Philae and Abydene Canals

Author: * Neseret Sekhmet - 21 Posts on this thread out of 21 Posts sitewide.
Date: Nov 20, 2006 - 12:46

Mirjam Nebt wrote:

"But how do we know channelled water was used at Philae, is it referred to somewhere in the temple inscriptions there?

And (Katherine wrote)"...canaled waters used to come directly into the Abydos Temple of Seti I, even flowing under the temple, which helped to feed water into the Osireion, but exactly where these canaled waters were is unknown."

So the water surrounding the Osireion is thought to could have been the water used for purification then?"

There are textual references to the canals at Philae (Geßler-Löhr 1983: 409-411), so we know of their existence from contemporaneous texts of the time while the temple operated.

As for the Osireion, I somehow doubt it was used for purification by priests (there are two wells in the front courtyard of the temple which likely derved that purpose). Seti I built the Osireion during the 19th dynasty as a three-dimensional cultic representation of the sacred imagery of Osiris in repose in the underworld on the Mound of Creation, which, as religious imagery, doesn't appear until after the Amarna period.

As such, I doubt the priests of the time would have dared to immerse themselves in such divine waters of the Osireion, which represented the deity Nun (the waters of Chaos).

Think of the Osireion as a religious painting in 3 dimensions, and you will understand when I say it was probably considered so sancrosanct that it's doubtful if anyone but the highest of priests and the king himself were allowed to even view it. Most of the texts in the long passageway leading to the Osireion from the west seem to indicate an almost secretive "initiation" atmosphere surrrounding the approach to the site (Frankfort, de Buck, et al. 1933; Murray, Milne, et al. 1989 (1903)).

Reference:

Frankfort, H., A. de Buck, et al. 1933. The Cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos. 2 Vols. EES Excavation Report 39. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

Geßler-Löhr, B. 1983. Die heiligen Seen ägyptischer Tempel. Ein Beitrage zur Deutung sakraler Baunkunst im alten Ägypten. Hildesheimer Ägyptologische Beiträge 21. A. Eggebrecht. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg Verlag.

Murray, M. A., J. G. Milne, et al. 1989 (1903). The Osireion at Abydos. Egyptian Research Account. 9th Memoir. London: Histories and Mysteries of Man.

Hope this assisted.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg