Temple of Seti I. – Abydos
Temple of Seti I.
The Great Temple of Abydos is famous for its beautiful decorations, among the greatest sculptural works of the New Kingdom. They also refer to the style of the Old Kingdom, blurring the memory of the Amarna heresy. Seti I began the construction of the tabernacle, but the decoration of the courtyard and the first hypostyle was completed by his son, Ramesses II. Temple dedicated to Seti I., Osiris, Isis, Ptahowi, Ptah-Sokarowi, Nefertum, Re-Horachte, To Amon and Horus, it was made of limestone blocks on a unique L-shaped plan. There are seven shrines inside. The Greeks called it Memnonium. The sightseeing route leads through the destroyed first pylon. The courtyard with the remains of the walls is decorated with battle scenes of Ramses II (m.in. battle of Kadesh). There are also two "wells" used by priests for ritual ablutions. The second pylon is preceded by a portico, where Seti I makes an offering to Osiris (this is where the temple proper begins), with niches for Osirian statues of Ramses II (in the next courtyard). The walls are decorated with images of royal children: the sons are on the left, and daughters on the right. The second courtyard has a gate in the southwest corner, leading to the administration and warehouse complex, where was the royal palace with the audience hall. Next to it are the mud brick warehouses. Near the entrance there is a stele of Ramesses II, making sacrifices to Ptah. In the second courtyard you can see a statue of a seated king from the Middle Kingdom.
The ramp of Fr. 42 shallow steps. The outer hypostyle hall is entered through the central portico door with square pillars decorated with a scene of welcoming Osiris, Isis and Horus by Ramses.
In the days of Seti I, there were seven doors leading to seven chapels. Ramses ordered six of them to be walled up and left only the central gate and a small entrance on the north side of the portico. The hypostyle room seems low, and the ceiling is supported by two rows of 12 columns with bud-shaped heads. They are covered with rather crude decorations from the time of Ramesses II, but still more sophisticated than on later buildings. Seti's earlier bas-reliefs were covered with reliefs, on which Ramses II, together with Osiris and Isis, makes an offering to his deceased father. On the entrance wall, Ramses measures the temple with the goddess Selkit, to then offer it to Horus on behalf of the father, and on the right he offers it to Isis, Horus and Osiris a box of papyri. Ramses is introduced to the Upuaut temple, the jackal god of Asyut, that it may be washed with the water of life. The inner portico leads to the inner hypostyle hall, where the seven gates begin seven distinct processional paths along the mighty beam columns to the seven chapels at the rear of the temple.
Inner hypostyle hall with 36 squat columns is already part of the temple of Seti I.. The first of the three rows of columns is crowned with capitals in the form of lotus buds, and the last one has no heads, but the columns are on a high platform. Reliefs from Seti's time 1 are among the most beautiful in all of Egypt. Production quality, the subtlety of the grooves, realism in the smallest details and in the whole composition, the precision in the drawing of hieroglyphs testifies to this, that the best artists worked here. Some with delicacy and elegance resemble reliefs from the times of Amenhotep III (XVIII dynastia). The experiences from the Amarna period were not forgotten either. The folds of the royal loincloth were carefully modeled, the feet were carved with great sensitivity, hands and faces. Royal poses, although schematic, they do not offend conventionalism. Seti stands before the deities, he makes offerings and performs religious ceremonies and presents the Maat – personification of truth and order in the universe. The king in the blue crown on the colorful reliefs, symbol of military victories, he burns incense in front of the sacrificial table.
Many scenes follow the rules of Egyptian formalism, but on the right wall, Seti holds a censer in front of Osiris and pours libation from vases decorated with a triple flower wreath. In the next scene, Seti stands in front of the enthroned Osiris in the presence of Maat and Rcnepet, goddess of the year. Behind him you can see Isis and Amentet, goddess of the West and protector of one of the gates in the Underworld and Enneada of other gods of the world of the dead.
There is also an image of the Djed Pillar.
The two protruding pillars on either side, almost at the end of the room, show Seti I in the Double Crown of Egypt, supporting the Djed pillar and worshiping it. The bas-reliefs have kept their strong colors: they show Seti during the anointing and crowning by the gods.
High, between the Ptah and Re-Horachte chapels, a relief with a pharaoh can be seen, kneeling before Osiris and Horus next to the sacred tree of Persia.
In the rear part of the temple there are seven chapels dedicated to individual deities. Each is covered with a false vault with "overhang", on which the stars and royal cartouches were placed. One by one (left to right, from the south to the north) these are: chapel of the deified Seti I., Ptah, Re-Horachte, Amona, Osiris, Izydy and Horusa. It decorated each of the chapels 36 paintings showing daily rituals, and inside there were statues of deities and barges to carry figures during the holidays. Preserved original colors allow you to imagine, what the Egyptian temples looked like.