The temple of Montu at Armant is in a very ruinous state. It is situated in the centre of the village, and is not officially open to tourists. Armant, known by the Greeks as Hermonthis, was made the capital of the local nome by the famous Cleopatra, who built a temple there, now destroyed and which was used to build the large sugar-cane factory in the town. The temple was one of four temples to Montu, surrounding Luxor - Tod, North Karnak and Medamud being the others.

Montu, a war-god, is normally depicted with the head of a hawk, but at Armant, he is connected strongly with the bull-cult surrounding the Bucheum, a cemetery/temple nearby which celebrated the Buchis bull - almost as important in Egypt as the Serapis bull.

Montu, shown as a bull. Note the depression in the bull's body where the faithful have rubbed it to get some benefit or cure through their prayers.

On the right is a fine carving of a jackal - possibly Anubis, on one of the few re-constructed areas in the temple.

The present temple dates from the time of Tuthmosis III through to Roman times. Remains of the temple, and other temples, testifiying to the importance of Armant, can be found throughout the