This [glossary] was renamed
Abdjou, which the Greeks transcribed as Abydos. Leaving Thebes
[glossary] to go down the Nile, passing Dendera
[glossary] where Hathor
[glossary] reigned, the traveler soon comes
to al-Balyana, from where he can go overland to Arabat-el-Madfouneh, the barren
hamlet which guards the entrance to the antique site of Abydos.
At the edge of the desert, he will discover the ruins of the holy city:
Even further to the West lies the oldest necropolis, that of the pharaohs of thefirst dynasties, Djet, Oudimou, Semerkhet, Kaa, Khasekhemoui, Peribsen and their descendants; because then, Abydos, under its original name, This,was Egypt's capital and the residence of the two dynasties which bore its name, the Thinites. During the golden days of Egyptology, the pioneers, researchers and travelers acknowledged the site's importance.