The Mortuary Temple of Senwosret III at Abydos

Two kilometers south of the main town of Abydos are the ruins of the mortuary complex of pharaoh Khakaure-Senwosret III (ca. 1878-1941 B.C.) of the 12th Dynasty. This royal cult complex, named Enduring-are-the-Places -of-Khakaure-true-of-voice-in-Abydos, includes a subterranean tomb located beneath a peak called Anubis-Mountain, and a mortuary temple named Nefer-Ka (Beautiful-is-the-Ka). Although the Egypt Exploration Fund initially discovered the site between 1899 and 1902, the Senwosret III complex has, for the last century, remained largely enigmatic. In 1994, the Pennsylvania-Yale-Institute of Fine Arts/NYU Expedition initiated a renewed archaeological program at South Abydos. One part of this work has been a comprehensive investigation of the Senwosret III mortuary temple. Excavation of the temple building, along with work on its surroundings, now provides the basis for a reconstruction of this major Middle Kingdom temple and new insights into the nature of the Senwosret III complex as a whole.
Although the stone core of the temple was dismantled in ancient times, the archaeological footprint of this building is well-preserved. The deposits surrounding the temple have in five seasons - 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2004 - produced a significant body of evidence on the temple's organization. Besides the stone-built cult structure, the building housed the material and personnel involved in maintaining the cult of Senwosret III. Clay seal impressions record institutional designations as well as bureaucratic titles and permit reconstruction of the temples ritual, administrative and productive sectors, all overseen by the local mayoral office at South Abydos. The volume is organized into six parts with twenty-two chapters and three appendixes. Parts I-V focus on the mortuary temple, its history, architecture, decorative program, and mode of operation. Part VI discusses the associated tomb and the issue of the possible burial of Senwosret III at Abydos.
In its overall design the Senwosret III complex is an innovative royal mortuary establishment. Although it has discernible roots in the preceding pyramid tradition, the complex displays traits which presage the New Kingdom format of royal burial complex. With its subterranean tomb at the foot of Anubis-Mountain, and its cultivation-edge mortuary temple, this site is pivotal in the evolution of the Egyptian royal mortuary complex. The volume addresses our understanding of this site as either a cenotaph or burial complex, and the characteristics of the cult of Senwosret III as it was maintained at South Abydos for 150 years until it declined, ca. 1700 B.C., at the end of the 13th Dynasty.

Josef Wegner is Associate Professor of Egyptian Archaeology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, and Associate Curator in the Egyptian Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.