The Temple of Abydos
The Temple of Abydos is located to the west of El-Baliana,
which is a town in Sohag Governorate. In ancient times
it was called Abdu, and the Greeks called it Abydos. The
8th province in ancient Egypt, this area is considered
to be amongst the most famous archaeological sites. It
was the city were Menna, the unifier of upper and lower
Egypt, came from, and from the 11th Dynasty onwards, a
burial in Abydos was the ultimate wish, and honour, for
any local to have.
In Abydos, many tombs were found belonging to the 1st
and 2nd Dynasties. Also, many Kings built Temples here,
including King Pepi I, King Ahmose I, King Seti I and
King Ramses II.
Ancient Egyptians believed that the tomb of Osiris, the
“God of the Dead”, was located in Abydos, and it is also
where his head was buried.
The Temple of Seti I:
The Temple was built in the reign of King Seti I and was
finished by, first, his son King Ramses II and then his
son, King Mern-Ptah
It is unique in design as it is in the shape of an “L”,
and it also contains the most complete lists of Kings
and Gods. The Temple contains 7 shrines dedicated to 7
Gods: Osiris, Isis, Horus, Amon Ra, Ra HorAkhty and Ptah,
and Seti I as a deified King. You will also find the
best-preserved painted reliefs and texts from the 18th
Dynasty.
The Temple of Abydos was constructed with white marble
and once had a large pylon built by Ramses II.
The front of the Temple is a square columned façade and
there are 12 rectangular pillars with decoration of
Ramses II welcoming the Gods Osiris, Isis and Horus. The
Temple originally had 7 gates leading to 7 shrines
originally constructed by Seti I, but Ramses II made
additional parts to the construction, and only there is
one gate open now.
This gate leads to a hypostyle hall, which was built and
decorated by King Ramses II, where the columns are
decorated with papyrus bud capitals. There are many
repres entations of Ramses II offering to many Gods,
here.
Further west, you will find the second hypostyle hall,
which is the more impressive! Seti II built this hall,
the walls depicting Seti I giving offerings, to Osiris
and Horus, in front of Osiris shrine. The decorations in
this hall are the best
in the Temple; the fine painted relief being of the
highest standard.
Behind that hall there are 7 sanctuaries, dedicated by
Seti I, and made for Osiris, Isis, Horus, Amon Ra, Ra
HorAkhty, Ptah and Seti I as a deified King. It is
believed that these shrines once contained the sacred
boats of the God's. Each of them has false doors (except
for Osiris) with a Stella mentioning the God. The shrine
of Osiris doesn't have a false door; it has
representations of the God Osiris’ Jed sign (the pillar
of Osiris), with scenes of the Osiris myth.
To the left of the 2nd hypostyle hall, there are two
entrances. One leads to the hall of Sokker and Nefertum,
while the other leads to a narrow decorated hall, with a
list of 76 Kings. Missing from this list are the names
of the “heretic King”, Akhenaton, and Queen Hatshepsut.
This corridor leads to the hall of sacred boats, where
the sacred boats where stored, there was also a hall for
sacrifices, where the animals got slaughtered
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