Great Temple of Abydos
Last updated on August 5, 2026Overview
The Great Temple of Abydos, also known as the Funerary Temple of Seti I, is a temple-cenotaph built during the New Kingdom at Abydos in Upper Egypt by the rulers Seti I and Rameses II of Dynasty 19. Completed by the nearby Osireion, the temple acts as a monumental ex-voto intended to attract the benevolent attention of Osiris, the god of regeneration and the ruler of the afterlife, to the deceased king. Since the Middle Kingdom, it has been customary in Abydos to build chapels decorated with votive stelae to honor this deity.
The Temple of Millions of Years of Seti I in Thebes is the actual funerary temple of King Seti I, who is buried in Tomb #17 in the Valley of the Kings.
The temple was called by the Greeks 'Memnonion' and by the Latins 'Memnonium' after a distortion of the word 'Men-Maat-Ra', the coronation name of Seti I.