Historians divide the story of Ancient Egypt into three:

The Old Kingdom )about 2615-1991 BC) the Middle Kingdom (1991-1670 BC) and the New Kingdom (1570-332 BC). It was under the pharaohs of the New Kingdom that the power and glory of Egypt rose highest, with the conquests of Tutmose III (1504-1450 BC) and the later reign of Ramses II “The Great” (1304-1237 BC) But it was under the earliest royal dynasties of the Old Kingdom that Egypt’s most astounding monuments, the Pyramids, were built.

Abydos, lying roughly midway between modern Cairo and Aswan was one of the most sacred cities of Ancient Egypt. Here the whole area abounds with tombs and temples of the Old Kingdom.

Sadly most monuments of the early kings have been reduced to rubblem although enough survives to show what they looked like when originally built.

The skyline at Abydos is domianted by the wonderful temple of the New Kingdom ruler Seti I (1319-1304 BC) which was completed by his son Ramses II. This temple is unique in its layout and beauty enclosing seven separate chambers – chaples dedicated to various detites. Their walls are deorated with some of the most beautiful reliefs still existing in Egypt.

It is often surprising to find high quality art in works bearing the name of ramses “The Great” he is remembered as the builder of great monuments, and this is partially true but he was never shy of appropriating the works of his forefathers, by putting his own name on them. Indeed, Ramses II was so anxious to preserve his name and achievements on anything that was standing, that work he ordered to be built from the ground up sometimes seems comparatively primitive. At Abydos, however, Ramses II surpassed himself in his efforts to immortalize his father Seti I.

The workmen of Ramses II clearly took great pains in the addition of detail. This is very noticeable in the chapel to Osiris, God of the Afterworld. Fine lines outline the body of the god and even the brilliant colours have survived in good condition. In the chapel to Isis, sister and consort of Osiris there is particular grace in the treatment of the women’s costume. This high craftsmanship extends to the other works of Ramses II at Abydos. His wonderful temple to himself , which lies about 2000 feet from that of his father is still glorious the roof has gone and the colours are fading from exposure but the superb design and execution of this smaller building are evideny.

Between the temple of Seti I and Ramses II the 10- minute walk over the pathway known as the Omm El Gab or ‘Mother of Shersd’ is a strange experience. The path is named for the sherds or fragments of pottery grave goods which lie scatteredon the ground, many of them looted from the uncounted numbers of graves in the area from the Old Kingdom to the time of Ramses II and even later.To the modern conservation ist, treading these fragments underfoot seems almost sacrile- gious. It is impossible to avoid breakind the pottery into even smaller pieces, so making it all the harder to recon- struct artifacts from this very special site.

A third site at Abydos lies just behind Seti I’s temple. This is a tomb for the god Osiris, thought by some to be a cenotaph or symbolic burial-place for Seti in the union with Osiris believed to take place when a pharaoh died. From the time of the Old Kingdom the cult of Osiris, his sister-consort Isis and their son Horus remained a power-ful element of religion in the Egyptian kingdom. This triad of Egyptian gods, enduring for so many centuries, has been called a forerunner of Christianity’s holy family.

The tomb of Osiris contains a most important document for Egyptologists: a list of Egyptian kings, one of only four such lists still existing. The names are dis- played on columns of cartouches: blocks looking like seals, each one containing the name of a king. The names of 76 pharaohs are carved on this wall, the last name being that of Seti I. But there were more than 76 pharaohs before Seti, which suggests that someone, on royal instructions, left out the names of those pharaohs of whom Seti disapproved.

Fifty miles upstream from Abydos, the temple of Denderah stands on the west bank of the Nile opposite the modern town of Qena. Its fine state of preservation is due to the fact that it was built during the last great centuries of Egypt, between 400 BC and the time of Christ. Dedicated to the goddess Hathor and built on many layers of former temples quite likely dating back to the Old Kingdom, the Denderah temple was built under the Ptolomies (332-30 BC).

Like most Egyptian temples, that at Denderah is surrounded by a mud-brick wall and has many other traditional features a pylon, a vestibule, a colonnade hall, a sanctuary, and the like. At Denderah, however, a Zodiac ceiling has been added. These depictions of the stars have been found in Egyptian tombs, but Denderah is the first instance of such a ceiling being included in a temple. Outside the temple, but still within the walled enclosure, is a separate building called a mammisi. This was a structure dating from the Greco-Roman period but dedicated to the religion of the ancients. Symbolizing the place where the gods gave birth to the divine king, it reinforced the concept of the ruling monarch as both god and king – an important concept after the people of Egypt passed under the rule of alien dynasties.

The Denderah temple is probably best known for its connection with Cleopatra VII – the Cleopatra, who had a son by Julius Caesar before jointly ruling the eastern Mediterranean with her subsequent lover, Mark Antony. Herdramatic death, as immortalized by Plutarch and Shakespeare, brought therule of the ptolemies and Egypt’s independence to an end, for her son Caesarion was executed by Octavius Caesar, the Roman Emperor Augustus. After the death of Cleopatra VII, Egypt passed under direct Roman rule and remained a province of the Eastern Roman Empire until the Muslim conquest of 639-40 AD.

But Egypt’s downfall was still over 1300 years in the future during the Golden Age of the Pharaohs’, represented so well by the sites and treasures 30 miles south of Denderah : Jarnak and Luxor, known as Thebes to the Greeks and Waset to the Ancient Egyptians. Waset’s origins have been traced back to the Middle kingdom, about 2000 BC, but there seems to be no evidence dating the town to the time of Cheops in the Old kingdom. By the great years of the New Kingdom, however, Waset had become an important administrative and religious centre.

Egypt’s most astounding monuments were built under the earliest royal dynasties of the Old Kingdom

The god and his family that took precedence at Waset was not Osiris although Osiris, Isis and Horus were still revered, the focus of the temple building programmes and worship at Waset was the god Amun-Ra his consort Mut and their son Khonsu which produced the great temple of Karnak and Luxor on the east bank. The two temples were linked in a single religious theme with Amun-Ra residing at Karnak and his wife Mut at Luxor. On great occasions Amun-Ra would have his sanctum and travel about a mile down the Nile to visit his adored consort Mut at Luxor. This ceremony the Fesrival of Opet, is still enacted today by modern Egyptians although only as a tourist attraction and not as any symbol of faith in the old pagan gods. No pharaoh could feel secure at waset without paying due respect to both Amun-Ra and Mut.

Each king felt obliged to outdo his predecessor at each of the temples. This has left mankind with an extraordinary legacy to ponder and vast treasures in stone to study at Karnak and Luxor.

Waset was divided in half by the Nile. On the east bank where the sun rises was the community of the court and administrative officials. The temple that served the living were built here and the market place was the centre of daily life. Crossing the river to the west bank where the sun sets had a special significance. This part of Waset was reserved for the dead and for the living who served the cults of the dead.