Abydos

An ancient Anatolian site, which was a pilgrimage center for the worship of the god Osiris and the chosen burial place of the pharaohs of the 1st Dynasty. Located on the east side of the Dardanelles and west bank of the Nile northeast of modern Canakkale, it flourished from the Predynastic period until Christian times (c. 4000 BC-AD 641) and survived until late Byzantine times as the toll station of the Hellespont. The earliest significant remains are the tombs of the Protodynastic and Early Dynastic periods (c. 3100-2686 BC), including that of Seti I of the 19th Dynasty (c. 1300 BC). From the 2nd Dynasty, the royal graves were at Saqqara. It was from Abydos that Xerxes crossed the strait to invade Greece in 480 BC.

Major town in northern Egypt, which was a centre for the worship of Osiris and the chosen burial place of the pharaohs of the First Dynasty (seeDynastic Egypt). The royal tombs consisted of large underground brick-built rooms lined with wood, covered by a low mound surrounded by a brick wall. Early tombs comprised a single chamber; later developments included stone embellishments to the structure, the addition of a number of surrounding storerooms, and an access stair. Funerary enclosures, perhaps palaces, were also erected. Nearby graves were used for the interment of relatives, court functionaries and retainers; at least some of the retainers were apparently killed to accompany the deceased pharaoh. From the Second Dynasty, the royal graves were at Saqqara. Under the Old Kingdom, the town of Abydos expanded within its walled enclosure and retained its importance until the Second Intermediate Period. Thereafter it remained a religious centre, and a major temple was constructed by Seti I of the Nineteenth Dynasty.

Two hieroglyphic inscriptions containing the names of Egyptian kings that were found on the walls in a small temple at Abydos, Egypt. The first tablet has the names of the kings of the 12th and 18th dynasties and it is now in the British Museum. The second tablet begins with Menes, one of the first kings of Egypt, and has a complete list of the first two dynasties as well as a number of names from the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, and 11th dynasties. It was discovered in 1864 by Auguste Mariette, who published the book Abydos in 1869.