Temple of Seti I
The Seti Temple in Abydos was built by Seti I and his son Ramses II (480 kilometres or 300 miles south of Cairo). During the 19th dynasty, from about 1290 to 1279 BCE, Seti was in charge of Egypt. Seti went back to work on the hypostyle hall at Karnak. He also opened mines and fixed temples that had been damaged Ramses II was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty. He
ruled Egypt from 1279 B.C.E. to 1213 B.C.E. Most people agree that Seti built the temple’s main structure, while Ramses added the elaborate decorations, courtyards, and other features.
The L-shaped Seti Temple had seven chapels and a terrace. There were also two pylons there. Each chapel’s flat corbeling slabs are adorned with royal cartouches and stars, while the temple itself
is composed of white limestone. Find out who got what in the ancient Egyptian pantheon by reading here: Seti built chapels for the gods Osiris, Isis, Ptah-Sokar, Nefertem, Ra-Horakhty, Amon, and Horus. Prayers to many gods adorned the walls of each temple. The Shen, an immortal emblem, was depicted on the walls of the Horus temple in the form of a hawk.
Inside the temple, there are pieces of the huge sphinxes that once stood guard over the entrance. On the pedestals of these statues were the names of Seti, as well as the names of several towns, kingdoms, and people who scholars think were enemies of the pharaoh and his government.
The hypostyle hall has beautiful papyrus-shaped columns. The holy ceremonies of the sun religion took place in the northern part, while worship of the monarch took place in the southern part. The bas-reliefs on the walls of the temple are a big part of the experience. The level of sophistication and attention to detail is amazing.
The List of Kings of Abydos is written on a wall in the hall of a temple. Seti said that these were the most important pharaohs, so I put their names here. There are 76 different pharaohs on the list. Many pharaohs before Seti, like Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Semenejkara, Tutankhamun, and Allah, are not on the list because Seti didn’t think they were real rulers. Historians should think of the list as an important tool.
Menes, who is probably the same as Narmer, is at the top, and Seti is at the bottom. Menes was the first ruler of the First Dynasty. He ruled until about 3000 BCE, when he died. King Seti of the New Empire reigned until his death in 1279 BCE. In Egypt, you may find ten such lists, including this one.
Dorothy Eady has only been a part of the temple community for a short time. Eady thought that the Englishwoman known as “Omm Seti” was a reincarnated temple priestess and follower of Seti I who had died and come back to life. She stayed at Abydos for a long time and told archaeologists important things about how the temple was used. She passed away in 1981 and was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in the middle of the desert.
