Egypt - Abydos, city of pilgrimage of the Pharaohs

Historical background The area was occupied by the populations of el-Amra, then of Nagada who built a prehistoric and protodynastic village which later became the city of Abdjou (Abydos is the transcription of the Egyptian name) with protodynastic kings (the Horus) and the Thinites (1st and IInd dynasty), whose capital (This) was slightly further north and whose main necropolis was in the area of Um el-Qaab. Numerous temples, often dedicated to the local divinity, also go back to the Thinites period, as well as two fortresses in Shünet el-Zebib. The importance of Abydos rose with the establishment, with the Vth dynasty, of the cult of Osiris, god and sovereign of the earth. According to mythology, the city harboured his main tomb which contained his head after his brother Seth had dismembered his body. Antef II (2121-2070, beginning of the XIth dynasty) officially made Abydos into the city of Osiris and main centre of the Osiris cult.