ancientart:

The Egyptian Osireion, Abydos, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1280 B.C.E.

This huge cenotaph is behind the temple of Seti I, and was built to represent both the Primeval Mound and the tomb of Osiris (god of the afterlife, underworld, and the dead).

The ‘Primeval Mound’, according to Egyptian mythology, was the first land to rise above the primeval ocean at the dawn of time. It remained the center of the cosmos, and a place of everlasting creation. Osiris was strongly associated with the Primeval Mound by the New Kingdom. Some Underworld Books show the souls of Osiris and Ra meeting in bird form at the top of the Mound in order to bring new life to the dead. The resurrected Osiris was shown enthroned on top of the Mound at the center of the underworld.

The Osireion, the largest cenotaph built, is on an artificial island surrounded by a moat (mythologically, the primeral waters) where water was channeled through a subterranean pipeline. On this moat stand two rows of large granite pillars, each weighing 55 tons. Two square depressions on the island (mythologically the first land in the primeral waters) mark the site of a canopic chest and the sarcophagus. Although now open, the Osireion was originally sealed off, likely under an earthen mound. Outside the great enclosure walls to the north lies the real entrance to the cenotaph. This image may help in understanding the layout of the Osireion.

Photos courtesy & taken by Olaf Tausch. When writing up this post, G. Pinch’s Handbook of Egyptian Mythology and M. Seidel & R. Schulz’s Egypt: Art and Architecture were of great use.