The Temple of Sety I at Abydos

Abedjou

Abedjou is the ancient name of Abydos at today's Sohag

province. Many other temples and tombs were built at the site but
the temple of Seti I remains the most famous and the most
beautiful site at the area. The area was a sacred spot for the god
Osiris. According to the legend, Osiris was killed by his brother
Seth who cut his body to pieces and scattered them all over Egypt.
Osiris wife Isis searched for his body pieces and found the head at
Abydos. The area thus became a very important religious center.
Pilgrimage was done –probably symbolically- to the body of the
dead to Abydos to visit the tomb of Osiris. Some kings built
symbolic tombs at the area.

The temple is dedicated to Seti I, Osiris, Isis, and Horus

along with Ptah, Ptah-Sokar, Nefertem, Re-Horakhty, Amun, and,
is one of the major archaeological sites in that region. It was
begun by Seti I and finished by his son, the great Ramesses II. In
fact, this structure built of fine white limestone is actually one of
the most impressive religious structures in Egypt.

There used to be two pylons and two courtyards that are now in
ruins so today after passing their area we enter the temple from
the first hypostyle hall.
The temple, in the shape of an L, has two hypostyle halls and
seven chapels (sanctuaries), with additional chambers to the
south making up the short leg of the L. Storage chambers fill the
area from the southern wing to the front of the temple.

Ground Plan of the Main Seti I Temple at Abydos

• 1: First Pylons.
• 2: First Courtyard w Ablution wells.
• 3: Second Courtyard.
• 4: First Hypostyle Hall.
• 5: Second Hypostyle Hall.
• 6: Shrine of Seti I.
• 7: Shrine of Ptah.
• 8: Shrine of Re-Herakhety.
• 9: Shrine of Amun-Re.
• 10: Shrine of Osiris.
• 11. Shrine of Isis.
• 12: Shrine of Horus.
• 13: Hall of Nefertem and Ptah-Sokar.
• 14: Hall of Kings.
• 15: Hall of Osiris.
• 16: Chapel of Horus.
• 17: Chapel of Osiris.
• 18: Chapel of Isis.
• 19: Second Hall of Osiris.
• 20: Hall of Barks
• 21: Butcher Hall.
• Store rooms & service rooms.
The First Hypostyle Hall:

The first hypostyle hall has two rows of twelve columns with lotus
bud capitals, were hastily completed and decorated by Ramesses
II. In fact, an image of him worshipping his father, along with
Osiris and Isis is incorporated into the initial decorations. Most of
the decorations completed by Ramesses II are inferior to those
done during his father's reign, but some are interesting and
noteworthy. Within the first hypostyle hall, Ramesses II placed
some decorations over those of his father.

There were once seven doors that gave way to seven

processional paths through the columns to seven chapels at the
rear of the temple. However, when Ramesses II added the outer
sections of the temple, most of these doorways were filled in and
closed.

The Second Hypostyle Hall:

The second hypostyle hall has 36 columns that are carefully

aligned to give access to the chapels. The first two of the three
rows of columns have lotus bud capitals, while the last row is
without capitals, but sits upon a high platform. The carved reliefs
in this part of the temple were completed during the reign of Seti
I, and are some of the finest to be found in any Egyptian temple.
The quality of this artwork extends beyond the careful depiction of
major figures within the scenes to even the smallest details of
minor items and hieroglyphs. We find scenes depicting Seti
before various gods, performing sacrifices and presenting the
image of Ma'at –goddess of justice and order.

Seti wearing a blue crown to emphasize his military prowess,

burns incense over an offering

Seti Pouring Libations for Osiris

The Seven Sanctuaries and the Suite of Osiris:

While most Egyptians temple have one or three sanctuaries, this

one had seven which makes it unique. From south to north, (left
to right), the seven sanctuaries at the rear of the temple were
dedicated to Seti I, Ptah, Re-Horakhty, Amun, Osiris, Isis and
Horus, and the statues of each god were almost certainly
situated in their chambers. Each chapel is decorated with rituals
associated with various festivals related to these gods. Actually
these scenes are fairly similar to each other, with mostly only the
god changing from room to room, though this is not always the
case.

In the chapel dedicated to Seti I, starting from the left, Seti is

borne into the sanctuary, preceded by a sem-priest wearing the
panther skin. Next, the king is brought into the presence of the
gods who acknowledge and bless him.

Seti I with the sem-priest in his chapel

Each chapel is roofed over with slabs cut as flat vaults like
pyramidical roofs, which were decorated with stars and the royal
cartouches. While six of the chambers had double false doors
on their rear walls, that of Osiris had a real door that gave way to
a suite of rooms, dedicated to him, just behind the seven
chapels. Here, ceremonies related to the resurrection of Osiris in
the form of Horus are depicted. Everywhere within this room are
symbolisms of resurrection and rebirth.

Hall of Ancestors:

However, the temple takes the shape L with additional chambers

to the south connected by a narrow hallway leading from the
second hypostyle hall. No doubt one of the most important
scenes within the temple is located here, for upon the walls of this
passage are inscribed one of the few surviving Egyptian king
lists. In fact, this is often referred to as the "King's Hallway", or
"King's Gallery". The list begins with Mena and ends with Seti I,
but omits certain undesirable kings such as those of the Amarna
Period. There are a total of 76 pharaohs listed with some notable
exceptions being Akhenaten, Hatshepsut, Ay and Horemheb.
The list probably served the worship of the royal ancestors, but
why this important list was placed in a seemingly small hallway is
unknown. On the left hand wall of this passage the king and the
young Ramesses II (probably) pour a libation on an alter. By
listing his ancestors Seti I is gaining legitimacy from them as
being related to the kings who carried the divine blood of the
gods. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the gods ruled as
kings on earth at the beginning of creation then placed kings
carrying the divine blood on earth to rule. Therefore every king
wants to prove that he is related to the previous kings even
though we know that Seti I comes of a family of army generals
and was not related to kings of the 18th dynasty.
 Seti I and Prince Ramsis II offering to the Names of the Kings’
List

The kings list

After making a right hand turn in this passage, we find on the right
hand wall the famous scene of the young Ramesses II and his
father roping a bull. Further on the animal is offered as a sacrifice.
(Ramesses II decorated this room). The passage continues out to
the Osireion.

Passage leading from the Temple to the Osireion

The Osireion

The Temple's southern wing leads to the temple's cenotaph (false

tomb) that was located some 15 meters lower. The top of this
structure is actually below ground level. This is the almost unique
structure that today we refer to as the Osireion. The foundations
are cut many feet below the current level of the water table.

While this structure was built by Seti I, it was his grandson,

Merenptah, who was responsible for its decoration. It is a simple
structure with columns and used to be partly roofed. It is
decorated with scenes and texts from the Book of Gates and the
Amduat.

It is mostly made of granite with pillars and a rectangular island in

the center with a place for a sarcophagus. A water channel
surrounds this island making it symbolic to the primeval
waters of creation from which the island of creation arose.
The structure was related rebirth and the resurrection of
Osiris.