A city north of DENDEREH, capital of the eighth NOME, or district, called the Thinite nome, Abydos was considered the greatest of all cemeteries and home to the god OSIRIS. The necropolis area of the city was in use from the earliest times and benefited from royal patronage throughout its history.
Of the royal monuments erected in Abydos, the temple of SETI I (r. 1306–1290 B.C.E.) is the largest, built of fine white limestone and containing splendid reliefs. The first two courts of the temple, as well as the portico, were probably completed by RAMESSES II (r. 1290–1224 B.C.E.) after Seti I’s death. One scene in the temple depicts Ramesses II adoring the gods ISIS and Osiris as well as Seti I deified. Ramesses II is also credited with the decoration in the first HYPOSTYLE HALL of the temple, which has seven doors leading to chapels beyond a second hypostyle hall. The second hypostyle hall serves as a vestibule for the seven chapels incorporated into its west wall. False vaults cover the chapels, and all have reliefs. The chapels honored six gods and the deified Seti I.
A KING LIST was discovered in a gallery in the shrine, showing Seti I and Ramesses II as a prince offering honors to their royal predecessors. Beside the Gallery of Lists there are halls for the preservation of the BARKS OF THE GODS, butchers’ quarters, and magazines. Immediately behind the temple is an area called the OSIREION, actually a CENOTAPH, or false tomb, built by Seti I but probably completed by MERENPTAH, his grandson. A feature in this shrine is an island, formed by canals of water that were kept filled at all times, upon which the sarcophagus and canopic chests were maintained.
The temple of Ramesses II, located to the northeast of the shrine of Seti I, is noted for its delicate reliefs, which provide a description of the Battle of KADESH, carved into limestone. A red granite doorway leads to a pillared open court, and more reliefs depict a procession of offerings for the king. A portico on the west side of the temple opens onto small chapels honoring Seti I as a deified being and various gods. Some of the deities have been provided with suites of rooms, and there is a humanoid DJED Pillar in one of the apartment chambers. Granite statues honor Ramesses II, Seti I, the god AMUN, and two other goddesses. The temple of Osiris in Abydos is located in the northeast of Ramesses II’s temple. Now called Kom el-Sultan, the region has only a few remains of a limestone portico and ramparts. Cenotaphs dedicated to individuals were erected in the area.
The SHUNET EL-ZABIB, or “Storehouse of Dates,” an enclosure dating to the Second Dynasty (2770–2649 B.C.E.), is in the northwestern desert. Two actual complexes, designed with massive inner walls and outer mud-brick walls, had main ramparts. The cenotaphs of the royal personages are located farther out in the desert, at a site known as UMM EL-GA’AB, the “Mother of Pots,” because of the large quantity of vessels discovered on the surface—jars used for funerary offerings of the graves. To the south, cenotaphs of the Middle Kingdom and early New Kingdom were also discovered. A temple of SENWOSRET III (r. 1878–1841 B.C.E.) stands at the edge of the desert. The ruler’s cenotaph is located near the face of the nearby cliffs. A pyramid, possibly erected by ’AHMOSE (r. 1550–1525 B.C.E.) is located near the temple. A mortuary complex of TETISHERI, the grandmother of ’Ahmose and a leader in the Theban campaigns against the Hyksos and the start of the New Kingdom, is also in the area.
Abydos, as the seat of the Osirian cult, was a large city and was much revered during all eras of ancient Egypt. The city’s original deity was apparently a black dog-headed creature known as KHENTIAMENTIU, the “Chief of the Dwellers of the West,” a title assumed by Osiris when his cult grew popular along the Nile. The west, AMENTI, was always a territory of death in the nation’s religious and mythological texts. Osiris’s head was believed to have resided in Abydos, according to the mythological texts. In time, however, the tomb of DJER (c. 2900 B.C.E.), the second king of the First Dynasty, was identified as the true burial site of the god Osiris by his priests. The grave thus became involved in the annual celebration of Osiris’s death and resurrection.
Two stelae were discovered in Abydos. One measuring six feet by three feet was from the Thirteenth Dynasty, placed there by NEFERHOTEP I (r. c. 1741–1730 B.C.E.). The second records the plans of TUTHMOSIS I (r. 1504–1492 B.C.E.) to honor Osiris by endowing the god’s temple with gifts. Neferhotep I and other rulers had to limit the number of individual burials taking place within the city limits and in the necropolis areas. People from other regions brought their loved ones to Abydos to bury them beside the god Osiris.
A temple founded by TUTHMOSIS III (r. 1479–1425 B.C.E.) was recently discovered that was built to the southwest of the Osiris Enclosure in the northern section of the site. Tuthmosis III erected the temple to honor Osiris and included colossal Osiride statues of himself in the precincts. Ramesses II later built in the same area at the Portal Temple.
In the southern part of Abydos, Senwosret III built a mortuary temple and channels to provide water to the site for rituals. The cenotaph tomb has a pole roof chamber, corridors, and a burial room with a concealed sarcophagus and canopic box of red granite set into niches concealed by masonry. The limestone mortuary temple has an enclosed wall and a pylon gate. Colonnades, courts, and cultic chambers were discovered in fragmented condition in the complex.
