A shaft of sunlight illuminated on Thursday the usually dark sanctum of the Karnak temple, an ancient complex in the southern city of Luxor, in a rare astronomical phenomenon that happens twice a year to mark the summer and winter solstice.

Luxor governor Mohamed Badr attended the ceremony along with a number of archaeologists, astronomers, and Egyptologists.

Tourists gathered to watch the spectacle that has endured for thousands of years of Egyptian history.