Luxor[a] is a city in Upper Egypt, which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020,[2] with an area of approximately 417 km2 (161 sq mi)[1] and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the ''world's greatest open-air museum'', as the ruins of the Egyptian temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city. Immediately opposite, across the River Nile, lie the monuments, temples and tombs of the West Bank Theban Necropolis, which includes the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Thousands of tourists from all around the world arrive annually to visit Luxor's monuments, contributing greatly to the economy of the modern city. Yusuf Abu al-Haggag is the prominent Muslim historical figure of Luxor.
The name Luxor[b] derives from the Arabic قصر qaṣr, meaning "castle" or "palace", in the plural form al-quṣūr (“the palaces").[5][6][c] It may be equivalent to the Greek and Coptic toponym τὰ Τρία Κάστρα ta tria kastra and ⲡϣⲟⲙⲧ ⲛ̀ⲕⲁⲥⲧⲣⲟⲛ pshomt enkastron respectively, which both mean "three castles".[8]
The Sahidic Coptic name Pape[d][8] comes from Demotic Ỉp.t meaning 'the adyton,' which, in turn, is derived from the Egyptian. The Greek forms Ἀπις and Ὠφιεῖον come from the same source.[8] The Egyptian village of Aba al-Waqf[e] shares the same etymology.[9]
The Greek name is Thebes (Ancient Greek: Θῆβαι) or Diospolis. The Egyptian name of the city is Waset, also known as Nut (Coptic: ⲛⲏ),[10] written as
and