National Geographic: Egypt - Quest for Eternity Page #3

---

Born Dorothy Eady in England

she says something called her here

from the time she was a child

she came here 50 years ago,

married an Egyptian

and had a son whom she named seti

From then on, she was known as

"Omm seti,"

which means "mother of seti."

She has devoted the last 30 years

of her life

to the study of seti I's temple

and become an expert on him and

Ramses II

Ramses tells that he came to Abydos

alone, you see

in the first year of his reign

after his father was dead

and he found that the decoration of

this temple was incomplete

In the inscription he says that

"I ordered the work of my father

to be completed

and all the works which my father

had started

and were still incomplete

I had them finished."

And then he goes on as

if he's speaking to the soul

of his father

you see, and telling him

that all that seti had wanted to do

and died before completing

and all his plans and ambitions

Ramses would complete it

And he said, "so long as

I am ruling

it will be as though you are

still on the throne."

He was a nice fellow,

and he was a very good son

When Omm seti came here for the

Egyptian Department of Antiquities

the temple was in ruins.

Its reconstruction became

her passion.

They confronted me with a pile of

fragments of inscribed stone

There were over 2,000

some were very small, some were

very big

My job was to copy the inscriptions

on them

catalogue them, and, where possible,

fit them together

The temple is vibrant with carvings

that look as fresh today

as when they were painted 3,000

years ago

lts walls tell the first known

story of resurrection

Osiris, a mythical ruler

was killed and dismembered

by his brother

His wife, the goddess Isis, found

the scattered pieces of his body

bound them together, and Osiris

arose from the dead

Their son, the falcon-headed god Horus

was to grow to manhood and avenge

his father

Anubis, jackal-headed god of embalming

was sent by the sun god to help

Osiris live eternally

The Egyptians believed

that because Osiris died

and rose again

they too could achieve immortality

Worshipping Osiris, seti assures

his place in the afterlife

Offering incense

the pharaoh worships before the

bark of the sun god, Amun-Re

Just as seti offers bread, ducks,

figs

and a pomegranate to Isis

Omm seti follows the ancient belief

Oh yes, every year at the Great Feast

and again on the birthday of the

gods Osiris and Isis

I come here with offerings of wine

bread, and incense

Oh, I love coming here

It's the place I really do feel

at home

Three days after this filming

was completed

Omm seti died

she was buried in Abydos

Egyptian city of resurrection

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes