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Temple of Seti I, Abydos

Abydos is one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, and also of the eighth nome in Upper Egypt.

It is located about 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) west of the Nile, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana.

Considered one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt, the sacred city of Abydos was the site of many ancient temples, including Umm el-Qa'ab, a royal necropolis where early pharaohs were entombed.

These tombs began to be seen as extremely significant burials and in later times it became desirable to be buried in the area, leading to the growth of the town's importance as a cult site.

Today, Abydos is notable for the memorial temple of Seti I, which contains an inscription from the nineteenth dynasty known to the modern world as the Abydos King List. It is a chronological list showing cartouches of most dynastic pharaohs of Egypt from Menes until Seti I's father, Ramesses I.

On the way to Abydos
Road along the Nile that takes us from Luxor to Abydos.

  • Abydos is one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt. It is located about 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) west of the Nile.
  • Considered one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt, the sacred city of Abydos was the site of many ancient temples.

Public square in front of the Temple of Seti I
This public square has a good parking lot for those visiting the Temple of Seti I.


Temple of Seti I Plan
Plan Legend:

  1. Temple of Seti I
  2. Osireion
  3. Palace
  4. Ramp
  5. Pylon
  6. First Courtyard
  7. Second Courtyard
  8. Entrance
  9. Corridor of the Kings
  10. Ptah-Sokar-Osiris
  11. Nefertem
  12. Entrance
  13. Long vaulted corridor
  14. First vestibule
  15. Small room
  16. Second corridor
  17. Great vestibule
  18. Portal
  19. Central hall
  20. Large transverse hall
  21. Modern staircase
  1. First Hypostyle Hall
  2. Second Hypostyle Hall
  3. Chapel of Amun-Ra
  4. Chapel of Osiris
  5. Chapel of Isis
  6. Chapel of Horus
  7. Chapel of Ra-Horakhty
  8. Chapel of Ptah
  9. Chapel of Seti I deified
  1. Osiris Hall
  2. Room
  3. Chapel of Isis
  4. Chapel of Osiris-Seti
  5. Chapel of Horus
  6. Chapel of Room (b)
  7. Chapel of Room (b)
  8. Chapel of Room (b)
  10. Vestibule with three columns
  11. Staircase
  12. Butcher's Hall
  13. Room
  14. Room
  15. Room
  16. Room
  17. Barks Hall
  18. Archives
  19. Archives
  20. Archives vestibule
  21. Archives
  22. Archives

Scale model of the Temple of Seti I
This scale model is located inside the reception area of the archaeological site.

  • On the right side we can see the Temple of Seti I (1) preceded by two courtyards.
  • On the left side is the Palace (2).
  • Behind the temple is the Osirion (3).

Temple of Seti I (1) seen from the northeast

  • On the right side of the photo, we can see the Ramp (4) providing access to the Pylon (5).
  • In the center, we can see what remains of the Pylon (5), its base.
  • Above, we can see the First Hypostyle Hall (A).

Going up the Ramp (4) to access the Pylon (5)
The Temple of Seti I is built on a slope.


In the Pylon (5).
The large stoneware Pylon (5) was added by Ramesses II.

  • Today it is practically completely ruined with only the base remaining.

First Courtyard (6)
The advanced body of the First Courtyard (6) has low reliefs that cover the walls at the bottom.

  • There are scenes of battles, military parades, and the sacrifice of huge oxen adorned with flowers.
  • These are in the southwest, I mean on the side of the Butcher's Hall (l).

Second Courtyard (7)
The southwest portico of the Second Courtyard (7) serves as the temple's facade.


Access ramp to the southwest portico of the Second Courtyard (7)
Access ramp to the southwest portico of the Second Courtyard (7) which serves as the temple's facade.


Southwest portico of the Second Courtyard (7)
The southwest portico of the Second Courtyard (7) currently serves as the temple's facade. It is accessed by an axial ramp.

  • It is made up of twelve rectangular pillars, and a wall, initially pierced by seven doors, closed by Ramesses II with stoneware blocks, with the exception of the one in the center and two on the right.
  • The wall shows us, on the right, scenes relating to the cult given to Seti by his son Ramesses, and conceived according to episodes from the myth of Osiris.
  • On the left is a large dedicatory inscription in which Ramesses tells what he did to worship his father who had just died.
  • It is preceded by a painting where Ramesses II offers the statuette of Maat to the triad composed of Osiris, Isis and Seti I.
  • The inscription consists of 95 lines and can be divided into two parts corresponding to two different periods of Ramesses II's reign.
    • In the first, the king says that, in the year of his accession to the throne, he made the trip to Abydos, and was moved by the poor state in which he found the tombs in the royal necropolis: his father's temple was unfinished; «the columns were not erected on their bases, the statue remained lying on the ground, having not yet been shaped when the king descended into the tomb». He sent his people in anger and ordered them to finish the monument.
    • In the second, everything is finished or about to be finished. Ramesses, in great lyricism, celebrates his piety towards his father.

Entrance (8)
Penetrating inside the central door, we are immediately surprised by the particular character of this temple: its division into seven parts, which begins with the seven entrance doors and crosses the two hypostyle rooms (A and B) in seven bays to end at seven sanctuaries.

  • There are, if we may say so, seven temples in a single temple. In Kom Ombo we also have an example of division into two.
  • The seven deities to which each of the divisions is consecrated are:
    • in the center, Amun-Ra;
    • on the right, Osiris, Isis and Horus;
    • on the left, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah, and Seti I deified.

First Hypostyle Hall (A)
The First Hypostyle Hall (A) occupies a space measuring 52 m (170 ft) by 11 m (36 ft).

  • It is divided into seven bays, each bay containing two rows of two monostile papyriform columns.
  • The passage thus obtained between the groups of four columns is placed on the axis of the sanctuary that corresponds to it.
  • The bas-reliefs on the barrels represent Ramesses II worshiping before each of the seven deities, accompanied by their paredes and forming many other triads.
  • The walls are decorated with large paintings relating to deities.
  • The base has a list of nomes (districts) with a procession of the figures that personify them.

Second Hypostyle Hall (B)
The Second Hypostyle Hall (B) has three rows of columns.

  • The first two rows, also grouped two by two, have closed papyriform capitals.
  • The last row has rectangular dams without interposing capitals, in order to reduce the difference in height of the barrels, because here the floor is one step higher.
  • The decoration of this hall, similar to the previous one, is contemporary with Seti I and contrasts, due to its beautiful execution, with the decoration of the other hall, which is a work from the time of Ramesses II.

The seven chapels
The seven chapels C, D, E, F, G, H, I, are each dedicated to a different deity.

  • They are 10.85 m (35.59 ft) deep and 5.20 m (17.06 ft) wide and are divided into two parts, in the depth direction, by two projecting pilasters.
  • They are covered by false corbelled vaults, like hypogeum vaults.
  • Its decoration consists of the same set of thirty-six paintings designed according to the same model and relating to the ceremonies that the king had to celebrate. These reliefs are undoubtedly the most beautiful that have come down to us from the New Empire.
  • Each of these chapels was preceded by a ramp (Amun's by a staircase) and was closed by a double-leaf door, according to the representations, each one contained the boat of the god to which it was dedicated.
  • At the bottom, there is a stele dedicated to the divinity.
  • Seti's chapel had no boat, without a doubt, and it was a private priest to the royal cult who officiated before the deified pharaoh.
  • A splendid scene represents the crowning of the king by the two goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Chapel of Amun-Ra (C)
During the visit, the Chapel of Amun-Ra (C) was being restored.

  • Amun was a member of the Ogdoad, representing creation-energies with Amaunet, a very early patron of Thebes.
  • He was believed to create via breath and thus was identified with the wind rather than the Sun.
  • As the cults of Amun and Ra became increasingly popular in Upper and Lower Egypt respectively they were combined to create Amun-Ra, a solar creator god.
  • It is hard to distinguish exactly when this combination happened, but references to Amun-Ra appeared in pyramid texts as early as the Fifth Dynasty.
  • The most common belief is that Amun-Ra was invented as a new state-deity by the Theban rulers of the New Kingdom to unite worshippers of Amun with the older cult of Ra around the 18th Dynasty.
  • Amun-Ra was given the official title "King of the Gods" by worshippers, and images show the combined deity as a red-eyed man with a lion's head that had a surrounding solar disk.
  • See more at Ra - Wikipedia.

Chapel of Ra-Horakhty (G)
Ra was portrayed as a falcon and shared characteristics with the sky-god Horus. At times, the two deities were merged as Ra-Horakhty, "Ra, who is Horus of the Two Horizons".

  • In later Egyptian mythology, Ra-Horakhty was more of a title or manifestation than a composite deity. It translates as "Ra (who is) Horus of the Horizons". It was intended to link Horakhty (as a sunrise-oriented aspect of Horus) to Ra. It has been suggested that Ra-Horakhty simply refers to the sun's journey from horizon to horizon as Ra, or that it means to show Ra as a symbolic deity of hope and rebirth.
  • He is proclaimed king of the gods in the tomb of Horemheb. Pharaoh Thutmose III dedicated the pillars of Heliopolis to Horakhty.
  • See more at Ra - Wikipedia.

Crossing the Chapel of Osiris (D) towards Osiris Hall (a).
The stele of the Chapel of Osiris (D) was removed, creating a door that connects to the back, with Osiris Hall (a).


Osiris Hall (a) and Room (b)
Osiris Hall (a) is 21 m (69 ft) long and 10 m (33 ft) wide, divided into three naves by two rows of five columns, to which is added another Room (b) of the same width, but much less depth, with four columns.

  • At the north-west end of Osiris Hall (a) there are three chapels (c, d, e).
  • Likewise, at the south-east end of the Room (b) there are three chapels (f, g, h).
  • Osiris Hall (a) is decorated with paintings relating to the myth of Osiris.
  • The three chapels are dedicated, one, the central one, (d) to Osiris-Seti, the other two to Isis (c) and to Horus (e).

Crossing from the Second Hypostyle Hall (B) to the Vestibule with three columns (j).
The Second Hypostyle Hall (B) communicates to the southeast with the Vestibule with three columns (j).


Vestibule with three columns (j)
The Vestibule with three columns (j) has beautiful unpainted reliefs and has two chapels.

  • The chapel on the left is consecrated to Ptah-Sokar-Osiris (10).
  • The chapel on the right is dedicated to Nefertem (11).

Corridor of the Kings (9)
To the left of the door that gives access to the Vestibule with three columns (j), there is a 25 m (80 ft) long corridor, slightly ascending, which communicates with a set of rooms.

  • The ceiling of the corridor is decorated with symmetrically arranged stars and cartouches.
  • The wall on the right is decorated with three paintings. The left wall is decorated with four paintings.
  • On the right side, while his son recites formulas, Seti offers incense to the cartouches of seventy-six pharaohs chosen from among those who reigned in Egypt since Menes and enriched the sanctuaries. This is one of the two famous Abydos Tables.
  • See more at Abydos King List - Wikipedia.

Staircase (k)
In the middle of the Corridor of the Kings (9), on the right side, there is a Staircase (k) that leads to the terrace that leads to the Osirion (3). The walls are decorated with large paintings.

  • On the right wall:
    • Ramesses II and one of his sons hunt the bull with the lasso, thus making a prelude to the sacrifice.
    • The sacrifice.
    • Ramesses II takes the barque of Seker before his father.
    • Adoration of Osiris-Seti by Ramesses.
  • On the left wall:
    • Ramesses II leads the four sacrificial oxen to his father, next to which is the god Khonsu.
    • Ramesses II walks the perimeter of the temple.
    • Ramesses II presides over the waterfowl hunt and presents his capture to Amun and Mut.
  • One of the pictures on the rising walls depicts Ramesses congratulating his father on the construction of the temple and contains a speech from the goddess Seshat standing at the other end of the scene.

Osireion (3)
The cenotaph of Seti I or Osireion (3) is built on the axis of the Temple (1). The back walls of the two monuments are only 3.50 m (11.48 ft) apart.

  • The general layout of the Osireion reproduces the primitive hill of the creation of the world.
  • Built by Seti I it was finished by Merneptah.
  • It is built in white limestone and reddish sandstone, red granite was only used for the pillars and some door frames.

Entrance (12) to the Osireion
The normal Entrance (12) to the Osireion (3) is in the northwest.

  • It begins with a Long vaulted corridor (13) with 32 m (105 ft) that was perhaps covered in limestone slabs and, without transition, the walls are built of stoneware. The east wall is covered with texts from the 'Book of What is in the Underworld'. The west wall is covered in texts from the 'Book of Gates'.
  • After an antechamber, or First Vestibule (14), followed by a Small room (15), both covered with religious texts, a Second corridor (16), at right angles to the first, leads, in a northeast direction, to the Great Vestibule (17), a transversal hall measuring 20 m (66 ft) by 6 m (20 ft), with a humpback roof and whose decoration is taken from the 'Book of the Dead'.
  • In the middle of the northeast wall of the Great Vestibule (17) is a Large door (18) forming a corridor; the jambs were covered with texts taken from the 'Book of the Dead'.

Central Hall (19) of the Osireion
After the Portal (18) is the Central Hall (19) measuring 30.5 m (100 ft) by 20 m (66 ft), the Osireon proper, which is designed as an island surrounded by a canal. No points allow access to this island.

  • The canal that surrounds it is bordered, on the outside, by a wall in which seventeen niches are arranged, served by a narrow cornice passage above the canal.
  • Two stairs, one at each end, start from the bottom of the channel and access the island on the axis of which the ground is excavated by two cavities that would have been intended to receive, one the sarcophagus, the other the canoptic jars.
  • On each of the long sides of the island, five enormous granite pillars stand. They support architraves on which the ceiling slabs would rest, if there was a ceiling.

Large transverse hall (20) of the Osireion
The monument ends in a Large transverse hall (20), of dimensions approximately similar to that of the Great Vestibule (17).

  • The humpback roof has a wonderful light relief engraving of astronomical representations: Nut, the goddess of Heaven, the path of the sun, the star rises.
  • Various texts, among others, the rule for building a solar clock.

Modern staircase (21) to the Osireion

Leaving the Temple of Seti I

See also

Sources

Location

Location: طريق ال عبد الجليل البحرى سوهاج، Markaz Al Belina, Sohag Governorate 82825, Egypt