Mosque of Abu el-Haggag, Luxor, Egypt

"After the conversion of Rome to Christianity and in the Byzantine period, several Christian churches were built in and around the temple precincts. In the 6th century one of these churches was built within the Ramessid court, and on top of this same building, in the 13th century, the Mosque of Abu el-Haggag was constructed. This mosque still remains in use today and effectively brings the history of Luxor Temple as a sacred precinct from its beginnings, some time before 1500BC, to the present day." [Wilkinson R., 2000: The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt. Thames and Hudson]. "With the village of Karnak, Luxor (Al Uqsur) is on the site of ancient Thebes (capital of the New Kingdom). It is noted for having ruins of many temples and burial grounds. When Thebes declined, Luxor remained the more heavily populated part of the ancient city and grew into a modern market town." [The J.P.Getty Fund: Thesaurus of Geographic Names]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from January 8, 1947 to end of June 1947.