Abydos, Egypt

Abydos, or Abdu, is a city in ancient Egypt, located northwest of Thebes Luxor. In ancient times the area was inhabited, and on its territory were located the village of El-Amra and Nagad necropolises. 
Speaking of the time of the first two Tinite dynasties and covering the Nagada period, Abydos is known to have been turned into a necropolis, where the rulers of a united Egypt erected their own tombs, enclosing them with those of their wives and courtiers.
It is very likely that these burial chambers were simply cenotaphs, and that the Tinite rulers themselves were buried in Saqqara. Countless tombstones typical of Egypt at that time have been found in the lands of Abydos, along with the remains of various temples. Then one of the deities of the dead was raised as a local god - Gentamentio, also called "The first among those living in the West". 
Over time, covering the years of the reign of the 5th dynasty, Osiris appeared in Abydos, attracting many worshipers. Teti, who was the first pharaoh of the 5th dynasty, created a special charter of inviolability that protected the riches of the god Gentamentiou.
In the further development of the history of Abydos, at the beginning of the reign of the XI dynasty, Antef II took power over Abydos and imposed in him the worship of another god, turning the city into a city of Osiris. It was in Abydos that the famous mysteries dedicated to the god, who fully accepts the distinctive features of the ancient Gentimentio, began.
The apogee in its development Abydos is due to the rule of the XIX dynasty. In these years, the mania for power and greatness is the driving force that develops the architecture of the city. Seti I built a temple to his father Ramses I, and built for himself a majestic burial temple, of which a large number of partially restored ruins and cenotaphs have been preserved.
His son Ramses II also did not ignore the idea of ​​erecting another burial chamber. Beautiful bas-reliefs move the appearance of the two sanctuaries, representing quite well the classicism in the art of the New Kingdom. 
By erecting these temples, the pharaohs did not betray the tradition that in Abydos, next to the tomb of Osiris, to have their cenotaph, or at least a stele, because the city claimed to have the head of the dismembered body of the deity. A cenotaph is an underground sanctuary, most likely an Osireyron, whose construction began at Seti but was completed at Mineptah.
A vaulted underground gallery, 32 meters long, leads to it. Its east wall is covered with texts from the Book of the Dead, and the west wall is covered with excerpts from the Book of Doors. The real sanctuary is an image of the primary hill of creation that emerged from Nun. It is believed that the relic (head) of Osiris was kept underground in this place and the mysteries dedicated to him took place there. 
Even losing its luster during the Hellenistic era, Abydos remains famous for its cult of Osiris. Very often, if people failed to perform their pilgrimage to Abydos during their lifetime, they were brought for their burial at least here, because of the door of the ancients - the entrance to the afterlife.