By the 3rd dynasty Egypt's pharaohs began building their tombs more than 250 miles (400
kilometers) downstream at Saqqara. There, a new tradition arose: The separate tomb and
enclosure were combined into a single complex that included a colossal pyramid tomb bounded
by the walls of a ceremonial enclosure. The royal necropolis at Abydos lay abandoned for the
next 700 years.
Then during the Middle Kingdom the cult of Osiris became a major force in Egyptian religion.
Legend held that Osiris, lord of the afterlife, was also Egypt's first king, and so pharaohs
dispatched priests to Abydos on a kind of archaeological expedition to locate Osiris's tomb.
They excavated several of the 1st-dynasty tombs and ultimately decided that Djer's belonged
to Osiris. In so doing they turned Abydos into the mecca of ancient Egypt.
Over the next 2,000 years several pharaohs, including Senusret III and Ramses II, built great
monuments and temples at Abydos to honor Osiris. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians, farmers
and pharaohs alike, made the pilgrimage to take part in an annual celebration of Osiris's
resurrection. The festival culminated in an elaborate parade that wound from the town past a
series of small chapels built to honor the god-king, then up a dry riverbed to the ancient desert
cemetery.
Arriving at Osiris's tomb, the pilgrims had no inkling that hundreds of their ancestors-royal staff
members sacrificed more than a thousand years earlier-lay buried beneath their feet. Seeking
Osiris's blessing for their own passage to the afterlife, the worshippers brought millions of small
clay offering pots filled with fruit and smoldering incense. You can still see the potsherds today,
piled high like so many hopes that in the wake of death comes eternal life.
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