Abydos - Osireion
Southwest of the Temple of Sethos I, its rear wall only 26ft/8m away, stands the large structure known as the Osireion, reminiscent in its majestic simplicity of Chephren's Temple at Giza. Often taken for the Tomb of Osiris, it is in reality a cenotaph of Sethos I, closely associated with the main temple. It was discovered in 1903 by Margaret A. Murray and excavated between 1911 and 1926 by the Egypt Exploration Society under the direction of E. Naville and Dr Frankfort.
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The building, originally covered by an artificial mound and surrounded by trees, was erected by Sethos I, but remained unfinished. Later some rooms were decorated with religious scenes and inscriptions by Merneptah. The main structure is built of white limestone and reddish sandstone, red granite being used only for the pillars and roof of the main hall and some of the doorways.
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Osireion - Entrance
The entrance, on the north side of the building, was roofed with a strong brick vault and shaft, brick lined, running down through the mound.
Osireion - Hypostyle Hall
Adjoining the first transverse chamber is a large three aisled Hypostyle Hall (98ft/30m by 66ft/20m) surrounded by 16 small chambers opening off a narrow corridor only 2ft/60cm wide. Between the central hall and the small chambers runs a ditch, perhaps symbolizing the primal water out of which, according to the Egyptian creation myth, the terrestrial hill (the earth) emerged along with the sun god. At the end of the central hall (representing the terrestrial hill) steps lead down to the water. Between the two rows of pillars in the hall are two cavities in the floor, a rectangular one in the middle which may have housed a sarcophagus and a square one at the east end, perhaps for a canopic chest.
Osireion - Transverse Chamber
From the antechamber another corridor runs east to a large saddle roofed transverse chamber (20ft/6m by 66ft/20m), also decorated with religious texts ("Book of the Dead") dating from the reign of Merneptah.
Osireion - Transverse Chamber
At the far end of the Hypostyle Hall is another transverse chamber, the shape of which may represent the royal sarcophagus; on its well preserved saddle roof are fine reliefs dating from the reign of Sethos I (representations of the sky; the sky goddess Nut supported by the air god Shu; Nut screening the dead King with her arms).
Osireion Antechamber
From the entrance a sloping corridor 120yd/110m long, its walls decorated with scenes and texts from the books of the Underworld dating from the reigns of Sethos I and Merneptah (on the right hand wall from the "Book of Gates", on the left hand wall from the "Book of what is in the Underworld"), leads into an antechamber, also decorated with religious scenes and texts, with another small room to the right of it.
