Editing Abydos, Egypt (section)

=== Umm El Qa'ab ===
{{Main|Umm El Qa'ab|Tomb of Anedjib}}
[[File:Pyramidion of Nesnubhotep, top of a limestone chapel monument. A scarab and adoring baboons in relief. 26th Dynasty. From Abydos, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|thumb|[[Pyramidion]] of [[Nesnubhotep]], top of a limestone chapel monument. A scarab and adoring baboons in relief. [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt|Dynasty XXVI]], Abydos, Egypt. [[Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology]], London]]
[[File:Indus_carnelian_bead_UC30334_Egypt_Middle_Kingdom_London,_Petrie_Museum_of_Egyptian_Archaeology.jpg|thumb|A rare etched [[carnelian]] bead found in Abydos, tomb 197, thought to have been imported from the [[Indus Valley civilisation]] through [[Mesopotamia]], in an example of [[Egypt-Mesopotamia relations]]. Late [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]]. London, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, ref. UC30334.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grajetzki |first1=Wolfram |title=Tomb 197 at Abydos, Further Evidence for Long Distance Trade in the Middle Kingdom |journal=Ägypten und Levante / Egypt and the Levant |volume=24 |date=2014 |pages=159–170 |jstor=43553796 |doi=10.1553/s159 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Stevenson |first1=Alice |title=Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology: Characters and Collections |date=2015 |publisher=UCL Press |isbn=9781910634042 |page=54 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DEZLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT54 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:20th_Dynasty_Egypt_Gold_Earring.jpg|thumb|A rare 20th Dynasty Gold earring found in Abydos.]]
The royal necropolises of the earliest dynasties were placed about a mile into the great desert plain, in a place now known as [[Umm El Qa'ab]] "The Mother of Pots" because of the shards remaining from all of the devotional objects left by religious pilgrims.

The earliest burial is about {{convert|10|x|20|ft|m|abbr=on}} inside, a pit lined with brick walls and originally roofed with timber and matting. Other tombs also built before Menes are {{convert|15|x|25|ft|m|abbr=on}}. The probable tomb of [[Menes]] is of the latter size. Afterwards, the tombs increased in size and complexity. The tomb-pit was surrounded by chambers to hold offerings, the [[sepulchre]] being a great wooden chamber in the midst of the brick-lined pit. Rows of small pits, tombs for the servants of the pharaoh, surrounded the royal chamber, many dozens of such burials being usual.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=82}} Some of the offerings included sacrificed animals, such as the [[Asinus|asses]] found in the tomb of [[Merneith]]. Evidence of [[human sacrifice]] exists in the early tombs, such as the 118 servants in the tomb of Merneith, but this practice was changed later into symbolic offerings.

By the end of the Second Dynasty the type of tomb constructed changed to a long passage with chambers on either side, the royal burial being in the middle of the length. The greatest of these tombs with its dependencies, covered a space of over {{convert|3000|m2|acre|abbr=off}}, however it is possible for this to have been several tombs which abutted one another during construction; the Egyptians had no means of mapping the positioning of the tombs.{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}} The contents of the tombs have been nearly destroyed by successive plunderers; but enough remained to show that rich jewellery was placed on the mummies, a profusion of vases of hard and valuable stones from the royal table service stood about the body, the store-rooms were filled with great jars of wine, perfumed ointments, and other supplies, and tablets of ivory and of ebony were engraved with a record of the yearly annals of the reigns. The seals of various officials, of which over 200 varieties have been found, give an insight into the public arrangements.<ref>Petrie, ''Royal Tombs'', i. and ii.</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=82}}

A cemetery for private persons was put into use during the First Dynasty, with some [[pit-tomb]]s in the town. It was extensive in the [[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth]] and [[Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Thirteenth]] Dynasties and contained many rich tombs. A large number of fine tombs were made in the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth]] to [[Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt|Twentieth]] Dynasties, and members of later dynasties continued to bury their dead here until the [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman period]]. Many hundreds of funeral steles were removed by [[Auguste Mariette]]'s workmen, without any details of the burials being noted.<ref>Mariette, ''Abydos'', ii. and iii.</ref> Later excavations have been recorded by [[Edward R. Ayrton]], Abydos, iii.; MacIver, ''El Amrah and Abydos''; and [[Garstang]], ''El Arabah''.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=82}}