Abydos Temple
Abydos Temple
Abydos Temple
For several thousand years, the site of ABYDOS "the ancient
Abdju" flourished as a cemetery for the people of Thinis, the
capital of Egypt's eighth Upper Egyptian nome.
A local deity, Khentyamentiu (the foremost of the westerners,
meaning the chief one among the dead), had a cult center here
during Egypt's first two dynasties.
In the old Kingdom, this god was joined to another underworld
deity, Osiris. Osiris came to be seen as the pre-eminent god of
the underworld and the personification of Egypt's deceased
kings. By the middle Kingdom, ABYDOS was described as the
burial place o Osiris and many increasingly popular and
important religious ceremonies were held there to
commemorate his death and rebirth in the afterlife.
Pilgrims came in great numbers to make offerings, erect stelae
and statues and, if they could afford it, to build a tomb or a
cenotaph. The town of Thinis, with which ABYDOS was
associated, has never been located.
But ABYDOS itself is well-known as one of the most extensive
and important cemeteries and cult sites of dynastic times. With
good reason, the most famous building at ABYDOS today is the
Mansion of millions of years of king Menma'atre "Seti I" who
rests in ABYDOS, This temple was begun by Seti I, and
completed by his son Ramesses II, it is elegantly decorated and
uniquely well-preserved, one of the masterpieces of Egyptian art
and architecture.
Some Egyptologists have claimed that the temple's unusual Lshaped plan was chosen to avoid damaging the Osireion, an
ancient subterranean cenotaph lying immediately behind the
temple.But many scholars now believe that the Osireion was
also built by Seti I, copying the plans of tombs in the valley of the
Kings. They doubt its reputed Old Kingdom origins.
The Temple Of Seti I
The temple of Seti I lies
about 15 kilometers
west of the Nile on the
edge of the desert, a
few meters above the
village and fields of alBalliana. A modern
staircase leads to its
ruined first pylon and
first court.
The back of the pylon has fourteen niches built into it that
originally held Osiris statues. Fragments of some of them can still
be seen here, and three statue heads are on display to the left of
the entrance in the first hypostyle hall. A pair of large stone
ablution basins used by ancient priests for purification stand in
the center of the court.
The north and south walls of the court are decorated with scenes
of battles fought in western Asia.Note at the left (east) end of the
left (south) wall a soldier emptying a basketful of severed hands
before scribes.
The hands were hacked from enemy soldiers as a method of
tallying the number of dead. A narrow terrace stretches along the
rear (west) wall of the court. In its left rear (southwest) and right
rear (northwest) corners, rows of sons and daughters of
Ramesses II march across the walls.
Originally, twenty seven sons and twenty nine daughters were
shown here, each of them named, and shown in order of their
birth.
The Second court......
The second court was also the work of Ramesses II. At the rear
stands a portico, 1.25 meters (nearly 4 feet) high, with a row of
twelve pillars across the front. Each pillar is decorated with
scenes of Ramesses II or Seti I offering to various deities.
These are standard scenes, but there is an unusual detail on the
right (north) face of the first pillar to the left (south) of the court's
main axis.
Ramesses II wears a long gown that id depicted so sheer that his
leg are clearly visible through it. But the gown also overlaps
several hieroglyphs carved on the right, and these cannot be
seen through the cloth.
The rear (west) wall of the portico was originally designed with
doors opening between twelve narrow walls.These were filled in,
however to create solid walls on either side of the main gateway
and then completely decorated.
The colors here are well preserved, even though the wall has
been badly damaged. At the right (north) end, Ramesses II,
stands with Horus and Khnum. To the left, he stands before a
persea tree flanked by Thoth and Ptah.
Ptah writes the king's name on the leaves of the tree and Thoth
carries palm branches that have been notched to indicate the
many years the king will hopefully live.
Nearer the central gate, the king offers ankh-sign to Osiris, Isis
and Seti I. South of the central gateway. 116 columns of text
describe the youth and early years of the reign of Ramesses II.
He boasts of having visited ABYDOS soon after his coronation,
and finding his father's temple unfinished, ordering that it be
completed. Now the temple of Seti I, its front and its rear were
(still) under construction when he entered heaven.
There were none who completed its monuments, none who
erected its pillars upon its terrace. I being now lord of the two
Lands, I shall finish them in proper fashion. I will build up the
walls in the temple of the one who begot me ".
The First Hypostyle Hall.....
The first hypostyle Hall is a huge chamber with two rows of
twelve papyri form columns that support an 8 meter high ceiling.
The walls are heavily decorated with elaborately carved and
painted scenes. (The fluorescent tubes that lie on the floor
provide an unsatisfactory light, but even so the fine quality
workmanship is obvious).
We will tour the hall starting in its front left (southeast) corner
and proceed counterclockwise to the rear left (southwest)
corner.
The front (east) wall has three "piers" on each side of the central
doorway with large niches between them. At the far right (south),
in the upper register, the king pulls the sacred bark of Sokar.
Below he stands before the god "Min". On the second pier, the
king kneels on symbols of upper and lower Egypt and is joined
by Anubis and Horus.
Below, the king makes offerings to Ptah. On the third pier, the
king offers vases to Amen-Ra and below, receives purification
from Atum and Amen-Ra.
On the fourth pier immediately left (north) of the main doorway,
Amen-Ra holds an ankh-sign before the king's face and Osiris
offers a miniature pavilion, the symbol of the Heb-Sed Festival,
and a notched palm branch representing years of long life.
The scene below is similar to that on the third pier. On the fifth
pier, at the top, the king hoes the earth, preparing the
foundations of the new temple, as Osiris watches.
Below the king and the goddess Seshat prepare to drive stakes
that will define the temple's plan on the ground. On the sixth
pier the king dressed in an elaborately painted costume,
presents the now-finished temple to Horus.
Above, he stands in adoration before the god. At the right end
of the right (north) wall, Thoth and Horus purify the king with
ankh-signs that flow like water from gold vases. In the center of
the wall, below a once-grilled window, the king is led into the
temple by Horus and Wepwawet to be greeted by Hathor.
The goddesses holds symbols that refer both to water and to
obeisance. At left Ramesses II presents to Osiris a papyrus case
that holds the deed to the temple.
Isis and Horus stand nearby. Above the king kneels before
Thoth, who writes the royal name on the leaves of a presa tree.
At the right (north) end of the rear (west) wall of the hall,
Ramesses II receives a royal crown from Horus and a uraeus
and sisitrum from Isis. He is suckled by Isis in the scene above.
Farther left the king receives the symbol of Heb-Sed jubilees
from Osiris, Horus and Isis. Above the king's name is written on
his shoulder by Thoth.
Near the main axis of the temple, Ramesses II, offers small
statuettes to Amen-Ra and his wife Mut and above, the burns
incense before Amen-Ra and Khonsu.
Similar scenes are repeated on the wall immediately left (south)
of the main axis. These are followed by further scenes of the
king with Mut, Ptah, Sekhmet and the bark of Sokar. On the left
(south) wall of the hall, the birthof Ramesses II, is shown in a
badly damaged scene. He is fashioned on a potter's wheel by
Khnum, then cared for by Isis.
The Second Hypostyle Hall.....
The Second Hypostyle Hall has three rows of twelve columns
each, the back row standing on a low raised platform. Behind this
row of columns, seven doorways lead into seven chapels.
The front (east) wall of the hall shows Ramesses II offering to
various deities. But the workmanship on this wall, and indeed, in
much of the temple, pales in comparison to the reliefs on the
right (north) end of this hall.
Carved in the reign of Seti I but usurped by Ramesses II, these
are among the most beautiful reliefs in all of New Kingdom Egypt,
and many of them still retain traces of the original paint. At right,
Seti I, burns incense and makes libations before Osiris and
Horus.
The purifying water falls gracefully into three heart-shaped
vessels.A superb figure of Horus stands behind them. In the
register above, the king kneels, hands in adoration, his body lithe
and youthful. In the center of the wall, the king makes offerings
before a shrine of Osiris. Farther on, Osiris sits between figures
of Ma'at and Renpet, and behind his stand Isis, Imenty, and
Nephthys.
The goddesses are very finely carved, note especially the details
of their hair and dresses.
It is also worth pausing to admire the details in the hieroglyphs,
the finely feathered birds, woven baskets, and small human
figures of remarkable grace.
Further left, the king offers Ma'at to Osiris, Isis and Horus, while
above, Horus presents symbols of royal office.On the wall that
lies opposite the third row of columns, there is an elegantly and
elaborately carved djed-pillar.
Seven chapels ...
We will describe the seven chapels behind the back wall of the
second hypostyle hall from right (north) to left (south). Since the
scene in five of the seven chapels are repetitive, we will describe
them in general, reserving more detailed descriptions for scenes
in the Osiris Chapel and that of Seti I, From north the seven
chapels are as follows. 1-Chapel of Horus.
2-Chapel of Isis.
3-Chapel of Osiris (with a complex of other chambers behind it).
4-Chapel of Amen-Ra
5-Chapel of Ra-Horakhty.
6-Chapel of Ptah.
7-Chapel of the deified Seti I.
Chapels 1-6 ....
The chapels have vaulted ceilings recalling the shape of the small
reed huts that served as shrines in predynastic times. The last
three chapels (numbers 5,6 and 7) were never painted, in
contrast especially to the chapel of Osiris, where the paint is still
fresh and bright.
On the rear wall of each chapel is an elaborate double false door.
On the right (north) wall, the king grasps the two handles of
double-leaf doors on the tall, narrow shrine, then deity inside.
Farther left, the king stands before an offering table, offering
foods and incense before the god's bark, then gives fresh linen
dresses and ointments to statues of the god or goddess.
On the left (south) wall, the king again censes statues of deities
and offers clothing and jewelry. Farther left he presents insignias
to the gods and adjusts their crowns.
When these ceremonies are completed, the king pours sand
from a small bowl onto the floor and departures.
The sand will then be swept to erase any footprints, leaving the
chapel in pristine condition until the round of ritual feeding,
censing, and clothing is repeated.
Chapel 3 ...
Although the scenes on the chapel walls are similar to those in
chapels 1-6, the rear wall of the chapel 3, or chapel of Osiris, has
a real doorway in place of a false that leads into a chamber with
ten columns and well- painted walls.
On the front wall, right (south) of the doorway, the king stands
before a shrine of Osiris and Isis, and makes offerings of incense,
bread, wine, and Ma'at to various deities including Anubis, Heket
(a frog goddess) , Horus, and a goos-headed Hapy.
On the rear (west) wall, the king and Isis erect a djed-pillar and
dress it linen garments. At the far right Seti Im raises a very finely
carved standard of ABYDOS, and at left he offers incense to the
standard of Thoth, depicted here as an ibis.
At the right (north) end of the columned hall, doors lead into
three small sanctuaries dedicated to Horus (with Osiris and Isis),
Seti I (with Osiris, Anubis, Isis, Thouth and Horus son of Isis), and
Isis (with Horus).
All three are very decorated, carved with great attention to detail
and with much color still preserved. In the Horus sanctuary, Seti I
offers to the god (right wall), while Isis presents the king to Horus
who offers a crook and flail (rear wall).
At the right end of the left wall, an unusual scene shows the king
scrubbing an offering table and filling an incense burner. The
central Seti I, sanctuary, the king makes offerings and receives
the symbol of the Heb-Sed festival.
At the southern end of the columned hall, a doorway leads into a
room with four columns and three small sanctuaries beyond its
rear wall. In the central sanctuary, Osiris lies on a bier with the
king and various deities in attendance. Much in these rooms has
been badly damaged.
Chapel 7 ...
Scenes in chapel 7, or chapel of the Deified Seti I, are devoted to
the celebration of the King's Heb-Sed festival, his coronation, the
recognition of his royal authority by the gods, and the activities
of his mortuary cult.
On the right (north) wall, the king is led forward by Montu and
Atum and various goddesses to be united with his royal
ancestors. The procession is followed by Thoth and the souls of
Nekhen (symbolizing the most ancient rules of Upper Egypt).
In an especially beautiful composition, Seti I, is embraced by
goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Horus and Thoth tie
together symbols of the Two Lands.
On the left (south) wall, Thoth offers to the king, and other
deities watch as he is crowned by Horus. The souls of Pe
(ancient rulers of Lower Egypt) and Nekhen are preceded by
eight standards, each carried by anthropomorphic ankh-signs.
Hall Of Nefertum and Ptah-Sokar.....
In the rear left (southwest) corner of the Second Hypostyle Hall,
a door leads into a three-columned hall dedicated to two
mortuary deities of the Memphite area. Nefertum wears a lotus
blossom on his head out of which the sun is said to rise. PtahSoker a syncretism of two deities is a god closely associated
with the afterlife and with Osiris.
The wall adjacent to the door shows Ptah-Soker offering an
ankh-sign to the king. The god's titles and forty-three lines of
text relate to offerings being made. To the right of the hall are
two small shrines.
That on the right is dedicated to Ptah-Soker and shows the king
before a list of fifty-two Memphite deities. Below is a scene of
the resurrection of Osiris.
On the left (south) wall, Osiris lies upon a bier flanked by deities.
The left-hand shrine is dedicated to Nefertum and its walls are
carved with figures of many other gods as well. The rear (south)
wall of the hall has four niches, Atum, Thoth, and Soker are in
the first, Osiris, Min and a third god are in the second.
Hall Of Ancestors....
The entrance to this
corridor, also called the
Gallery of the Lists, lies
immediately left (east) of
the Hall of Nefertum and
Ptah-Soker. The left (east)
wall of the corridor shows
the king offering to many
deities, but it is the right
(west) wall that visitors
come to see.
Even better known than the superbly carved walls in the second
Hypostyle Hall, this wall is the most famous at ABYDOS because of
its historical importance and its fine carving.
Standing with his father, Seti I, young Prince Ramesses (soon to
become Ramesses II) holds a papyrus bearing the names of his
royal predecessors.
His father holds incense before the king list (known as the
ABYDOS king list), which is written in a series of rectangles on the
wall before them. Beginning with Menes at the top left
(traditionally the first king of the first Dynasty), the list names
seventy-six king, ending at the bottom right with Seti I, Minor kings
are excluded, as are such female rulers as Hatshepsut and the
rulers of the "heretical" Amarna Period, Amenhetep IV
(Akhenaten), Smenkhkare, Tutankhamen, and Ay.
Thus, Horemheb becomes the immediate successor of
Amenhetep III.
Farther south along this corridor, doorway lead into rooms used
by priests for the storage of temple equipment and for the
preparation of offerings.
Immediately beyond the king list, a door cuts through the right
(west) wall into a sloping corridor sometimes called the Corridor
of the Bulls.
The Corridor of the Bulls.....
On its walls well-carved scenes show (on the right) Ramesses II
and his eldest son, Amen-her-khep-shef. Lassoing a bull,
Farther west the king pulls a bark of Sokar. On the Left (south)
wall, the king drives four calves toward Khonsu and Seti I.
To the west, the king and others pull on a bird net, trapping
wild ducks and presenting them to Amen-Ra and Mut.
Such scenes are meant to show the king's control over
untamed nature. Above scenes recount the foundation
ceremony when the temple was first built.
Osireion
The corridor of the bulls leads out of the temple to The
Osireion, a cenotaph of Seti I, also regarded as the burial place
of the god Osiris. Work on the building was begun by Seti I, but
it was not completed until seventy years later, by his grandson
Merenptah.
Modeled on the plan of a New Kingdom royal tomb in the valley
of the Kings, its long L-shaped corridor leads to a subterranean
faux burial chamber. Built in a huge pit cut into the desert
behind the temple, the structure was then covered over with
debris.
The burial chamber pillared hall measuring 30 by 20 meters, was
constructed of red granite. A sarcophagus sat on a low mound in
the center of the Hall, surrounded by a water-filled channel.
The mound represents the primeval island on which creation
first took place, the channel represents the ocean in which the
island lay.
Today ground water at ABYDOS has risen and the entire building
is flooded year-round. Fish can even be seen swimming in the
deep pools that cover the floor.
The walls of the original corridor leading down from the surface
were decorated with scenes and texts from the Book of Gates.
Beyond after the corridor turns sharply to the left, astronomical
scenes and texts from the book of dead can be seen on walls
and ceilings.
An especially elegant scene of the sky goddess Nut covers the
ceiling at the back of the burial chamber. A modern wooden
staircase leads down to the center of the structure.
The Temple of Ramesses II
About 300 meters north of Seti'S Temple stand the remains of a
temple built by king Ramesses II, Like Seti's Osireion, this too is
a cenotaph, but it is modeled on a New Kingdom Theban
temple, not on a royal tomb.
In spite of its missing roof and Upper walls, the standard scenes
carved on its walls are of special interest because of their
remarkably well-preserved paint. The exterior walls of the
temple display an elaborate calendar of festival on the south
wall, and scenes of the battle of Kadesh on the north and west
walls. Inside, an open court has Osirid pillars around its
perimeter and offering scenes on its walls west of the courtyard,
behind a small portico, four small chapels are dedicated (from
right to left) to Ramesses II, the Ennead, royal ancestors, and
Seti I.
Another chapel, for the god Onuris, lies behind them on the
right. Around the second of two eight-pillared halls, other
chapels, several of them especially well-carved, are dedicated to
Osiris, the Theban Triad m Thoth and Min.
The stela at the rear of the temple, placed here only recently,
hides the entrance to a chamber housing a large granite statue
group of Ramesses II, Seti I, Amen and two goddesses.
