Temple of Seti I at Abydos

About this place

A great temple at Abydos, one of the holiest cities of ancient Egypt, centre of the cult of the god Osiris and burial ground of Egypt's earliest kings. King Seti I began it in the thirteenth century BC and his son Ramesses II finished it after his death, dedicating it to the great gods and to honouring past kings. The temple is famed for the finest raised reliefs of the New Kingdom, carved with great delicacy in smooth limestone, many still keeping their colour. It has a unique L-shaped plan, and inside are seven side-by-side chapels to seven gods and the king. In one of its corridors is the famous Abydos King List, a relief of Seti I and his son Ramesses making offerings before the names of dozens of earlier kings, one of the key sources for the order of Egypt's rulers. Behind the temple lies the Osireion, a mysterious building of huge granite blocks whose floor is usually flooded by groundwater. A foreign visitor's ticket costs about two hundred and sixty Egyptian pounds, and it opens from seven to five. It is about three hours by car north of Luxor and is usually paired with Dendera on a day trip.