Temple of Seti I (Abydos)

The Temple of Seti I (also known as the Great Temple of Abydos, in antiquity, known as "Menmaatre Happy in Abydos,") is a significant historical site in Abydos, Egypt.O’Connor, David. “The Temple of Seti I.” In Egypt’s First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris, 95. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2009. Abydos is a significant location with its connection to kingship due to being the burial site of the proto-kings from the Pre-Dynastic period, First Dynasty kings, and the location of the Cult of Osiris.Westerfeld, Jennifer. “Monastic Graffiti in Context: The Temple of Seti I at Abydos.” Writing and Communication in Early Egyptian Monasticism, 2017. 188

Initially, construction started in the 13th century BC under the 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Seti I, also known as Sethos. However, construction was not completed before his death and was continued by his son, Ramesses II. The temple was built in order to commemorate and worship the earlier pharaohs of Egypt as well as the major gods of the Egyptian pantheon.Calverley, Amice M., Myrtle F. Broome. The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos: The Chapels of Osiris, Isis and Horus. Edited by Alan H. Gardiner. Vol. 1. London: Egypt Exploration Society (Archaeological Survey); Chicago: Oriental Institute University of Chicago,1933. xii Ramesses II continued the construction and decoration of the temple, making changes to its design and adding inscriptions. At the Temple of Ramesses II at Abydos, Ramesses states that "son arose in his father place, none of them restored the monument of him who begot him."O’Connor, David. “The Temple of Seti I.” In Egypt’s First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris, 46. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2009.

The Temple of Seti I was designed with a standard layout from the Ramesside period featuring a "L" shaped design constructed of limestone and sandstone possibly brought from Gebel Silsila.O’Connor, David. “The Temple of Seti I.” In Egypt’s First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris, 47. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2009. The temple boast many features, including the first and second courts that house hypostyle halls, chapels to Seti I and various gods, and the Osireion. The South wing houses the Gallery of the Kings, which leads to a slaughter court and four secondary rooms, which continues into the Corridor of Bulls with a stairway that exits into storage rooms, and the Hall of Barques.Brand, Peter J., and Wolfgang Schenkel. The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical, and Art Historical Analysis. Leiden: Brill, 2000. 161

The temple is also notable for the Abydos graffiti which is ancient Phoenician and Aramaic graffiti found on the temple walls. The Temple additionally contains graffito from the 21st dynasty till the Roman period then from Later periods ranging from Aramaic, Phoenician, Carian, Greek and Cypriot.Bard, Kathryn A., and Steven Blake Shubert, eds. 1999. "Abydos, Osiris Temple of Seti I" Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. London: Routledge. 114

Research In 1863, the temple was cleared and reconstructed by Auguste Mariette. In 1901-1902, Flinders Petrie, his wife Hilda Petrie, and Margaret A. Murray further excavated the Temple and discovered the Osireion.Westerfeld, Jennifer. “Monastic Graffiti in Context: The Temple of Seti I at Abydos.” Writing and Communication in Early Egyptian Monasticism, 2017. 187 After World War I, the temple was studied by Henri Édouard Naville and then by Henri Frankfort. During the 1925-1927 season under the Egyptian Exploration Society and Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Herbert Felton recorded the sculptures within the temple through photography. Amice M. Calverley then detailed the temple walls under Aylward M. Blackman. With financial assistance from John D. Rockefeller Jr., this expedition gained the services of Myrtle F. Broome, Hugh Calverley, C. M. Beazley, Charles Little, Linda Holey, and Adriaan de Buck.Calverley, Amice M., Myrtle F. Broome. The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos: The Chapels of Osiris, Isis and Horus. Edited by Alan H. Gardiner. Vol. 1. London: Egypt Exploration Society (Archaeological Survey); Chicago: Oriental Institute University of Chicago,1933. vii This work was completed in 1933 consisting of a four-volume work titled The Temple of King Sethos I At Abydos consisting of photos and drawings of the chapels of Osiris, Isis, Horus, Amen-Re, Re-Harakhti, Ptah-Sokar, and Seti, The Osiris Complex, and the Second Hypostyle Hall.Calverley, Amice M., Myrtle F. Broome. The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos: by Alan H. Gardiner. Vol. 1-4. London: Egypt Exploration Society (Archaeological Survey); Chicago: Oriental Institute University of Chicago,1933. John Baines worked the site in 1979 and again from 1981-1983.

History of temple use The Temple of Seti did not serve as a mortuary temple to carry the Pharaoh cult; instead, it was created to be a part of the Osiris festival. Possibly being used as the final destination on a processional route connected to the Osiris Temple. Following the temple's passing, the temple was reused several times as Ian Rutherford's study has revealed that the temple was in use after the discovery of Greek, Cypriot, Phoenician, and Aramaic inscriptions make references to the Cult of Osiris. During the Late Hellenistic and Early Roman period, graffiti was left that related the temple to the god Serapis, who served as the state god of Egypt during the Ptolemaic Period. Its final use came from the Late Roman Period, being used as an ocular incubation for the god Bes.Ian Rutherford, "Pilgrimage in Greco-Roman Egypt: New Perspectives on Graffiti from the Memnonion at Abydos," in Ancient Perspectives on Egypt, 1st ed., quoted in Jennifer Westerfeld, "Monastic Graffiti in Context: The Temple of Seti I at Abydos," in Writing and Communication in Early Egyptian Monasticism (Leiden: Brill, 2017) Individuals who wished to obtain something from the god would possibly leave offerings, talk to the oracle, and sometimes sleep overnight in the temple to have a mystical experience. This is why so much Coptic, Greek, and Latin graffiti can be found within and throughout the temple.Westerfeld, Jennifer. "Monastic Graffiti in Context: The Temple of Seti I at Abydos." In Writing and Communication in Early Egyptian Monasticism, 196. Leiden: Brill, 2017.David Frankfurter. Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and Resistance. Princeton University Press, 2020. .

Features First and second courts The temple contains two courts, the first court of the temple is entered through a pylon entrance that portrays Isis, Osiris, Ramesses, and Menereptah. The first court contains inscriptions of Ramesses' battle scenes and scenes of Seti. The Second Court contains scenes of Ramesses interacting with gods. The scenes were used to commemorate Ramesses II's achievements and acceptance as ruler.David, A. Rosalie. Temple Ritual at Abydos. Revised paperback edition. London: The Egypt Exploration Society, 2018. 11, 17

First and second hypostyle halls A hypostyle hall is a large room consisting of many columns to support a roof; the temple's two hypostyle halls may have been the first portion of the temple constructed. Both halls contain columns and reliefs. In the first hall, twelve columns and reliefs were carved by Ramesses II.Baines, John, and Jaromír Málek. Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt. 2nd ed. Cultural Atlas Series. New York: Checkmark Books, 2000. 117 The first and second hall are divided by a wall and consist of 36 columns.David, A. Rosalie. Temple Ritual at Abydos. Revised paperback edition. London: The Egypt Exploration Society, 2018. 11, 18

Abydos King List In the Gallery of Ancestors, also referred to as The Gallery of the List, one can find the Abydos King List. This list is depicted in low relief, carved under the reign of Ramesses II, and it shows Seti and Ramesses making offerings to their royal ancestors.Kemp, Barry. “The Intellectual Foundations of the Early State.” In Ancient Egypt:, 3rd ed., 1: 60. Routledge, 2018. . These royal ancestors are the past kings of Egypt. Notably, some rulers, like the 15th Dynasty Hyksos that ruled Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period 1650-1550 BCE and the reign of the 18th Dynasty heretic Akhenaten of the New Kingdom 1550-1069, were omitted from the list, possibly due to being associated with periods of internal weakness and divisions.Verner, Miroslav, and Anna Bryson-Gustová, Temple of the World: Sanctuaries, Cults, and Mysteries of Ancient Egypt (Cairo, 2013; online edn, Cairo Scholarship Online, 18 Sept. 2014) , accessed 24 Sept. 2024. The Gallery of Ancestors led into the storerooms, desert behind the temple, and the slaughterhouse.

Slaughterhouse The slaughterhouse would have been used to offer offerings to the temple's gods. The slaughterhouse provided access to the desert through its eastern entrance and was connected to the temple through The Gallery of Ancestors to its north.Abuel-Yazid, Mohamed (2019). "Architecture of the slaughterhouse of the Seti Temple at Abydos". In Regulski, Ilona (ed.). Abydos: the sacred land at the Western horizon. British Museum publications on Egypt and Sudan. Leuven Paris Bristol, CT: Peeters. p. 9-10. . Consisting of a slaughter court, hall, and three rooms, each consisting of depictions of offerings. The court contained depictions of Seti offering meats to the gods, such as the scenes with Osiris, Isis, Horus, and Wepwawet. The Hall contained scenes of animal butchery with priests carrying off the offerings to be used in processions.Abuel-Yazid, Mohamed (2019). "Architecture of the slaughterhouse of the Seti Temple at Abydos". In Regulski, Ilona (ed.). Abydos: the sacred land at the Western horizon. British Museum publications on Egypt and Sudan. Leuven Paris Bristol, CT: Peeters. p. 13. . The Gallery of Ancestors contains scenes that continue these ritual offerings with the king purifying the meat.

Chapels The temple contains six barque chapels, completed by Seti I's death, in a row dedicated to the gods Osiris, Isis, Horus, Amen-Rem, Re-Harakti, and Ptah.Eaton, Katherine J. “The Festivals of Osiris and Sokar in the Month of Khoiak: The Evidence from Nineteenth Dynasty Royal Monuments at Abydos.” Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur 35 (2006): 78. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25157772. Additionally, there is one more chapel belonging to Seti, which is meant to represent Seti as a god. The first three chapels, dedicated to that of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, are intended to represent the principal gods of Egypt's religion and the triad of Abydos. The following three gods are the principal gods of the country, representing their cities, with Amen-Re representing Thebes, Re-Harakti representing Heliopolis, and Ptah representing Memphis.Eberhard Otto. Ancient Egyptian Art: The Cults of Osiris and Amon. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1967, pp. 45–60. The chapels originally had alleys that lead to seven exits at the front of the temples which would have served as used to move barques for processions, until the exits were filled in by Ramesses II.Eaton, Katherine J. “The Festivals of Osiris and Sokar in the Month of Khoiak: The Evidence from Nineteenth Dynasty Royal Monuments at Abydos.” Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur 35 (2006): 97. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25157772.

Osiris Fetish