Book Review: Abydos
Today I will be reviewing the book "Abydos: Egypt's First Pharaohs and the Cult of Osiris" written by David O'Connor which can be found here.
If you have any interest in Abydos or early Egyptian tombs/structures, this would be a good book for you. The information is well written and seems to be pretty bias free. The author is very good at stating what we know, what we don't know, and his thoughts on what might have happened. He doesn't present his theories as truths- which is something a lot of authors have a problem with. For this reason alone, I would recommend this book. However, there is a lot of useful information in general. I learned quite a bit about Abydos- it's structures, it's history. The only thing I would have liked to have learned more about is Osiris- his cult and how his cult interacted with Khentiamentiu. However, there is still a fair amount of information regarding Osiris' cult and his temple (I just want to know MOAR).
He goes in depth about the history of Abydos- from dynasty 0 all the way to the Late Period. He discusses various building projects there, talks about the layout and designs of many of the temples, the anomalies of some of the structures and what we can learn from them. Considering that Abydos is usually only mentioned as being "Osiris' city" or the place where Seti built that big temple with the kings list- it's nice to see a more in depth approach. Of course, as O'Connor mentions in his book- you find some answers, only to come up with more questions. I, too, have more questions for having read this book, but I have more answers too.
A particular quote that I liked:
"The vast cemetery field comprising the Middle and North cemeteries and Umm el Qa'ab was personified as Hapetnebes, "Shoe who hides her lord", a term peculiar to Abydos. The endless, open desert plain of Abydos was imagined to be a goddess, generated by & embodied in the landscape itself. "She who hides her lord" was complex in meaning. At one level, this goddess as landscape literally hid and thus protected Osiris himself- buried at Umm el Qa'ab - as well as his countless followers, eash one also an Osiris entombed in the Abydene cemeteries. But Hapetnebes was also a more positive force in that Osiris, buried within her, experienced revitalization or rebirth every year. In this perspective, "She who hides her lord' is virtually lanscape conceited of as a mother goddess, in whose womb lies the potential for and actualization of life. She thus relates to the subtle interplay of meaning btwn desert and floodplain in the prototypical Egyptian landscape. The desert, seemingly dead, generates life for Osiris and deceased Egyptians; and thus relates to those more obvious manifestations of vitatlity and reproduction, the inundation and consequent vegetation, both seen as manifestations of Osiris' capacity to regenerate."
He also discussed a bit about what we modernly call the Mysteries of Osiris. As I mentioned in on of my last posts, it was common for the Mysteries to involve a procession that started at Osiris' temple and worked towards Umm el Qa'ab- what was believed to be Osiris' tomb. During the procession, agents of Set would try to stop these people by attacking them. Of course, Osiris' "team" would win, and they'd make their way to the tomb where rituals were more than likely done. This was also an interesting tidbit to learn.
I think for me, besides the two nuggets above, the biggest help this book served for me was to learn about early dynastic pharaohs. Most authors completely skip over early and pre-dynastic Egypt. More or less saying that they were there, stopping to look at Menes, Scorpion King, Narmer Pallete... and then moving on. If you're lucky, you might see "Naqada" listed. However, O'Connor does go pretty deep into early dynastic goings on in Abydos (at least in regards to the structures there). So I feel like I've had a huge history gap somewhat filled. I know that this comes with the territory- Abydos housing tombs for early kings and all, but it was still nice.
Overall, I would recommend this book. It's well written. Has good info. And if you're into Osiris or Abydos in general- it helps to give a more complete picture of both. The author is respectful of his subject matter, and I think he approaches the topics that he discusses really really well. So go read it!
If you have any interest in Abydos or early Egyptian tombs/structures, this would be a good book for you. The information is well written and seems to be pretty bias free. The author is very good at stating what we know, what we don't know, and his thoughts on what might have happened. He doesn't present his theories as truths- which is something a lot of authors have a problem with. For this reason alone, I would recommend this book. However, there is a lot of useful information in general. I learned quite a bit about Abydos- it's structures, it's history. The only thing I would have liked to have learned more about is Osiris- his cult and how his cult interacted with Khentiamentiu. However, there is still a fair amount of information regarding Osiris' cult and his temple (I just want to know MOAR).
He goes in depth about the history of Abydos- from dynasty 0 all the way to the Late Period. He discusses various building projects there, talks about the layout and designs of many of the temples, the anomalies of some of the structures and what we can learn from them. Considering that Abydos is usually only mentioned as being "Osiris' city" or the place where Seti built that big temple with the kings list- it's nice to see a more in depth approach. Of course, as O'Connor mentions in his book- you find some answers, only to come up with more questions. I, too, have more questions for having read this book, but I have more answers too.
A particular quote that I liked:
"The vast cemetery field comprising the Middle and North cemeteries and Umm el Qa'ab was personified as Hapetnebes, "Shoe who hides her lord", a term peculiar to Abydos. The endless, open desert plain of Abydos was imagined to be a goddess, generated by & embodied in the landscape itself. "She who hides her lord" was complex in meaning. At one level, this goddess as landscape literally hid and thus protected Osiris himself- buried at Umm el Qa'ab - as well as his countless followers, eash one also an Osiris entombed in the Abydene cemeteries. But Hapetnebes was also a more positive force in that Osiris, buried within her, experienced revitalization or rebirth every year. In this perspective, "She who hides her lord' is virtually lanscape conceited of as a mother goddess, in whose womb lies the potential for and actualization of life. She thus relates to the subtle interplay of meaning btwn desert and floodplain in the prototypical Egyptian landscape. The desert, seemingly dead, generates life for Osiris and deceased Egyptians; and thus relates to those more obvious manifestations of vitatlity and reproduction, the inundation and consequent vegetation, both seen as manifestations of Osiris' capacity to regenerate."
He also discussed a bit about what we modernly call the Mysteries of Osiris. As I mentioned in on of my last posts, it was common for the Mysteries to involve a procession that started at Osiris' temple and worked towards Umm el Qa'ab- what was believed to be Osiris' tomb. During the procession, agents of Set would try to stop these people by attacking them. Of course, Osiris' "team" would win, and they'd make their way to the tomb where rituals were more than likely done. This was also an interesting tidbit to learn.
I think for me, besides the two nuggets above, the biggest help this book served for me was to learn about early dynastic pharaohs. Most authors completely skip over early and pre-dynastic Egypt. More or less saying that they were there, stopping to look at Menes, Scorpion King, Narmer Pallete... and then moving on. If you're lucky, you might see "Naqada" listed. However, O'Connor does go pretty deep into early dynastic goings on in Abydos (at least in regards to the structures there). So I feel like I've had a huge history gap somewhat filled. I know that this comes with the territory- Abydos housing tombs for early kings and all, but it was still nice.
Overall, I would recommend this book. It's well written. Has good info. And if you're into Osiris or Abydos in general- it helps to give a more complete picture of both. The author is respectful of his subject matter, and I think he approaches the topics that he discusses really really well. So go read it!