The Karnak Temple Complex commonly known as Karnak comprises a vast mix of decayed temples chapels pylons and other buildings Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom and continued into the Ptolemaic period although most of the extant buildings date from the New Kingdom The area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut The Most Selected of Places and the main place of worship of the eighteenth dynasty Theban Triad with the god Amun as its head It is part of the monumental city of Thebes The Karnak complex gives its name to the nearby and partly surrounded modern village of El-Karnak 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) north of Luxor