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![Plano Osireion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Plano_Osireion.jpg)
The Osirion or Osireion is an ancient megalithic structure located at
Abydos Abydos may refer to:
*Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz
* Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor
* Abydos (''Stargate''), name of a fictional planet in the '' Stargate'' science fiction universe ...
, 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 resemble an
18th Dynasty Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...
tomb. The site contains a stone-paved island in the centre, chambers in both wings and, around the island, a water basin of yet undetermined but no less than 10.4m depth which was probably used as a well. Access was via a 69m stone lined passage. In the whole of Egypt, there is no architectural equivalent to the Osireion with its massive blocks, numerous
trilithon
A trilithon or trilith is a structure consisting of two large vertical stones (posts) supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top (lintel). It is commonly used in the context of megalithic monuments. The most famous trilithons ar ...
s, extraordinarily narrow and regular joints as well as a lack of round pillars except for the
Valley Temple
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ...
in Giza.
The Osireion was discovered by archaeologists
Flinders Petrie and
Margaret Murray, who were excavating the site in 1902–03. The Osirion was originally built at a considerably lower level than the foundations of the temple of Seti, who ruled from 1294 to 1279 BC. While, with regard to the depth of the building, its untypical architectural style and its mythological context, there is disagreement as to its true age, in his 1998 dissertation on Seti I, Peter J. Brand, mainly emphasising on the numerous cartouches of Seti I found inscribed at the site, says it "can be dated confidently to Seti's reign".
[Brand, Peter J. ]
The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis
' Brill September 2000, p. 175
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
visited the Osireion in the first century BC and gave a description of the site as it appeared in his time:
The subterranean water basin at the Osireion was consequently named "Strabo's Well" by modern excavators.
Strabo then theorises that the Osireion might have been constructed by Ismandes, or Mandes (
Amenemhet III
:''See Amenemhat, for other individuals with this name.''
Amenemhat III ( Ancient Egyptian: ''Ỉmn-m-hꜣt'' meaning 'Amun is at the forefront'), also known as Amenemhet III, was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the sixth king of the Twelfth Dy ...
,
12th dynasty
The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom by Egyptologists. It often is combined with the Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth dynasties under the group title, Middle Kingdom. Some s ...
, who reigned in the 19th and 18th centuries BC), the same purported builder as with the Labyrinth at
Hawara
Hawara is an archaeological site of Ancient Egypt, south of the site of Crocodilopolis ('Arsinoë', also known as 'Medinet al-Faiyum') at the entrance to the depression of the Al Fayyum, Fayyum oasis. It is the site of a pyramid built by the Pha ...
:
Strabo's uncertainty about the origins of the structure highly suggests that these were already unknown by the time of his visit.
See also
*
List of megalithic sites
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
The OsirionThe original notes by archeologist Sir William Flinders-Petrie on the discovery of the Osirion site, published in 1903.
Bibliography
* Frankfort, H., De Buck, A. & Gunn, B. ''The Cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos'', 2 vol. Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Society, Egypt Exploration Society. London, 1933.
* Hamilton, Keith. ''The Osireion: A Layman's Guide'', 2018, Web, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328225133_The_Osireion_A_Layman%27s_Guide.
*Hornung, Erik, trans. from German by David Lorton. ''The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife''. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 1999.
*
Murray, Margaret A. The Osirion at Abydos', British School of Egyptian Archeology n°1, London, 1904.
*O'Connor, David. ''Abydos: Egypt's First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris'', Thames & Hudson, London, 2009 and 2011.
*
Petrie, Flinders. The Osirion at Abydos'
*Pinch, Geraldine. ''Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt''. Oxford University Press, 2002.
* Naville, Edouard. "Abydos". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 1, no. 1, 1914, pp. 2–8. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3853664.
* Murray, Margaret Alice., J. G. Milne, and W. E. Crum. The Osireion at Abydos. London: Histories & Mysteries of Man, 1989. Print.
{{Landmarks of Abydos
Seti I
Abydos, Egypt sites