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
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Denne historien er fra March / April 2021-utgaven av Ancient Egypt.
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INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER
Sean McLachlan explores the recently reopened interior of this iconic Third Dynasty Saqqara monument.
PER MESUT: for younger readers
She Who Loves Silence
Highlights of the Manchester Museum 29: An Offering by Queen Tiye for her Husband
Campbell Price describes an offering table with a touching significance.
Highlights Of The Manchester Museum 28: Busts Of Jesse And Marianne Haworth
Campbell Price describes the significance of two statue busts on display in the Museum.
TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy
Rosalie David and Eileen Murphy explain how scientific examination of the ‘Belfast Mummy’ is revealing much new information about her life and times.
Lost Golden City
An Egyptian Mission searching for the mortuary temple of Tutankhamun has discovered a settlement – “The Dazzling of Aten” – described as the largest city ever found in Egypt (see above). Finds bearing the cartouches of Amenhotep III (see opposite, top) date the settlement to his reign, c. 1390-1352 BC – making it about 3400 years old.
Jerusalem's Survival, Sennacharib's Departure and the Kushite Role in 701 BCE: An Examination of Henry Aubin's Rescue of Jerusalem
BOOK REVIEWS
Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting Identities from the Graeco-Roman Period by Campbell Price
BOOK REVIEWS
Old And New Kingdom Discoveries At Saqqara
An Egyptian team working on a Sixth Dynasty pyramid complex near the Teti pyramid at Saqqara has made a series of important discoveries.
Map Of Egypt
What’s in a name? It is easy for us to forget that the names we associate with the pyramids – such as the Meidum Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid or the Black Pyramid – would have been meaningless to their builders.
