189: For the Ancestors

Sety at Abydos (Part 4). Finishing our tour of Sety’s Great Temple at Abydos, we explore a few more sanctuaries and facilities. Then, we discuss the monument overall. Sety invested huge resources into his building projects at Abydos, and these monuments connect to some truly ancient traditions. What were the King’s priorities, what was he trying to achieve?

Photos of monuments described in this episode:

• Sety’s Temple: Kairoinfo4u.
• Sety’s Temple: Wikimedia.
• Chapel of Ramesses I: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Umm el-Qa’ab, pottery sherds from ancient offerings: Soloegipto.

Interpreting the temple complex and adjacent facilities:

• David, Temple Ritual at Abydos (2018).
• O’Connor, Abydos: Egypt’s First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris (2009).
• Verner, Temple of the World: Sanctuaries, Cults, and Mysteries of Ancient Egypt (2013).

Additional details and sources:

• Date: c.1300 BCE—1292 BCE.
• Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
• Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
• Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments.
• Music intro and interludes: Luke Chaos.
• Music outro: Ancient Lyric.
• Sistrum interludes: Tahya / Hathor Systrum.

Select Bibliography:

• P. J. Brand, ‘The Monuments of Seti I and Their Historical Significance: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Toronto (1998).
• P. J. Brand, The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis (2000).
• A. M. Calverley, The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos Volume I: The Chapels of Osiris, Isis, and Horus (1933).
• A. M. Calverley, The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos Volume II: The Chapels of Amen-Re, Re-Harakhti, Ptah, and King Sethos (1935).
• A. M. Calverley, The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos Volume III: The Osiris Complex (1938).
• A. M. Calverley, The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos Volume IV: The Second Hypostyle Hall (1958).
• J. Capart, Abydos: Le Temple de Seti Ier (1912).
• A. S. G. T. Caulfeild, The Temple of the Kings at Abydos (Sety I) (1989).
• R. David, Temple Ritual at Abydos (2018).
• K. J. Eaton, ‘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), 75–101.
• A. el-Sawi, ‘Ramesses II Completing a Shrine in the Temple of Sety I at Abydos’, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 10 (1983), 307–10.
• H. Frankfort, The Cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos (1933).
• F. Ll. Griffith, ‘The Abydos Decree of Seti I at Nauri’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 13 (1927), 193–208.
• K. Hamilton, ‘The Osireion: A Layman’s Guide’ (2018).
• C. H. Herzer Jr, ‘Study of the Osireion at Abydos: Code Book and Source Document for the Birth House of Isis’ (2022).
• K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions Translated and Annotated: Notes and Comments, I (1993).
• K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions Translated and Annotated: Translations Volume I: Ramesses I, Sethos I and Contemporaries (Second Publication edn, 2017).
• A. Leahy, ‘The Osiris “Bed” Reconsidered’, Orientalia 46 (1977), 424–34.
• A. Mariette, Abydos: Description des fouilles (1869).
• M. A. Murray, Egyptian Temples (2005).
• D. O’Connor, Abydos: Egypt’s First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris (2009).
• D. B. Redford, Pharaonic King-Lists, Annals, and Day-Books: A Contribution to the Study of the Egyptian Sense of History (1986).
• O. Sety and H. el Zeini, Abydos: Holy City of Ancient Egypt (1981).
• M. Smith, Following Osiris: Perspectives on the Osirian Afterlife from Four Millenia (2017).
• M. Verner, Temple of the World: Sanctuaries, Cults, and Mysteries of Ancient Egypt (2013).
• R. H. Wilkinson, The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt (2000).
• R. H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (2003).
• H. E. Winlock, Bas-Reliefs from the Temple of Ramesses I at Abydos (1921).

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