the Osirion , the Flower of Life & the greek graffiti

At the rear of Seti I temple at Abydos is a very strange structure called the Osirion that holds a number of mysteries.
The Osirion was originally meant to be entered from the Transverse passageway leading from the back of Seti's temple, but at the moment this passageway is not open to the public, and visitors must exit Seti's temple at the rear and approach the Osirion from above at modern ground level. The first thing of note is the enormous size of the red granite  blocks used in its construction, similar to Old Kingdom mega structures, like the Valley Temple, and the Sphinx Temple at Giza. The similarities are inescapable - the stark and simple megalithic design, the lack of  inscriptions, and the fact that some of the larger stone blocks weigh up to 100 tons. This suggests that the Osirion pre-dates the temple, dated to around 1300 bc, by at least a thousand years.
Inscribed on some of these blocks and visible from the metal staircase can be seen a number of 'Flower of Life' patterns of interlocking circles, Many wild claims are made for the dating of this pattern, which can now safely be dispelled.

The Osirion at the rear of Seti I temple at Abydos. The position of the "Flower of Life" is marked	A diagram of the 'Flower of Life' pattern found on a number of the columns in the Osirion.

A closer inspection of these "Flower or Life" patterns reveals some very interesting information.

	The position of the "Flower of Life" patterns can be found  on two supporting columns.The one that is indicated below and the face of the column opposite. On these blocks at least thirteen such patterns can be made out, although some are very faded. The picture below shows three of these patterns, although only two are clearly visible. The symbol at the top is much discoloured and only apparent when the photo is viewed at high definition. The two flowers designs that abut each other are about 6 inches in diameter and can be clearly made out. They are unlike anything else that the Egyptologyists have ever seen in Egypt and therefore remain something of a mystery.
Origins A possible clue to the origin of these designs can be found in some  noticeable text that adjoins the patterns. this is Greek writing for the following letters can be clearly made out: θ = Theta Є = Epsilon λ = Lamda Closer inspection shows that the two Greeks words that can be deciphered read: "Theos Nilos", which means the "God of the Nile." Another leter close to where the arrow is pointing looks like a large F. This appears to be the Greek letter "Digamma". The Wikipedia Encyclopedia states:
	"Digamma is an archaic letter of the Greek alphabet, used primarily as aGreek numeral. Its original name is unknown, but was probably (wau). It was later called διγαμμα (digamma — double gamma because of its shape). It is attested in archaic and dialectal ancient Greek inscriptions, and is occasionally used as a symbol in later Greek mathematical texts. It is also used as the Greek numeral 6. In ancient usage, the numeral had the same form as the letter digamma." Digamma, like Upsilon, derives from the Phoenician letter Waw, and in its turn gave rise to the Roman letter F."

It is clear from the above that the inscription is ancient Greek. The first thought is that this would have been inscribed after Alexander's invasion in 332 bc and before the beginning of the Roman period in 30 bc, when the Greek Ptolemies ruled Egypt. Against this view many egyptologists say that the Digamma "disappeared when Athens adopted the Ionic alphabet in 403 bc. However it disappeared gradually and was still used in Boetia as late as 200 bc." This implies that it could already have vanished by Alexander's time.
So if the letter truly is "Digamma" it is quite possible that it was inscribed before the Ptolemaic period. On the present evidence this seems to be very unlikely but if so what other possibility might there be? We can be fairly sure that Pythagoras had a ten year stay in Egypt from around 535bc. Could this have been inscribed by the mighty sage or one of his followers?
Pythagoras
According to Porphyry (233-c.305) Pythagoras, after travelling extensively in Egypt, was eventually accepted for initiation into the temple mysteries by the priests at Diospolis. It is generally agreed that this referred to Thebes or Luxor as it is known today and that the priesthood would have been that of the temple of Amun at Karnak.
By road Thebes is a about 150 km south of Abydos and journeys between Thebes in Upper Egypt and the Delta would have passed by the Osirion site. Another possibility is the town of Diospolis Parva, which is only 47 km south of Abydos, which has a temple dedicated to the goddess Hathor. On this evidence we can be fairly sure that Pythagoras would at least have visited the temple shrine of Osiris.
We should not forget that when the Egyptologist Margaret Murray carried the intial survey and excavation work on the Abydos temple she found numerous examples of Greek text dating from the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD. Needless to say only the decipherment of the Greek text, alongside of the Flower of Life design will tell us more about the originator of these geometric designs.
2008 - Update
In January and December 2008 we had a chance to re-examine all of the Osirion graffiti and to take more detailed photos. It is clear that the Flower of Life images appear quite extensively on two columns that face in to each other. There are at least eight versions of the FLOWER OF LIFE on the column not readily visible to the public. Photos of these images will be released when they have been fully analysed. However it is now clear that all of the graffiti are close to the top of the columns, which are some 13.5 ft (4.1m) tall. To be easily drawn someone would have had to have been on a platform some 8ft from the present base floor level. This suggests that these graffiti were inscribed long after the pharonic temple had fallen into disuse and the Osirion had begun to fill up with sand. In addition the Greek text IXCX can be clearly made out close to the top of one of the columns. This would date the graffiti well into the Christian epoch perhaps as late as the fifth or sixth century CE.
The Osirion, which is located at the rear of the temple of Seti I at Abydos.

The Plan of the Osirion The flower of life pattern is arrowed. Picture of the Osirion in 1937. The squatting figure shows the height of the columns, which are over 4 metres tall. The height of the graffiti suggests that the floor level had filled with sand to a depth of around eight feet or two and a half metres. The enhanced section of Greek text reads "Theos Nilos", which translated means "The god of the Nile" or the "Nile god". Why this should appear next to the FOL will only be determined when the rest of the text can be deciphered. The writing ICXC can clearly be seen on this block above some of the FOL graffiti. This symbol is not recorded before the fifth century CE indicating the probable age of the FOL graffiti. Boat graffiti clearly visible on the inner surface of the column with the FOL symbols. Margaret Murray Survey Extract 1903 "In Coptic times the temple was used as a nunnery, and the walls are covered in many places, with inscriptions in the characteristic red paint of the Copts... some had faded away during the time the temple was used as a Christian Church and fresh inscription painted over them. The black was not so permanent as the red, and had vanished almost entirely." The FOL patterns are painted with some precision in red ocre. Flower of Life patterns on the second column. Another of the Flower of Life symbols. Note: images have been digitally enhanced to clarify details. Note the simil The Osireion and the Valley Temple: Are they contemporary structures? It has been suggested that the Osireion and the Valley temple at Ghiza are contemporary structures. There are several factors which indicate that this may be the case, which would make the Osireion a 4th dynasty structure The two buildings are similar in design and appearance.    Both structures are made from large, unadorned lintelled pillars. Two rows with five pillars in each, run along the central chamber. Both structures were covered over, and both were associated with the Nile. The Osireion is associated with Osiris, and the Valley temple to Isis, his consort and sister. The Ghiza pyramids are cardinally orientated (equinoxially), while the great temples in the south of Egypt such as Karnack, Denderra and The Temple of Seti (Osireion), are orientated to the solstices. Both Abydoss (Near the Osireion) and Saqqara (Near Giza) served as Royal Graveyards for the Early Dynastic Pharaohs. Both Ghiza and the Osireion show the same techniques of masonry suggesting a contemporary construction.   The same 'manouvering protruberances' were left on the otherwise finished blocks.