Ancient graffiti engraved on the walls of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Egypt
Phoenician graffiti (right hand side) at the Temple of Seti I.
The Abydos graffiti is Phoenician and Aramaic graffiti found on the walls of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Egypt. The inscriptions are known as KAI 49, CIS I 99-110 and RES 1302ff.
Much of the graffiti represents prayers and votive dedications.[1]
Prior to the discovery of the Abydos graffiti, very few Semitic inscriptions had been found in Egypt – a few Aramaic texts, the Abu Simbel Phoenician graffiti (published by Ampère, Lepsius, and Graham), and an engraved sphinx found in the Serapeum of Saqqara. Abydos was considered to contain the tomb of Osiris, the god of the afterlife, hence it was considered a holy burial place and attracted pilgrimage.[2]
^Naveh, J. (1979). Graffiti and Dedications. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, (235), 27-30. doi:10.2307/1356553
^Zotenberg, H., "Nouvelles inscriptions phéniciennes d'Égypte." JA sér. 6, t. 11 (1868): 431–50 + 2 pls (also at BNF, including full plate scans): "Dans le grand nombre d'inscriptions diverses qui ont été trouvées jusqu'à ce jour aux bords du Nil, les anciennes inscriptions sémitiques sont fort rares... En dehors de quelques textes araméens, les seules inscriptions phéniciennes découvertes en Égypte jusqu'à ce jour, sont celles d'Ipsambul, copiées successivement par Ampère, Lepsius, et Graham, et quatre lignes gravées sur un des sphinx du sérapéum de Memphis... Deux temples, dont l'un construit par Séti Ier l'autre par Ramsès II, lui étaient consacrés. Elle renfermait, en outre, le tombeau d'Osiris... Mais Abydos avait la prétention de posséder le vrai tombeau du dieu Osiris, et cette croyance eut pour effet que beaucoup d'Égyptiens, de toutes les parties du pays, firent établir leurs sépultures à proximité de l'endroit où reposait le dieu. Il est naturel que cette coutume ait ajouté à la sainteté du lieu et du culte d'Abydos. Aussi cette ville attira-t-elle de très-nombreux pèlerins venus de tous côtés pour y adorer Osiris.
The Abydosgraffiti is Phoenician and Aramaic graffiti found on the walls of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Egypt. The inscriptions are known as KAI...
legs of the temples at Abu Simbel. They have been compared to the Abydosgraffiti. They are known as CIS I 111–113. In 1845, Jean-Jacques Ampère first...
…every identifiable Hebrew inscription dated before 200 BC… First ostraca, graffiti, and marks are grouped by provenance. This section contains more than five...
The Temple of the Kings at Abydos – via Internet Archive (archive.org). Murray, Margaret (1904). The Osirion at Abydos – via Internet Archive (archive...
Ramesses VI was the Osireion at Abydos, 2023. https://www.academia.edu/109794059/ Herzer, C. Study of the Osireion at Abydos, 2023. https://isida-project...
Investigation of the Abydos Settlement Site. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania. Marlar, M. (2009). The Osiris Temple at Abydos: An Archaeological...
overlapping circles drawn on the granite columns at the Temple of Osiris in Abydos, Egypt, and a further five on column opposite the building. They are drawn...
dynasty reigning over Abydos from around 1650 BC until 1600 BC. Four attested kings may be tentatively attributed to the Abydos Dynasty, and they are...
chronology had been cleared by discoveries such as the King Lists of Turin, Abydos, and Karnak. The names of Khufu found within the Great Pyramid's Relieving...
three-inch-high ivory figurine found in a temple ruin of a later period at Abydos in 1903. All other reliefs and statues were found in fragments, and many...
Minhotep. At Abydos, several stone fragments were found, including columns which attest to some kind of restoration work. On a stela found at Abydos, a mention...
eighty graffiti mention Pepi I. At the same time, an extensive network of caravan routes traversed Egypt's Western Desert, for example, from Abydos to the...
Siamun, who was the immediate predecessor of this pharaoh. Peden, A J. The Graffiti of Pharaonic Egypt: Scope and Roles of Informal Writings (C. 3100-332 B...
Many examples of both of these types come from this period; excavation at Abydos yielded over 2000 private stelae, ranging from excellent works to crude...
original on 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2019-01-10. Falk, Harry (2014). "Owner's graffiti on pottery from Tissamaharama". Zeitschrift für Archäologie Außereuropäischer...
Nebkara is likely a variant of the name Nebka. The near contemporaneous Abydos King list and Turin canon record a king Nebka, this time as the founder...
army, as told by Herodotus, Histories, II.152-154, 163-169.) 130 graffiti from Abydos, Thebes, Abu Simbel, and elsewhere in Egypt Coin legends from Mylasa...
open since antiquity, as is evidenced by the presence of Roman and Greek graffiti on the tomb walls. It is quite long in the tradition of the 'syringe' tunnels...
text is sometimes difficult to read, but it covers most surfaces. Modern graffiti has also found its way to the graves, usually in the form of names made...
called "Scorpion I" (Naqada IIIA period, c. 32nd century BC) recovered at Abydos (modern Umm el-Qa'ab) in 1998 or the Narmer Palette, dating to c. 3100 BC...
Herihor and Herihor is mentioned in several Year 5 and Year 6 mummy linen graffiti. The de facto split between Ramesses XI and his 21st Dynasty successors...
Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1997 Helen Jacquet-Gordon, The Graffiti on the Khonsu Temple Roof at Karnak: A Manifestation of Personal Piety...
kinglist and the Turin Canon, both dating back to the 19th dynasty. The Abydos kinglist, which also dates to the 19th dynasty, mysteriously omits Huni's...
and consist of names only. Pamphylian graffiti giving single names have also been found abroad, in Egypt (Abydos) and Delos. The longest inscription is...
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