JACQUES-EDOUARD BERGER FOUNDATION: World Art Treasures

Pilgrimage to Abydos

(Readme | Egyptology resources) This [glossary] was renamed Abdjou, which the Greeks transcribed as Abydos. Leaving Thebes [glossary] to go down the Nile, passing Dendera [glossary] where Hathor [glossary] reigned, the traveler soon comes to al-Balyana, from where he can go overland to Arabat-el-Madfouneh, the barren hamlet which guards the entrance to the antique
At the edge of the desert, he will discover the ruins of the holy city:

  • Seti l's votive temple dedicated to Osiris [glossary]
  • an Osireion, designed as the god's own tomb
  • a second temple bearing Ramesses II's cartouche [glossary]
  • further on, monument foundations dating from the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, sanctuaries and tombs.
Even further to the West lies the oldest necropolis, that of the pharaohs of thefirst dynasties, Djet, Oudimou, Semerkhet, Kaa, Khasekhemoui, Peribsen and their descendants; because then, Abydos, under its original name, This,was Egypt's capital and the residence of the two dynasties which bore its name, the Thinites.
During the golden days of Egyptology, the pioneers, researchers and travelers acknowledged the site's importance.);