The mortuary temple of Sethos I is located 160km north of Luxor in Abydos near the city of Sohag, about 15 kilometers southwest of the present city of el-Balyana. In ancient times it was located directly on the way of the festive procession from the temple of Amun at Karnak to Deir el-Bahari.
This temple, like the other funerary temples of Thebes, was built as a combination of a festival and processional temple for Amun, the imperial god, and a funerary offering temple for the pharaoh after his death. The Derv stone temple and the mud-brick enclosure walls have been restored in their ground plans and with their bricklayers so that the visitor can well imagine the original state of the temple complex.
At first sight, the complex like the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari (Thebes-West): The main sanctuary of the great god Osiris, “ruler of the dead” was located in Abydos. In Abydos, there was a cult place of the god Chintamani “First of the Westerners”.
Since the population of Abydos idolized the god Osiris, the city was an important spiritual center in ancient Egypt. The temple of the dead is now located on the outskirts of the city.
The name Abydos comes from ancient Greek. The limestone temple in Abydos was built by Sethos I (19th dynasty, 13th century BC). Sethos I built this temple for his mortuary cult and that of his father Ramses I. Ramses I could not build his temple because of the shortness of his reign. This temple was completed by Ramses II after the death of his father Sethos I.
At first sight the layout like the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari (Thebes-West): The main sanctuary of the great god Osiris, “ruler of the dead” was located in Abydos. In Abydos, there was a cult place of the god Chontamenti “First of the Westerners”.
Since the population of Abydos idolized the god Osiris, the city was an important spiritual center in ancient Egypt. The temple of the dead is now located on the outskirts of the city.
The name Abydos comes from ancient Greek. The limestone temple in Abydos was built by Sethos I (19th dynasty, 13th century BC). Sethos I built this temple for his mortuary cult and that of his father Ramses I. Ramses I could not build his temple because of the shortness of his reign. This temple was completed by Ramses II after the death of his father Sethos I.
The architecture of the temple
The temple complex was contained by a wall 124 meters wide and 162 meters long. The wall was 3.20 meters thick and contained Nile mud bricks and was about 10.50 meters high and was interrupted by several towers. One enters the temple from the east through the first large pylon.
The temple complex has several floors (terraces), with the sacred place of prayer and the Osiris complex located on the highest terrace. Gebiergs stones from Jabal as-Silsila were used for the construction of the temple.
The Pylons. The first and the second pylon are built of mud bricks. Both have a gate made of sandstone, the lintels of the first pylon were made of limestone, the lintels of the second pylon were made of granite. Sethos I and Ramses II decorated the first pylon with cartouches.
The mortuary temple of Sethos I is located 160km north of Luxor in Abydos near the city of Sohag, about 15 kilometers southwest of the present city of el-Balyana. In ancient times it was located directly on the way of the festive procession from the temple of Amun at Karnak to Deir el-Bahari.
This temple, like the other funerary temples of Thebes, was built as a combination of a festival and processional temple for Amun, the imperial god, and a funerary offering temple for the pharaoh after his death. The Derv stone temple and the mud-brick enclosure walls have been restored in their ground plans and with their bricklayers so that the visitor can well imagine the original state of the temple complex.
At first sight, the complex like the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari (Thebes-West): The main sanctuary of the great god Osiris, “ruler of the dead” was located in Abydos. In Abydos, there was a cult place of the god Chintamani “First of the Westerners”.
Since the population of Abydos idolized the god Osiris, the city was an important spiritual center in ancient Egypt. The temple of the dead is now located on the outskirts of the city.
The name Abydos comes from ancient Greek. The limestone temple in Abydos was built by Sethos I (19th dynasty, 13th century BC). Sethos I built this temple for his mortuary cult and that of his father Ramses I. Ramses I could not build his temple because of the shortness of his reign. This temple was completed by Ramses II after the death of his father Sethos I.
At first sight the layout like the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari (Thebes-West): The main sanctuary of the great god Osiris, “ruler of the dead” was located in Abydos. In Abydos, there was a cult place of the god Chontamenti “First of the Westerners”.
Since the population of Abydos idolized the god Osiris, the city was an important spiritual center in ancient Egypt. The temple of the dead is now located on the outskirts of the city.
The name Abydos comes from ancient Greek. The limestone temple in Abydos was built by Sethos I (19th dynasty, 13th century BC). Sethos I built this temple for his mortuary cult and that of his father Ramses I. Ramses I could not build his temple because of the shortness of his reign. This temple was completed by Ramses II after the death of his father Sethos I.
