Temple of Seti I at Abydos (IV) (4645121126)

The Abydos graffiti is Phoenician and Aramaic graffiti found on the walls of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Egypt. The inscriptions are known as KAI 49, CIS I 99-110 and RES 1302ff. Much of the graffiti represents prayers and votive dedications. Prior to the discovery of the Abydos graffiti, very few Semitic inscriptions had been found in Egypt – a few Aramaic texts, the Abu Simbel Phoenician graffiti (published by Ampère, Lepsius, and Graham), and an engraved sphinx found in the

Serapeum of Saqqara The Serapeum of Saqqara was the ancient Egyptian burial place for sacred bulls of the Apis cult at Memphis. It was believed that the bulls were incarnations of the god Ptah, which would become immortal after death as ''Osiris-Apis''. a name wh ...

. Abydos was considered to contain the tomb of

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...

, the god of the afterlife, hence it was considered a holy burial place and attracted pilgrimage.

Discovery

The first Phoenician and Aramaic graffiti was recorded by Théodule Devéria during Mariette's excavations at Abydos; 13 inscriptions were published in 1868 by

Hermann Zotenberg Hermann Zotenberg (1836, Silesia – 1894, Paris) was an orientalist and Arabist. He worked for the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. His most celebrated work is his edition of the ''Chronique de Tabari'' (Paris, 1867–1871) Works * ...

Heinrich Karl Brugsch Heinrich Karl Brugsch (also ''Brugsch-Pasha'') (18 February 18279 September 1894) was a German Egyptologist. He was associated with Auguste Mariette in his excavations at Memphis. He became director of the School of Egyptology at Cairo, producing ...

subsequently made notes of 16 inscriptions. The inscriptions of Deveria and Brugsch were published in the first edition of

Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum The ("Corpus of Semitic Inscriptions", abbreviated CIS) is a collection of ancient inscriptions in Semitic languages produced since the end of 2nd millennium BC until the rise of Islam. It was published in Latin. In a note recovered after his de ...

. In 1885, Joseph Derenbourg and his son Hartwig published an interpretation of 61 inscriptions noted by

Archibald Sayce The Rev. Archibald Henry Sayce (25 September 18454 February 1933) was a pioneer British Assyriologist and linguist, who held a chair as Professor of Assyriology at the University of Oxford from 1891 to 1919. He was able to write in at least twe ...

on a visit in 1883.Derenbourg, J., & Derenbourg, H. (1885)
LES INSCRIPTIONS PHÉNICIENNES DU TEMPLE DE SETI À ABYDOS, PUBLIÉES ET TRADUITES D'APRÈS UNE COPIE INÉDITE DE M. SAYCE
Revue D'Assyriologie Et D'archéologie Orientale, 1(3), 81-101: "En visitant à la fin de 1883 le temple construit par Seti Ier à Abydos, dans la Haute-Égypte, M. Sayce a pris soin d'y copier toutes les inscriptions phéniciennes, dont une partie seulement avait été relevée par Deveria et Brugsch. Il y a beaucoup de nouveau dans les soixante et un petits textes, que M. Sayce a bien voulu nous envoyer." A small amount of further graffiti was published by

Margaret Murray Margaret Alice Murray (13 July 1863 – 13 November 1963) was an Anglo-Indian Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist. The first woman to be appointed as a lecturer in archaeology in the United Kingdom, she work ...

in 1904, together with her excavations at the

Osireion __NOTOC__ The Osirion or Osireion is an ancient megalithic structure located at Abydos, to the rear of the Mortuary Temple of Seti I. Its original purpose is unknown. It is an integral part of Seti I's funeral complex and is possibly built to ...

(note that no Phoenician or Aramaic graffiti was found on the Osireion which, unlike the other temples, had been hidden underground for many centuries).The Osireion at Abydos
1904 The Phoenician graffiti was found to be "roughly scratched on the walls, even more roughly than the Greek".

Concordance

Gallery of handwritten notes

CIS, including Deveria and Brugsch

File:Phoenician Graffiti in Abydos from Corpus inscriptionum Semiticarum CIS I Table XVII.jpg, Deveria 8, 9, 11 File:Phoenician Graffiti in Abydos from Corpus inscriptionum Semiticarum CIS I Table XVI.jpg, Deveria 1–7, 10, 12-13 File:Phoenician Graffiti in Abydos from Corpus inscriptionum Semiticarum CIS I Table XVIII.jpg, Brugsch 1-16 File:Phoenician Graffiti in Abydos from Corpus inscriptionum Semiticarum CIS I Table XIX 01.jpg, CIS I 98, 110

Murray

File:Abydos Sety Temple Phoenician and Greek Graffiti.jpg

Sayce

File:Abydos Graffiti Sayce 1-15.jpg, Sayce 1-15 File:Abydos Graffiti Sayce 16-31.jpg, Sayce 16-31 File:Abydos Graffiti Sayce 32-46.jpg, Sayce 32-46 File:Abydos Graffiti Sayce 47-60.jpg, Sayce 47-61

Notes

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Bibliography

* Zotenberg, H.,
Nouvelles inscriptions phéniciennes d'Égypte
" JA sér. 6, t. 11 (1868): 431–50 + 2 pls (also a
BNF
including full plate scans) * Levy, M.A.,
Inschriften aus Abydos in Aegypten
" Pp. 14–35 + 1 pl. In Phönizische Studien. , Breslau: Schletter, 1870 * Derenbourg, J., & Derenbourg, H. (1885)
LES INSCRIPTIONS PHÉNICIENNES DU TEMPLE DE SETI À ABYDOS, PUBLIÉES ET TRADUITES D'APRÈS UNE COPIE INÉDITE DE M. SAYCE
Revue D'Assyriologie Et D'archéologie Orientale, 1(3), 81-101 * Murray, M.A., The Osireion at Abydos. Egyptian Research Account, Ninth Year, 1903 . London: B. Quaritch, 1904 * Kornfeld, W., "Neues über die phonikischen und aramäischen Graffiti in den Tempeln vom Abydos." ÖAW, 115 (1978a): 193–204 + 18 pls. 1868 archaeological discoveries Phoenician inscriptions Archaeological artifacts Graffiti (archaeology)