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Temple of Seti I at Abydos
Monument at Abydos · also called Great Temple of Abydos, Memorial Temple of Seti I, Abydos King List temple
Seti I's temple at Abydos holds the Abydos King List and some of the most refined hieroglyphs ever carved. It is the best place in Egypt to compare a king's fine raised relief with his son's quicker sunk relief.
Seti I (c. 1290–1279 BC) built this temple for Osiris, six other gods and himself, with seven chapels side by side, and an Osiris suite behind them. He died before it was finished, and his son Ramesses II completed the front courts and the first hypostyle hall.
Inside, Seti's sculptors cut the signs in raised relief, every feather and fold modelled, often still painted. Ramesses II's work near the entrance is sunk relief, cut faster and deeper. Walking from the front to the chapels you can see the difference in the writing itself.
What to see and read
Gallery of the Lists
Seti and the young prince Ramesses honour the cartouches of 76 earlier kings, from Menes to Seti. Rulers such as Hatshepsut, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun are left out.
The seven chapels
Rooms for Seti, Ptah, Re-Horakhty, Amun, Osiris, Isis and Horus. Their walls show the daily ritual, with crisp painted signs at eye level.
Names you can find here
Signs to look for
- Game board Y5mn The game board mn is in Seti's throne name Men-maat-ra, written in hundreds of cartouches here.
- Goddess Maat C10mꜣꜥt The seated goddess Maat writes maat in Seti's throne name.
- Sun N5rꜥ The sun disc writes Ra, at the top of Seti's throne-name cartouche.
- Cartouche V10 The cartouche fills the King List row after row.
- Djed pillar R11ḏd The djed pillar of Osiris stands out in the Osiris chapel.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- Compare the raised relief in the chapels with the sunk relief near the entrance before you photograph either.
- Point the Hiero Lens camera at one King List cartouche at a time; it reads best when the ring fills the frame.
Point your camera at a wall Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
Which kings are on the Abydos King List?
76 kings from Menes, the legendary first king, to Seti I. It skips the Second Intermediate Period, Hatshepsut and the Amarna kings.
Is there another king list from Abydos?
Yes. Ramesses II carved a similar list in his own temple nearby. Its surviving part, broken and incomplete, is in the British Museum in London.
Also at Abydos
Where it is
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.