Osiris Temple, Abydos.

Abydos was one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt [1]. From earliest times, Abydos was a cult centre, first of the local deity, Khentiamentiu, and from the end of the Old Kingdom, the rising cult of Osiris [1]. From the First Dynasty to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, nine or ten temples were successively built on one site at Abydos [1]. The first was an enclosure, about 30 ft × 50 ft, enclosed by a thin wall of unbaked bricks [1]. Incorporating one wall of this first structure, the second temple of about 40 ft square was built with walls about 10 ft thick [1]. An outer temenos wall surrounded the grounds [1]. This outer wall was made wider some time around the Second or Third Dynasty [1]. The old temple entirely vanished in the Fourth Dynasty, and a smaller building was erected behind it, enclosing a wide hearth of black ashes [1].