Karnak, also called Al-Karnak, village located in Al-Uqṣur muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Upper Egypt, which has given its name to the northern half of the ruins of Thebes on the east bank of the Nile River, including the ruins of the Great Temple of Amon. Karnak and other areas of ancient Thebes—including Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, and the Valley of the Queens—were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. Excavations in the 20th century pushed the history of the site back to the Gerzean period (c. 3400–c. 3100 bce), when a small settlement was founded on the wide