and Thutmose III had completed the Small Temple of Amun here, and in the 8th–6th centuries BC chapels were added for the God's Wives of Amun, priestesses who ruled Thebes on the kings' behalf.

Later the Coptic town of Djeme grew up inside the walls, with a church in the second court; plaster laid over the reliefs helped protect their paint. Champollion studied the temple in 1829, and since 1924 the University of Chicago's Epigraphic Survey has been recording every wall.

Medinet Habu vs other West Bank temples

Fares and hours from Egypt's official ticketing system (Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities). Visit times are YesGo estimates.

Luxor history: compare and choose

All historic sites in Luxor rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

Nearby — add to your day

50

Colossi of Memnon

Luxor, Egypt

20 min · Free, no ticket · 17 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Colossi of Memnon

33

Valley of the Queens

Luxor, Egypt

1 h · EGP 220, Nefertari closed · 20 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Valley of the Queens

39

Ramesseum

Luxor, Egypt

45 min · EGP 220, students EGP 110 · 23 min walk

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44

Temple of Hatshepsut

Luxor, Egypt

1 h · EGP 440, students EGP 220 · 36 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Temple of Hatshepsut

How to do it right

• Walk the north outer wall before going in — the Sea Peoples sea battle is there and most visitors head straight for the courts.
• In the second court, look up: the best paint survives under the cornices and high on the columns.
• Don't skip the Small Temple of Amun right of the entrance — older by three centuries and usually empty.
• Medinet Habu makes a good last stop on the West Bank: groups leave after lunch and the light on the walls softens.
• Find the Window of Appearances on the first court's left wall — it's where the king stood to reward his officials.
• Back on the East Bank in the evening, finish at Luxor Temple, floodlit and right by the ferry landing.

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