THE OSIRION AT ABYDOS

Geoffrey Lenox-Smith investigates the enigmatic cenotaph built for King Sety I.

- Geoffrey Lenox-Smith

The Osirion at Abydos is one of the most intriguing structures surviving from ancient Egypt. It is located behind the famous Temple of Sety I at Abydos, to the north of modern Luxor. When Flinders Petrie was working at Abydos in 1901/02, the area behind the temple appeared to be plain desert. However Petrie’s eye was drawn to several mounds of mud-brick – these turned out to be the remains of a large temenos wall surrounding the temple.

In the 1902/03 season, Margaret Murray led the work to uncover the entrance archway through the temenos wall (marked as A in the plan, opposite top left), the entrance corridor (marked B) and the antechamber (C). The floor level was around thirteen metres below ground level, so a huge amount of sand and rubble had to be removed to clear the passageway. But Murray had no idea that the passageway led to a large Central Hall – this was still covered by sand. The scale of the work necessary to complete the clearance was beyond the resources of the Egyptian Research Account (Petrie’s organisation in Egypt), so further work was put on hold.

In the 1912/13 season, Edouard Naville resumed the work, clearing the sloping corridor (marked D and 1 in the plans opposite, top left and right) and the Transverse Chamber (2). In 1914 the Central Hall (3) began to be cleared, and when the season came to an end in March 1914, Naville was confident that he could finish the work the following season. Unfortunately the First World War prevented any further work for several years. Finally in 1925/26, Henri Frankfort completed the clearance work for the Egypt Exploration Society and published his findings.

Subterranean Structure