1052 



THE NATIONAL CxEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



make acceptable offerings before being 

 carried elsewhere to their tombs. 



Here, according to all tradition, Osiris 

 himself miraculously recovered life after 

 his foul murder and mutilation by Set 

 and his 62 fellow-conspirators. Here he 

 was buried, and for thousands of years 

 pilgrims visited this spot, which, long 

 before the days of Moses, had become 

 the Mecca of the entire ancient world. 

 Here the great kings of the first dynasty 

 built their tombs and filled them with 

 fabulous treasures of art and gold, close 

 to the Mountain of the West, which was 

 the entrance into the kingdom of Osiris. 



Here was the entrance, by means of a 

 deep shaft, into the underground waters 

 leading to the heavenly Nile of the other 

 world, and here, close to this deep shaft 

 or well, was the National Chapel, or 

 Temple of Kings, dedicated to Osiris, and 

 close to it the celebrated Osireion, with 

 its mysterious inclined passage leading to 

 some unknown sacred goal beneath the 

 National Chapel. The well leading to the 

 underworld was discovered last year by 

 Naville and Peet, under the auspices of 

 the Egypt Exploration Fund. 



WHI:RE: was THK HOUSI^ 01? GOIvD? 



The Osireion, with its strange under- 

 ground hall, is now in process of excava- 

 tion (see page 1031), and no man living 

 can tell what may be found when the 

 end of that granite-lined tunnel which 

 slopes toward the underworld shall be 

 reached. 



As day after day I ask this question, 

 walking around the Osireion and ponder- 

 ing upon its unique construction, the more 

 I am inclined to believe that Naville may 

 be right in supposing that here, within a 

 hundred yards of where I write, there 

 may be found that world-famous "House 

 of Gold," the original sanctuary of the 

 best loved god of Egypt, where, accord- 

 ing to the ancient inscription, 104 amu- 

 lets of gold and precious stones were 

 preserved with other innumerable treas- 

 ures. 



I came here prejudiced against the 

 theory that this was the entrance to 

 an underground tomb or a sanctuary of 

 Osiris. I still agree with those who do 

 not see in the stones so far uncovered 

 any signs of an age preceding the age of 



Merenptah, and yet I find it more and 

 more impossible to think of this merely 

 as Merenptah's chapel or tomb. What 

 we have already uncovered is undoubt- 

 edly a temple built or rebuilt by this 

 Pharaoh — a temple in such state of pres- 

 ervation that it will be protected by the 

 government and will hereafter be shown 

 to tourists as one of the sights of Abydos. 

 If this subterranean tunnel only leads 

 to a Ka-tomb of this famous Pharaoh of 

 the Exodus, it will be well worth all the 

 effort and expense it will involve to re- 

 move the hill and debris in which it is 

 buried. Such tomb would, in such a lo- 

 cation, undoubtedly seek to copy the old- 

 est Osireion originals, and would almost 

 certainly lead to most interesting results 

 as regards the religion and the history of 

 that most interesting epoch ; but, person- 

 ally, I am now inclined to hope for the 

 discovery here of the most ancient sanc- 

 tuary of Osiris. 



the: most ANCIE:nT sanctuary O^ OSIRIS 



ON THi: ve:rge: o-^ discove:ry 



It is certainly not an ordinary royal 

 tomb to which this passage leads. Royal 

 tombs in Egypt were never built under 

 temples, and, besides, Merenptah's royal 

 tomb was, as we know, splendidly built 

 at Thebes, where his grave lay close to 

 those of his illustrious ancestors. If it 

 shall turn out to be the original under- 

 ground sanctuary of Osiris, or even a 

 subterranean chamber where, in the days 

 of Moses, the mysteries of Osiris were 

 celebrated, and if it shall be found even 

 partially inviolate, then it must mark one 

 of the most important discoveries ever 

 made in its bearings upon the science of 

 comparative religion (see page 1053). 



It is hard to overestimate the influence 

 of the Osiris cult upon ancient religions, 

 and Abydos existed solely to exalt that 

 cult. The royal tombs of the first dy- 

 nasty kings were built on sacred ground 

 and were dedicated to Osiris. The tem- 

 ples of Seti and Rameses would naturally 

 be built over some sacred rite. 



No one doubts that the sloping passage 

 of the Osireion, diving into the earth as 

 if in search of the underworld, is in a 

 direct line with the axis of the Seti 

 Temple, which lies above it and about 

 100 feet to the east, and that it also was 



