Abydus, in Egypt, is now called Madfuneh, or the Buried City. According to Pliny and Strabo it was a colony of Milesians. It is said once to have nearly equalled Thebes in grandeur and magnificence; but it was reduced to a village in the reign of Augustus, and is now only a heap of uninhabited ruins.

In its neighbourhood, however, the celebrated tomb of Ismandes is still found; he who built the temple of Osiris, into which no singers or dancers were ever allowed to enter. Besides numerous tombs and sepulchral monuments, that are continually found here, the remains of two grand edifices, and other ruins, evince its former extent, and justify the assertion of Strabo, that Abydus formerly held the first rank after Thebes itself. One of those edifices was called the Palace of Memnon; but it was, in reality, commenced by Osirei, and completed by his son Remesis II., and from the peculiar nature of its plan, and the structure of its roof, it is particularly interesting to the antiquary. This last is formed of large blocks of stone placed from one architrave to the other; not, as usual in Egyptian buildings, on their faces, but on their sides; so that considerable thickness having been given to the roof, a vault was afterwards cut in them, without endangering its stability. The other building is the famous temple of Osiris, who was reported to have been buried in Abydus, and who was worshipped there in his most sacred character. There are many other places, says Plutarch, where his corpse is said to have been deposited; but Abydus and Memphis are mentioned in particular as having the true body; and for this reason the rich and powerful of the Egyptians were desirous of being buried in the former of these two cities, in order to lie, as it were, in the same grave with Osiris himself. The fact, that the natives of other towns also were buried at Abydus, is fully confirmed by modern discoveries; and inscriptions, purporting that the deceased were from some distant part of the country, are frequently found in the tombs of its extensive cemetery. The temple of Osiris was completed by Remesis II., who enriched it with a splendid sanctuary, rendered unusually conspicuous from the materials used in its construction, being entirely lined with oriental alabaster. He also added to the numerous chambers and courts many elegant and highly-finished sculptures. One of these lateral apartments contains the famous tablet of kings, discovered by Mr. Bankes, and which, in an historical point of view, is one of the most precious monuments hitherto met with among the ruins of Egypt. In the cemetery to the northward are some other stone remains, among which is one of the time of Remesis the Second, and another bearing the name of Sabaco.

The reservoir mentioned by Strabo, which was cased with stone, may be traced on the east side of the ancient town; and in the mountain, to the north-west, are some limestone quarries, and an inclined road leading to a narrow grotto, in an unfinished state, and without sculpture.

The Arabs, in searching for treasure, have heaped up piles of earth and rubbish; but there are no inhabitants[2].