Religious Ritual in the Temple of Seti I at Abydos with Professor Rosalie David

This talk took place at the December meeting of the Essex Egyptology Group.

Talk information

King Seti I was responsible for the foundation of a magnificent mortuary temple at Abydos.  This unique monument, designed to function as a ritual unit, was constructed during the king’s reign; ritual wall-scenes in some of the most sacred areas were also completed at this time, but other parts of the building were finished and decorated later, during the reign of his son, Ramesses II. 

Prof Rosalie David’s research on the temple started as a PhD project at the University of Liverpool in the early 1970s. This work was initially published in 1973 as Religious Ritual at Abydos (c. 1300 BC); a second revised edition, A Guide to Religious Ritual at Abydos, followed in 1981.  A third revised edition, Temple Ritual at Abydos (2018), has provided new and exciting opportunities to update the study which includes transliterations and revised translations of all the major inscriptions in the temple. 

This lecture provided a pictorial tour and detailed commentary on some of the temple’s magnificent wall-scenes and decoration and explore its significance and use as a ritual monument, designed to ensure the eternal continuity of the king, the Royal Ancestors, Egypt, and all its inhabitants.  

Ann Rosalie David OBE FRSA is Emeritus Professor of Egyptology at the University of Manchester, she was the founding Director of the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology and was Director of the International Mummy Database.