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
site of Abydos.
At the edge of the desert, he will discover the ruins of the holy city
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 the
first 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.
Pilgrimage to Abydos