187: The Abydos King List

Sety in Abydos (Part 2). Having toured the first part of Sety’s Temple at Abydos, we continue our exploration. Today, we discuss one of the monument’s most famous features: a King List, presenting a (supposedly) uninterrupted record of rulers up to Sety’s day. In truth, the Abydos King List is complex, with omissions and inclusions that don’t quite match scholars’ archaeological and historical information. What was Sety trying to achieve, with this curious feature? We explore…

This is part 2 in our tour of the temple. We have already visited the Hypostyle Halls, Seven Chapels, and Osiris Complex. In future episodes, we will discuss the Osireion, the secondary features of the monument, and the known priests/staff who managed it.

Images:

• Full-colour reproduction of the Abydos King List at Wonderful Things Art. Use checkout code EGYPTPODCAST for 30% off your order when purchasing 3-or-more items!
• A.M. Calverley, The Temple of Sethos I at Abydos, 4 volumes, open access via Chicago University Publications.
• Wikimedia: Category: Temple of Seti I in Abydos.
• Flickr.com: Kairoinfo4u.
• Flickr.com: Heidi Kontkanen.

Details and sources:

• Read the Abydos King List at Wikipedia and Pharaoh.se.
• Date: c. 1300 BCE—1292 BCE (temple unfinished at Sety I death).
• Music intro and interludes: Luke Chaos.
• Music interludes and outro: Keith Zizza.
• Sistrum interludes: Tahya / Hathor Systrum.
• Texts: Kenneth Kitchen's Ramesside Inscriptions volume 1. Hieroglyph versions at Internet Archive, English translations at Abercromby Press.
• Texts: Full texts of the temple, including transliteration and translation: Rosalie David, Temple Ritual at Abydos (2018) at Egypt Exploration Society.
• Peter Brand, Ramesses II: Egypt's Ultimate Pharaoh, out now from Lockwood Press.

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