The Ancient Egypt: The Temple of Seti I at Abydos .. ( Part 3 )

The sanctuaries, and south wall of the second Hypostyle Hall

One should now enter the first sanctuary at the west end, which was dedicated to Horus . On its walls Seti is shown worshipping that god ; and especially noticeable are the beautiful reliefs on the east side (29), where one sees the sacred barque of Horus standing in its shrine, the king burning incense before it, while below he makes various offerings to Horus and Isis .

At the end of the sanctuary is a false door which was heavily inlaid with metal, as is shown by the deep cutting between the ornamentation . One may notice the grass mats rolled up at the top of each panel of the door, as was the custom in the case of real doorways . Between the entrance of this sanctuary and that of the next there is a recess in which the deities Isis, Unnefer, and Harsiesis are shown ; and above this there is a large relief (30) showing the king receiving emblems of royalty from Horus and Isis . Notice here, and in all the other sanctuaries, except that of Osiris, the two false doors, once heavily inlaid with either gold or bronze, which occupy the rear wall . The false doors are surmounted by a rounded carved pediment and cornice, and are separated from one another by a tall flower on which lies a serpent . At the top of each door may be noticed the conventional representation of the rolled-up grass mat which hung before an actual door .

The second sanctuary is dedicated to Isis, and on either wall one sees the sacred barque of the goddess, before which the king burns incense . The rest of the reliefs show him making various offerings to Mut . The recess between this and the next sanctuary contains figures of Nut, Osiris, and Isis ; and above it (31) the king is seen kneeling and burning incense between Osiris and Isis .

The third sanctuary is that of Osiris, and through it one passes into the chambers specially dedicated to his worship, which will be described later . On the east wall (32) the king is seen burning incense before a shrine containing the emblem of Abydos : the wig and head of Osiris raised upon a pole . In front of the shrine are five standards, namely, the Jackal Wepwat of the south, the Jackal Wepwat of the north, the Ibis of Hermopolis, the Hawk of the Horus tribes, and the figure of Anhur of Thinis . On the opposite wall (33) there is the sacred barque of Osiris ; and one may here notice the rich and elaborate ornamentation : the coloured fans and plumes, the head of Osiris above the shrine in the barque, and the fruit offerings of grapes, pomegranates, figs, &c . Between this and the next sanctuary the recess in the wall is decorated with the figures of Mut, Amen-Ra, and Khonsu ( the divine triad of Thebes ) ; and above it (34) the king is seen kneeling between Amen-Ra and Osiris, bedecked with the magnificent insignia of royalty .

The next sanctuary ( the fourth ), which lies in the axial line of the temple, is dedicated to Amen-Ra, the great god of the empire . The sanctuary of Amen-Re differs from its neighbours in being approached by a flight of steps, instead of by an inclined plane . The apparent vaulting of the chapel should be noticed . It is not true vaulting, each course of the roof projecting beyond the one below it, and the whole being finally chiselled into the form of the arch . This is the common Egyptian practice in the case of such vaults . In the reliefs he is sometimes shown in the form of Min, as at the Luxor temple and elsewhere . One sees the sacred barque of the god, accompanied by those of Mut and Khonsu ; and again one observes the gaudy fans, plumes, and insignia . Fruit and flowers are heaped before the barque : grapes, figs, pomegranates, trailing vines, festoons of flowers are shown ; and jars of wine, golden statuettes, &c., are here seen . Outside this sanctuary the next recess in the wall contains the figures of Harmachis, Amen-Ra, and Mut; and the relief above it (35) shows the king kneeling between Amen-Ra and the ram-headed Harmachis, receiving from the former a curved sword and a sceptre . The king holds a tame bird in his hand .

The following sanctuary ( the fifth ) is that of Harmachis, and the reliefs are not unlike those already seen . The Harmachis sanctuary, the first on the left hand of the central shrine of Amen-Re, has reliefs showing Seti before Harmachis and his Heliopolitan consort Ius-aas, with Atum and Hathor . The next recess contains the figures of Sekhmet, Ptah, and Harmachis ; and the large relief above it (36) shows the king in the sacred tree, on the leaves of which Ptah and Horus (?) write his name .

The next sanctuary ( the sixth ) is dedicated to Ptah, but it is unfortunately very much ruined . One here notices again the clean white of the walls, which so admirably shows off the fine workmanship of the reliefs . Between this and the next sanctuary the recess in the wall contains the figures of the king, Thoth, and a funerary priest offering incense before Seti . Its left-hand pier (37) has a large scene which once showed Seti offering to Ptah and Sekhmet . The figure of Ptah has suffered damage .

The last sanctuary ( the seventh ) is dedicated to Seti I himself . On its walls we see (38) the king enthroned and carried by three hawk-headed beings called " The Spirits of Pe " ( a city in the Delta ), and three jackal-headed beings called " The Spirits of Nekhen " . These two cities were the archaic capitals of Lower and Upper Egypt . Before him go the standards of the shield and crossed arrows of Neith, the so-called scorpion sign, the emblem of Thebes, the disc and feathers of Amen-Ra, the hawk of the Horus tribes, the ibis of Hermopolis, and the jackals, Wepwat, of the south and north . Above this the king, holding the crook and flail, stands between Thoth and Nekheb on the one side and Horus and Uazet on the other . The goddesses Uazet and Nekheb are the patron deities of the two above-mentioned capitals . We next (39) see the barque of the king ; for, like the gods, he possessed an image which was carried in this portable vessel in the temple processions . Another interesting scene here (40) shows him seated above the sign of union between Nekheb and Uazet, while Horus and Thoth lace together the stems of the papyrus and lotus plants, and Safkhet records the ceremonial union .

The Hall of Seker

Returning to the Second Hypostyle Hall, we pass out of it on the left-hand side into the hall known as the Hall of Seker . Here, however, comes in the notable divergence from normal Egyptian practice . It would have been natural to have continued the building farther back still, on the line of its main axis . This has not been done, but, instead, Seti's architects have turned the remainder of their work at right-angles to the original line, and have added a hall of the funerary god Seker ( or Sokar ), with shrines to Nefertum and Seker, and sundry other courts and corridors . The reason for this change of axis is obscure . Mr. Arthur Weigall has attributed it to the lack of a sound and stable foundation ; but the existence of the elaborate cenotaph of Seti, which had only been lately discovered and partially excavated when he wrote, seems to indicate that it was not shifting foundations which determined the change, but some more urgent reason connected with religious beliefs . The cenotaph may not be, as Dr. Édouard Naville believed, the Osireion ; but it is evident that it occupied a place regarded as being of extreme sanctity, possibly connected with the sacred spring which Strabo mentions in his description of Abydos, and it may well be that it was this reason, and not any question of unstable foundations, which determined the decision of Seti's architects to turn the axis of the temple, and so to leave the site behind its sanctuaries clear for the massive underground work of the royal cenotaph . The temple was not completed by Seti, and Ramses II, in finishing it, followed his usual practice of deriving as much glory as possible for himself from the work of better men .

Between this last sanctuary and the passage on the east side, closed with an iron door, there is an open doorway leading into a three-columned hall with fine reliefs showing Seti worshipping Seker and Nefertum, known to the Egyptians as the Hall of Seker or Ptah-Seker . On the north wall the reliefs show the king worshipping the hawk-headed Seker and the human-formed Tum . On the east wall are four recesses, of which the first contains the figures of Tum, Thoth, and Seker ; the second of Osiris, Min-Ra (?), and a god whose name is now lost ; the third of Seker, Ptah, and Seker again ; and the fourth of Osiris, Tum, and Hor-ur of the south . Between these recesses the king is shown worshipping the gods . On the west wall he offers four times to the hawk-headed Seker .

1 - Chamber of Tum

Two rooms lead off the southern end of this hall, the first having a vaulted roof, and the second being now roofless . The first is the chamber of Tum, and in the reliefs one sees the king adoring that god and the associated deities . On the east wall (41), at the top, the king kneels before a shrine containing the humanly-formed Ptah-Thenen, a disk-headed Amen-dwelling-in-Aten, a ded-headed Osiris-Unnefer, a sphinx representing the king, and the lion-headed Sekhmet . The symbol ded will be seen at (52) . It perhaps represents the backbone of Osiris, and has the meaning of " stability " . Below this the king kneels before the lion-headed Tum, on whose head is his distinctive symbol of a hawk and lotus-flower, Ptah-Osiris, Shu, the hawk Horus perched upon the uazet sign, Isis, Nephthys (?), Nekheb, and a woman-headed hawk of Hathor . On the opposite wall (42), at the top, he worships before a shrine containing the mummified hawk of Seker, the lion-headed Tum, the ibis-headed Thoth, a naos in which is a lotus and a crescent-moon connected with the worship of Tum, a sphinx representing the king, and the lion-headed Tum holding a flail and sacred eye . Below this the king burns incense before a shrine containing a figure of Tum with a hawk and lotus upon his head, Nu the primeval water, Khepera, the dawn, with a scarab on his head, Thoth, and damaged figures of Neith and Uazet .

2 - Chamber of Ptah-Seker

The second room, the Chamber of Ptah-Seker, has upon its walls some curious reliefs . On the east wall (43) we see the king kneeling before a naos containing the two hawks of Seker, and behind this is a representation of the sarcophagus of Osiris . The god, crowned with the crown of Upper Egypt, lies upon a bier, and Isis in the form of a hawk hovers over him, while the goddess in human form and Horus stand at either end of the body . Above this relief one sees Osiris holding a crook and flail, the jackal-headed Anubis, Nekheb wearing the crown of Upper Egypt, and three unnamed figures holding snakes and lizards, who are said to be giving life, might, and strength to the king . On the opposite wall (44) one sees a shrine containing two hawks, one representing Isis and the other Horus ; and behind this is the sarcophagus of Osiris again . He lies on the lion-couch, so common in Egyptian tombs, while Isis and Horus bend over him. Behind this again is a shrine in which a now damaged figure of the hippopotamus goddess Taurt is shown . From these reliefs it is clear that in this chamber were celebrated the mysteries connected with the resurrection of Osiris . Tradition stated that the god, after his murder and burial, came to life for a short time and had intercourse with his wife Isis, who afterwards gave birth to Horus .

The Osiris Halls ( Osiris Complex )

Behind the sanctuary of Osiris, which, it will be remembered, is the third from the west end, there is a portion of the temple especially dedicated to Osiris . The visitor should enter to the Inner Osiris Hall through the Osiris Sanctuary, and he will then find himself in a hall, the roof of which was supported by ten columns . On the north wall the reliefs have been intentionally damaged, but are still good . The first relief at the top (45) shows the king ofifering before the shrine of Anubis, containing a jackal ; and below this he worships at the shrine of Harendotes, in which is the figure of a hawk . The third relief (46) shows him opening the door of the shrine of Horus, which contains a hawk. The eighth relief (47) shows at the top the shrine of Heket, in which is the figure of a frog ; and below this the king opens the door of the shrine of Min-Harsiesis . The ninth relief (48) represents him worshipping at the shrine of the cow Shentait . On the south wall (49) is the great emblem of Abydos, the head of Osiris, having a large ornamental wig, placed upon a pole, while the king and Isis worship it . Next (50) is the ibis-standard of Thoth ; then (51) the great kherp or baton of Thoth and the hawk-standard ; next (52) the ded-symbol of Osiris clothed with a girdle and skirt ; and (53) the king and Isis lift the same symbol . On the rest of the wall the reliefs show the king worshipping various gods . We see, then, that the reliefs in this hall were intended to give a kind of catalogue of the larger shrines and emblems employed in the Osiris worship . Three sanctuaries lead off the west end of the hall . The first is dedicated to Horus, and the fine coloured reliefs show the king offering to that god, with whom are associated Osiris and Isis . The second chamber is dedicated to Osiris, and to the king who is here identified with that god . The brilliant reliefs show the king crowned and enthroned, wearing the insignia of Osiris, while Anubis, Isis, Thoth, and Harsiesis salute him ; and on the end wall he is embraced by Osiris, with whom are Isis and Horus . The third sanctuary is dedicated to Isis, and the reliefs show the king worshipping her with Osiris and Horus . The second four-columned hall with its three sanctuaries, which forms the east end of the Osiris Halls, is now so much ruined that it does not repay a visit .

The list of kings

One now returns to the second Hypostyle Hall, and enters the passage at the east side, closed by an iron door . On the south wall of this passage (54) is the famous list of kings . One sees Seti I holding a censer, and the young prince Ramses, afterwards King Ramses II, reading from a papyrus ; and before them in two rows are the cartouches of a large number of the Pharaohs of Egypt ( seventy-six kings ), beginning with Mena ( or Menes, the unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and in turn the first king of a unified Egypt ) and ending with himself . The third row of cartouches is a repetition of his own names . This list has been of great value to Egyptologists in fixing the position of certain of the less known Pharaohs ; but it does not give the names of all the monarchs, and the spelling of some of the earlier names is defective .

A passage leading towards the south, and ending in a stairway, once led out to the desert at the back of the temple ; and it seems to have been used at the festivals in which the processions visited the tomb of Osiris . The reliefs date from the reign of Ramses II . On the west wall (55) that king and his son, Prince Amun-her-khepshef - This prince, who was the heir-apparent, seems to have died early, for Ramses II was succeeded by another son, Merenptah - are seen catching a bull for sacrifice ; and farther along (56) the king drags forward the elaborate barque of Seker . On the east wall (57) he and four genii pull at a rope which is attached to a net in which many wild duck have been caught . These he and his son present to Amen-Ra and Mut . At the other end of the wall (58) he drives four sacrificial calves to Khonsu, and dances before a god whose figure is now destroyed .

Unfinished chambers

Returning to the passage in which the list of kings is shown, one may pass through the iron door at its east end into several ruined and unfinished chambers . One first enters a hall of six columns, in which the reliefs have never been completed, and a banquette round the walls, was probably intended for the reception of sacrificial gifts, or perhaps for the resting-place of the sacred barques, whose sculptured representations adorn the walls .

At the end of the Kings' Gallery we enter the slaughter-hall, with ten columns . Those at the south-west corner, showing the slaughtering of cattle, are of good workmanship, and especially one figure (59) is noticeable for its spirited action . It represents a man pulling at a rope attached to the hind leg of a bull, and one can well see the tension of his muscles . The minor chambers in this wing of the temple are scarcely worth the trouble of a visit . One hall contains reliefs representing the sacred barques, and a bench or shelf running around the walls seems to have been the resting-place of the actual barques . Foreign inscriptions of the 6^th century B.C., and later Coptic inscriptions, are scrawled upon the walls .