Osireion temple Egypt: facts, history, description

4.5 / 5 182 Reviews
Ticket price Abydos entrance fee 100 EGP
Type temples
Open 07:00 AM - 06:00 PM
Photography

Address

Location: 10 km from Sohag city, behind the main Abydos temple

Accessibility

Not wheelchair friendly

Osirion, a separated building that lays behind the temple of Seti I to the southwest. The structure is only 26 feet behind the seven sanctuaries and Osiris chamber.  It lies on the axis of the temple but is on a lower level. The purpose of Osirion is unclear while its architectural features are unique.

It was discovered in 1903 by M. A. Murray, and was partly excavated in 1911-1914 and 1925-1926 by the Egypt Exploration Society. At firts it was thought that Siti I had constructed a cenotaph for himself since his name appeares on some parts of the building.

The Osirion is sunk into a depression on a level with the water table. The central hall is surrounded by ditches around which are 17 rock-hewn niches, in front of each was a ledge. The central hall is approached from east and west down a narrow flight of stairs, then led up from the channel of water to the "island" at the center. The main part of the structure was built by Seti I and was completed by Merenptah, son of Ramses II.

Originally this curious structure was roofed, and its only entrance was at the end of a long passage running south from the bottom of a pit outside the northern wall of the temple of Seti. Visitors now descend modern steps and enter directly into the central hall.

The central portion of the hall is a massive island of sandstone masonry containing ten rectangular red-granite pillars. Each pillar is 8,5 feet in diameter. These originally supported architraves and roofing-blocks. Each roofingblock is 6 feet thick. The island was probably cut off from the rest of the building when the trench was filled with water.

The ante-chamber is decorated with scenes from the mortuary literature, relating to the journey through the under-world. The transverse chamber to the east is also decorated with scenes from the mortuary literature; that to the west has an arched ceiling and some badly damaged scenes of the cosmogony, featuring the sky-goddess Nut, the earth-god Geb, and Shu the god of the atmosphere.

List of Luxor temples

You may also like

Horse riding tour at the Pyramids

Tour to Cairo from Hurghada by Plane

Duration: 16 Days
Pick up: 04:00 AM

price 187

The Pyramids of Giza during tour to Cairo from Sharm El Sheikh

Tour to Cairo from Sharm El Sheikh by Plane

Duration: 16 Days
Pick up: 05:00 AM

price 187

The Great Sphinx at the pyramids

Cairo sightseeing tour

Duration: 8 Days
Pick up: 08:00 AM

price 62

Antoniadis gardens

Alexandria City Tour

Duration: 8 Days
Pick up: 08:00 AM

price 78

Published: 12 Dec 2018 Last update: 28 Jun 2020