Abydos Where It All Began

This book is a comprehensive guide to middle zone of Abydos, which visitors can still walk through the magnificently decorated monuments of Seti I and his son Ramesses II. The first structure you'll see at Abydos is the Great Temple of Seti I, which is one of the most complete, unique and beautiful temples in Egypt. With exquisite decoration and plenty of atmospheres, it is the main attraction here, although the nearby Cenotaph or Osireion is also wrapped in mystery and the desert views are spectacular. And about one-third of a kilometer to the north of Seti I's temple, Ramesses II left behind, his temple at Abydos, built early in his reign, stands as one of his most elegant monuments, with its simple architectural layout and dramatic and graceful painted relief scenes. Though best known for its dramatic reliefs depicting the battle of Kadesh, the temple also offers a wealth of information about religious and social life in ancient Egypt.

The volume is the first of two complementary volumes that explore Abydos through the lenses of the latest archaeological, archival and collections research, building upon a colloquium and workshop held at the British Museum in 2015. Volume 2 presents a focussed view on Abydos in the post-pharaonic period. Chosen as the burial ground for the first kings of Egypt, Abydos became a site of great antiquity, and its ancient sanctity may have conferred legitimacy on the individuals buried there. The site soon became the cult centre for Egypt's most popular god, Osiris, who ruled the netherworld and guaranteed every Egyptian eternal life after death. As a result of continued ritual performance, endowments and pilgrimage, a vast landscape of chapels and tombs, temples and towns, developed. For millennia, Abydos was one of the most consecrated sites of Egypt. The contributions in this volume will address the social and cultural dynamics of an ever-changing landscape serving this unique ritual narrative.

A personal history and guide to the ritual site of Abydos, on the West bank of the Nile, which flourished from the Predynastic period until Christian times (c. 4000 BC to AD 641). The author moved to Egypt in 1933 and was involved in excavations with a number of Egyptian archaeologists.

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Africa may have given rise to the first human beings, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world's first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world. With world-famous leaders like King Tut and Cleopatra, it's no wonder that today's world has so many Egyptologists. In ancient Egypt, cities held political and religious significance, which meant that if the political or religious tides changed, so too could the fortunes of particular cities. Memphis is perhaps the best known of ancient Egypt's cities because it was fortunate enough to be the political capital of the Egyptian state for most of its history. Hundreds of miles to Memphis' south, Thebes became an important city during the Middle Kingdom and its stature grew during the New Kingdom when many of the pharaohs came from there and the national god, Amun, had its cult center in the city. Others cities, such as Tanis and Sais, were important for much shorter periods in Egyptian history. The city of Abju, which was known as Abydus to the Greeks, and later became known simply as "Abydos" had a history that was as long as Memphis', and although its influence on pharaonic culture may not have been as apparent, it was no less profound. The city of Abydos was the most important political city in ancient Egypt's "Archaic" or Early Dynastic Period, which encompassed the first two dynasties of Egyptian history (ca. 3100-2650 BC). All of the kings of the First Dynasty and two of the kings of the Second Dynasty are believed to have resided in the nearby, but as of yet unlocated, city of Thinis and were buried in the necropolis of Abydos, making it one of the holiest sites in early pharaonic history. After the Archaic Period, Abydos lost much of its political influence to Memphis, Thebes, and other cities, but retained its significance by becoming an important religious center. Beginning in the Old Kingdom (ca. 2686-2181 BC), the first major temples were built near the city, attracting priests and pilgrims alike, but it was in the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2055-1650 BC) when Abydos became the center of the Osiris cult. As the importance and popularity of Osiris grew throughout Egypt, so too did the city. Several kings in the New Kingdom (ca. 1550-1069 BC) and Late Period built mortuary temples to their own cults and added to the existing monuments to Osiris in order to ensure their immortality and to prove their piousness to their people. Eventually, though, when the Greeks took control of Egypt, the importance of Abydos waned and so too did its size. Abydos: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Egyptian Holy City and Burial Site examines the history of the city, and what life and death were like there. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Abydos like never before.

Throughout their long histories, Egypt's monuments have been adapted, reused and reimagined. At Abydos, the tombs of the first kings became a locus of the national cult of Osiris, which continued with permutations into the Roman period. In Late Antiquity, the oracle of Bes drew an international audience before it was probably closed under the emperor Constantius II c. AD 359. By the end of the 6th century, Bes was remembered as a demon, who was vanquished by the famous monk, Apa Moses of Abydos. Until now, the region's history has been told largely from the literary sources. Recent fieldwork at Abydos offers deeper and more nuanced understanding of the region. This volume brings together the evidence from six major fieldwork projects and the British Museum collection in order to present the archaeology of Abydos in the First Millennium AD, when traditional ritual practices were largely replaced by Christianity and, later, Islam was introduced. Each paper details the adaptation of earlier architecture, artefacts, or both, including wall paintings, pottery, inscriptions, papyri and ostraca, and other objects of daily life.

Reprint of the original.