Where is Abydos, ABYDOS, was an ancient city in Asia Minor…

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ABYDOS, was an ancient city in Asia Minor. Settled by Greeks from Miletus, it was situated at the narrowest point of the Dardanelles (Hellespont).

Abydos

Abydos

In the ancient legend of Hero and Leander, Leander swam the Hellespont nightly from Abydos to visit his love, Hero, at Sestos across the strait. Xerxes I of Persia led his armies into Greece in 480 b.c. over a bridge of boats from Abydos to Sestos.

ABYDOS, was a city of ancient Egypt. It was situated about 320 miles south of Cairo, near the site of the modern town of Araba el Madfuna. Abydos was the chief town of the 8th province of the 1st dynasty kings of Upper Egypt. According to legend, the head of Osiris, god of the underworld, was buried here. The importance of the town increased as the cult of Osiris grew. A famous temple of Osiris, built by Rameses II (reigned 1290-1223 b.c.), was erected at Abydos on the foundations of another temple some 2,000 years older.

Abydos was the burial place of kings from the İst to the 30th dynasties (c. 3100-341 b.c.). The royal tombs have yielded such treasures as the funerary stela (commemorative slab) of the serpent king (iti, Djet, or Uadji) of the 1st dynasty, and an ivory fîgurine, perhaps of the pharaoh Khufu (Cheops), of the 4th dynasty.

Probably the most celebrated discovery at Abydos is the temple of Seti I (reigned 1303-1290 b.c. ), father of Rameses II. This temple, with its unusually well-preserved ceilings, doorways, and decorations, contains the mural Tablet of Abydos, a stone-carved list of kings of the principal dynasties. A similar register from the temple of Osiris is in the British Museum at London. These lists have been invaluable in reconstructing the succession of Egyptian pharaohs.

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