Explore This Quiz on Ancient Egyptian Landmarks

The Temple at Kom Ombo is unique among the landmarks of ancient Egypt because it's a double temple. The northern half of the complex is dedicated to the falcon god Horus, while the southern half is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, one of the creators of the world. Located a few miles north of Aswan, the area around Kom Ombo was once infested with massive Nile crocodiles.

About 420 miles south of Cairo lies the ruins of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, which are partially found in the modern city of Luxor. Thebes straddled both sides of the Nile river as a thriving city from around 2,000 BCE until 663 BCE, when it was sacked by Assyrian raiders. The extensive ruins are home to four main complexes: Karnak, Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, and the Valley of the Queens.

Dedicated to Horus, the falcon-headed god of kingship and the sky, the Temple of Edfu was built around 200 BCE between Aswan and Luxor on the west bank of the Nile. The temple is known for its wealth of legible inscriptions describing a "sacred drama'' involving Horus and the desert god, Seth. The Temple of Edfu was completely buried until the 1800s when French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette rediscovered the site and helped preserve it.

About 4,700 years ago, ancient Egyptians constructed the first of their many famous pyramids, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, to honor Djoser, the second king of the third dynasty of ancient Egypt. The structure is made of 11.6 million cubic feet of stone and clay and reaches 197 feet in height. Below the surface of the monument is a series of tunnels that form a labyrinth about 3.5 miles long.

According to some historians, Imhotep was the world's first architect. The vizier and chief minister to Pharaoh Djoser, Imhotep designed the king's Step Pyramid and forever changed Egyptian construction. Upon his death around 2600 BCE, Djoser was honored with statues, some of which grant him titles like "Chief of the Sculptors" and "Chief of the Seers.”

Assisting ships in the Mediterranean Sea, the Lighthouse of Alexandria stood 350 feet high and was built around 300 BCE. Now, however, this Ancient Wonder of the World is just a memory. Throughout the centuries, many earthquakes damaged the lighthouse and it eventually disappeared from the historical record around the 1300s CE. Even Pharos, the island on which it was constructed, has sunk below the surface of the sea.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built around 2570 BCE during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu. The structure was built to serve as Khufu's burial place and was the tallest manmade structure on Earth for more than 3,000 years. The pyramid is the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Library of Alexandria was built around 300 BCE, a few years after the death of the Egyptian city's namesake, Alexander the Great. Demetrius of Phaleron was tasked with founding the legendary library. His goal was to collect all the books in the known world to store and spread knowledge from one central hub. In 48 BCE, the library was destroyed by war and fire by the order of Julius Caesar.

Once known as the Great Necropolis of Millions of Years of Pharaoh, Egypt's Valley of the Kings is located near the modern city of Luxor and stands on the west bank of the Nile. The tombs of pharaohs Ramses VII, Ramses IV, Merneptah, Akhenaten, and King Tutankhamen.

The Great Sphinx of Egypt was built around 2500 BCE and still stands as one of Egypt's most recognizable landmarks. The statue has the face of Pharaoh Khafre with the body of a seated lion, complete with a long tail curled around the rear. With a height of 66 feet and a length of 240 feet, the Sphinx is one of the largest statues in the world.