one of the best well-preserved temple in Egypt. It is dedicated to the Goddess Hathor. The whole complex covers some 40,000 square meters and is surrounded by a hefty mudbrick enclosed wall. The existing structure began in the late Ptolemaic period, and the hypostyle hall was built in the Roman period under, Emperor Tiberius.
Abydos is one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt. The temple and town continued to be rebuilt at intervals down to the times of the 13th dynasty. The pharaohs of the 1st dynasty were buried in Abydos.
Seti 1st, the father of Ramses II, founded a temple to the south of the town, in honor of the ancestral pharaohs of the early dynasties. It was finished by Ramesses II, who also built a lesser temple of his own. Merenbitah added the Osirieon, just to the north of the temple of Seti I.