Some 2500 m along the processional path which led to Seti I´s temple at Abydos, Ancient Egypt, there are the ruins of the mortuary temple built for Ramesses II, son of Seti I, or rather, for his spirit. It functioned at the same time as a way station for festival processions in honor of Osiris, though of a more traditional layout than the one of Seti. It has been said that it is comparable to that of Medinet Habu.
Entrance through the portico.
(photo: Jon Bodsworth)The temple which was built from limestone, had a first pylon which is now destroyed. The protico of pink granite gives access to a peristyle court, now ruined but once surrounded with Osiride columns. Many brightly coloured reliefs are still to be seen on the lower parts of the walls which still stand up to ca 2m (6 ft, 6 in), though no roof has been preserved. Around the inside of the court are scenes depicting offering processions while the outer walls depict the Battle of KadeshNext is a portico made of pink granite with two chapels at each end, the left one dedicated to the deified Seti I and the royal ancestors, the right one to the Ennead and to Ramesses II. The portal leads to two hypostyle halls around which are small chapels for various deities. At the rear end of the temple there is a sanctuary made of alabaster with two small chapels on each side.
A view of a small chapel off the second hypostyle halls.
(photo: Jon Bodsworth)
The chapels in the temple were lavishly decorated shrines for the deities of Waset (Thebes) and Abedjou, as well as for the Ennead of Iunu (Heliopolis) and Wepwawet, the jackal deity which was said to lead Royal Processions. The craftsmen and artisans must have been trained during the time of Seti I, by comparison of the remaining reliefs and the ones in the Temple of Seti. This temple displays perhaps the finest reliefs to be found of all the monuments from the time of Ramesses II. On top of the page is an image of a surviving relief, which I regrettably have mislaid the source. If anyone´s intimidated, just tell me and I will take it off at once!
