Ancient site · Sohag
Umm El Qa'ab
The early royal necropolis at Abydos, where predynastic rulers and kings of the First and Second Dynasties were buried, tied to the cult of Osiris.
Listen to the guide
The story
Umm El Qa'ab is the modern name of an ancient cemetery at Abydos, meaning 'Mother of Pots' after the mounds of broken pottery that mark the landscape. It holds the tombs of predynastic rulers and of kings of the First and Second Dynasties, with the earliest burials dating to around 4000 BCE. Royal burial there ended with the last two kings of the Second Dynasty. From the Middle Kingdom the site became a place of veneration and ritual that lasted about 1,500 years into the Ptolemaic period, and evidence links it to the cult of Osiris.
Good to know
- The name means 'Mother of Pots', after millions of broken pottery fragments covering the mound.
- The cemetery lies about 1.5 km west of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos.
- It holds the tombs of six kings and one queen of the First Dynasty and two kings of the Second Dynasty, besides earlier rulers.