Abydos: Intersecting Landscapes

One of the first things that struck me about the Abydos landscape is how surreal it is. It's basically an intersection of various landscapes: ancient, modern, village, desert, agricultural, spiritual, and some hints of the industrial. Imagine waking up in the morning at 4:30 AM and the sound of the villagers call to prayer is projected through the desert air via megaphone. To a non-Arabic speaker, it sounds like chanting and moaning and it drones on for over an hour. Then it happens 4 more times throughout the day.

Then, when the sun comes up on a dusty morning, it doesn't look like any sun you've ever seen before. It's small, but very bright, although covered in clouds, and actually looks more like the moon. But I watched it throughout the day, I can assure you that this is the morning sun:
When we first went out to see the excavation sites, I had the chance to climb on top of one of the tall walls of the Shunet el-Zabib. From that great height, I was able to see an amazing example of the intersection of the various landscapes. First, I had a clear view of the Valley to the Underworld:

Then, while looking westward just to the right side of the valley, this panoramic view stretches across the horizon (click on the image to enlarge):

First, in the foreground you can see part of the mudbrick wall of the funerary enclosure on which I was standing when I was viewing the landscape. Panning to the right, there is lush green argicultural land, forcibly placed into the desert. There are cattle grazing and men working in the farms. The land was heavily irrigated, but it's still the desert and the land is destined to last no longer than a few years before the sand siphons out all the water and turns it into salt. Sticking out among all this are electrical towers and power lines.

Then, continuing on towards the north, one sees a large Coptic cemetary:

At the edge of the cemetary, stands an ancient mudbrick ruin, behind which is the village of Abydos, just on the edge of the desert. In this next panoramic view, you can see the village along the horizon line, just beyond the desert. Once again, click to enlarge.

Here's a closer look at some of the village apartment buildings:

While walking around the desert, one is aware of the variety just by looking at the sand. Sherds of ancient pottery are broken and scattered about everywhere. Modern relics are left behind as well, usually accumulated in certain areas in the form of plastic bottles and other small pieces of garbage. And more than occasionally, animal bones and skulls appear as a reminder of the roughness of the desert and despite its beauty and nearby oases, in some ways it is still a dangerous place.