TEMPLE OF SETI I (Abydos) Abydos is located on the west bank of the Nile, in ancient times known as the Eighth Nome of Upper Egypt, with its capital Thinis, on the border between the cultivated area and the desert, about 90 miles north of Luxor. You can leave Luxor with a tourist car (inclusive of a driver, insurance, air conditioning, etc...) at a cost of 70-80 Euro or with a private car (with driver and... nothing more), at a cost of less than half. It is necessary to organize the excursion the day before as it is necessary to form a convoy with police escort. All the itinerary to destination and back within the same day is in fact covered by a police escort (bring a few sandwiches for your lunch). Unfortunately the time allowed to remain on site is limited and just enough to visit the temple of Seti I but, in any case, it is fully worthwhile to plan this trip. Longer stay in full autonomy at Abydos is difficult; it requires special permits that take a long time to get. Abydos is already documented in the Protodynastic Period; we can find the tombs of several kings of the First and Second Dynasty in the Necropolis of Umm el-Qaab which Menes identified with Narmer, Aha, etc... Abydos continued its development during the following dynasties taking a distinctly religious connotation. Initially the local god was Khenti-amentiu The First of the Western which was later replaced, with the same prerogatives as the god of the dead, from Osiris whose remains or rather only the head, according to the tradition, was interred right to Abydos, in the Osireion, after he was killed and dismembered by his brother Seth. Thus, it later on became the norm to be close to Osiris to secure a smooth transition into the realm of the dead. For the wealthy ones it was customary to build a cenotaph in the area and those who did not have the means, at least had a small funerary stelae. The Temple of Seti I is dedicated to Osiris, Isis, Ptah, Ra-Horakhty, Amon, Horus and Seti himself. The construction was begun by Seti I and was completed by his son Ramses II. Despite the absence of the monumental entry and of the first and second courtyard, it is the best preserved monument of Abydos and its bas-reliefs, including the application of very fine limestone, are of a beauty hard to find elsewhere. The facade of the temple, as we see it today, is the back of what was the second courtyard. The temple has a shape of L and its main elements are the two hypostyle rooms, the seven chapels of the gods to whom the temple was dedicated and other rooms to the south. On the left of the long side of the L were located the stores and, perhaps, the palace where the king lived when he was visiting the temple. Of great historical interest is the King List that Seti I presents to his son Ramses II that today allows us to determine the dynastic succession of more than seventy kings starting from what is considered the first, namely Meni / Narmer. The kings considered usurpers as Hatshepsut and, of course, all those within the Amarna period are excluded by the list. For further informations visit my website: my-egypt.it/upper-egypt/abydos/
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 11:48:26 +0000
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