218
20. Abydos.
The ordinary traveller, especially when he has at his disposal only
the 8 hrs. allowed by the steamer, will confine himself to the Temple of
Sethos I. and the sadly dilapidated Temple of Ramses II., with possibly a
visit to the old fortress of ShUnet ez-Zebib. The other antiquities are
uninteresting. — Fair donkeys, with European saddles, may be obtained
at the railway-station of Belianeh (p. 191; 3-4«.).
Abydos lies about 8^2 M. from Belianeh, a ride of li/2 hr. The
track crosses several canals, passes through the hamlet of el-Hegs,
traverses a fertile district dotted with numerous villages, and finally
leads over part of the Libyan Desert. Fine view of the mountain-
chain running towards the Nile. The ancient Abydos, the sacred
city of the Egyptians, lay on the verge of the arable land, and ex¬
tended from'Ara&a or 'Ardbat el-Madfuneh (i.e. 'buried 'Araba') to
el-Kherbeh (p. 224).
Abydos (Egypt. Abotu) was one of the most ancient cities in Egypt and
played an important role in the religion of the country. For here was
the famous grave of Osiris, in which the head of the god was traditionally
believed to be buried in a casket. Just as the Shi'ite Mohammedan
cherishes no dearer wish than to be buried near the tomb of Hosen of Ker-
bela(p. 42), so the pious Egyptian, from the days of the Ancient Empire,
desired no better fortune than to have his corpse carried to Abydos, there
to find its last abode beside the tomb of Osiris. Those who were unable
to do this, or who had built tombs elsewhere, often caused their mummies
to be brought temporarily to Abydos, to receive the desired consecration
and to spend some time at least with Osiris. Many contented themselves
with merely erecting a memorial stone in the necropolis, thereby assuring
to themselves the favour of Osiris, the lord of the underworld. — The
chief god of Abydos was of course Osiris; but his wife Isis, his son Horus,
and, under the New Empire, Ptah, Harmachis, and Ammon, with other
deities, were also worshipped there. — Strabo gives an interesting account
of Abydos: 'Above it (Ptolema'is) lies Abydos, the site of the Memnonium,
a wonderful palace of stone, built in the manner of the Labyrinth, only
somewhat less elaborate in its complexity. Below the Memnonium is a
spring, reached by passages with low vaults consisting of a single stone
and distinguished for their extent and mode of construction. This spring
is connected with the Nile by a canal, which flows through a grove of
Egyptian thorn-acacias, sacred to Apollo. Abydos seems once to have been
a large city, second only to Thebes, but now it is a small place, etc.'
This spring may perhaps have been a Nilometer. Ammianus Marcellinus
speaks of the oracle of the god Bes, which flourished here.
The most important part of ancient Abydos was its extensive
Necropolis, situated in the desert. Four distinct sections are clearly
traceable. In the southernmost, beside 'Araba, are tombs of the New
Empire and the temples of Sethos and Ramses. To the N. of this
rises a hill, with graves dating from the close of the Ancient Empire.
Still farther to the N., between the shrine of Osiris and the fortress
of Shimet ez-Zebib (p. 224), are the tombs of the Middle Empire,
many in the form of small brick-pyramids. Here also are found
graves of the 18-20th Dyn. and of the later period. Finally, in the
hill of Umm el-Ga'ab, to the W., are the tombs of the kings of the
earliest dynasties. — The chief centre of interest is the —
*Temple of Sethos I., the Memnonium of Strabo. This won¬
derful structure, built by Sethos I. and completed by Ramses II., was
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