Day 7 - Convoy to Dendera and Abydos

Today we met up with a bunch of other tourists so that we could be a part of a convoy to drive to Abydos and Dendera (also spelled Denderah or Dandarah). Abydos will take about 3 hours of driving. We will spend 2 hours there and then drive 2 hours to Dendera. Again, we will spend 2 hours at Dendera and drive back to the hotel in 1 hour. Our driver here in Luxor is a bit more tame. We are going about 45 mph. After Josef, it feels kind of slow and boring!

There are many checkpoints along the way this morning. We just drive slowly through each one. This is just a way for the government to make sure that we are all still accounted for. After the tourist incident in 1997, there have been no other problems at all. We feel pretty safe. Our convoy appears to have about 20-25 other vans so our odds seem a bit better today. ☺

There are about 3-4,000 people who live in the village of Abydos today. The Temple of Seti I at Abydos was built by Seti I and finished by his son Ramses II as a worship place for the god Osiris, the "Lord of Abydos," whose mysteries were celebrated there each year. Walking up to the temple from the front, it doesn’t seem all that impressive (see video).

However, once you walk inside, it is spectacular. There are holes in the ceiling that let in the rays of the sun by the sun god, Ra (which you will remember is one of the gods the Egyptians worshipped). There are two hypostolic halls, each containing 24 papyrus columns; 12 on each side of each hall. There are 7 sanctuaries off of the second hypostolic hall built for Horus, Isis, Osiris, Amun, Ra, Ptah, and Seti I. There is also a hallway that contains the geneology of the kings of Egypt, starting with King Djoser and ending with Seti I. It’s important to note that Queen Hatshepsut (who was king) and Akhenaten were left off of the list. The Egyptians tended to re-write their own history when they didn’t like what happened in the past.



Here is my best attempt at the story of Osiris and Isis. This is the most famous story in all of Egyptian mythology. Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephtees (I said this name incorrectly on the video) were all brothers and sisters. Osiris married Isis and Set married Nephthys. Set was jealous of Osiris because he was basically the older brother and more important. Set had a party one night and had a sarcophagus built to the exact dimensions of his brother Osiris. At the party he had a contest to see who would best fit in the sarcophagus. Naturally, Osiris gets in and fits perfectly. Set slams the lid shut and kills Osiris. Set cuts Osiris’ body into 14 pieces and spreads them throughout Egypt. Isis has special powers and can bring Osiris back to life but she needs to have all the pieces. She searches everywhere in Egypt and puts him back together, brings him back to life, and they end up having a child together named Horus.

The Egyptians believed that Set buried 2 of the pieces, the heart and the backbone, at Abydos. This is why Abydos is so important and why the Temple was built there by Seti I. We drove 3 hours from Luxor this morning and all there is in Abydos is the temple. The drive is worth doing because many people believe not visiting Abydos would be like going to Paris and not visiting the Eiffel Tower.


The Temple at Dendera is where Hathor supposedly gave birth to Horus’s child, the god Ihy. The tops of each of the columns has the face of Hathor that has been defaced by the Christians. It was buried under the sand until the 19th century. The current temple is Graeco-Roman but its design imitates typical Pharaonic temple architecture. There are a series of large hypostolic halls leading into dark sanctuaries. The roof of the temple was used for rituals for the New Year.



There is a beautiful scene on the backside of the Temple that shows Cleopatra, dressed as Isis, with her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarian. She is basically presenting him to the gods as the next ruler of Egypt.


Now, we are headed back to the hotel. Today has been a long day. We started at 7:30am and we will get back to the hotel about 6pm. It’s been hot again today but once the sun starts to set, about 4pm, it gets much cooler.