Author Description

The Abydos journey is one of the most important pictorial records of a boat journey out of Ancient Egypt. It is represented in tombstones of the rich tradesmen, which were commonly known as the "private graves," to distinguish them from the royal tombs. This scene is frequently represented in the graves that were located in the sheer cliffs of western Thebes from the Middle Kingdom onwards. The goal of the journey can be understood from the hieroglyphs: the holy place of Abydos, which is closely associated with the god Osiris. The occupant of the grave wished to take part in the procession festivities there, in which Osiris overcoming death and being reborn was ritually staged. As the graves also depict the return journey from Abydos to the necropolis, a ship towing the sacred boat with passengers is shown twice on the wall. The book analyses these representations, providing the basis for identifying and bringing together existing iconographic monuments and determining the relationship between poorly preserved fragments.