Egypt Guide
The Nile Valley
Abydos
As Muslims endeavour to visit Mecca once in their lifetimes and Hindus aspire to die at Benares, the Ancient Egyptians devoutly wished to make a pilgrimage to ABYDOS (pronounced "Abi-dos"), cult centre of the god Osiris. Those who failed to make it hoped to do so posthumously; relatives brought bodies for burial, or embellished distant tombs with scenes of the journey to Abydos (represented by a boat under sail, travelling upriver). Egyptians averred that the dead "went west", for the entrance to the underworld was believed to lie amid the desert hills beyond Abydos. By bringing other deities into the Osirian fold, Abydos acquired a near monopoly on death cults, which persisted into Ptolemaic times. Its superbly carved Temple of Seti I has been a tourist attraction since the 1830s, and many rate its artwork as the finest in Egypt.