Abydos
Osiris' holy city, where a recarved inscription in Seti I's temple produced the famous 'helicopter' hieroglyphs.
- Location
- West of the Nile, Sohag Governorate, Upper Egypt
- Modern country
- Egypt
- Known for
- Cult center of Osiris; tombs of the earliest kings (Umm el-Qa'ab)
- Main temple
- Temple of Seti I, c. 1290 BCE, with the Abydos King List
- Also
- Osireion
- Modern claim
- 'Helicopter' hieroglyphs, a recarved inscription
What is Abydos known for?
Abydos in Upper Egypt was one of the most sacred places in ancient Egypt. The kings of the first dynasties were buried in its desert at Umm el-Qa'ab around 3000 BCE, and later Egyptians believed the tomb of Osiris, god of the dead, lay there. Pilgrims came for his mysteries and set up memorial stelae.
The temple of Seti I, begun around 1290 BCE and finished by his son Ramesses II, has some of Egypt's finest reliefs. One corridor holds the Abydos King List, which names 76 earlier kings and leaves out rulers later considered illegitimate. Behind the temple lies the Osireion, a partly underground cenotaph.
On a ceiling beam in the temple, a few signs look like a helicopter and other machines in online photos. Egyptologists explain them as a palimpsest: Seti I's titles were filled with plaster and recarved with those of Ramesses II, and when the plaster fell out, the two sets of hieroglyphs overlapped.
The 'Abydos helicopter' is a recarved inscription where two sets of hieroglyphs overlap.
Mentioned on these pages
- PersonRamesses II
- PersonSeti I
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Abydos'Reference
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Abydos list of kings'Reference
- Wikipedia, 'Helicopter hieroglyphs'Reference
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