Glossary - Abacus:, Afnet:, Akh:, Amarna:, Amarna Period:, Amun:, Amun-Re:, Ankh:, Anubis:, Architrave:, Aten:, Atum:, Ba:

Square, flat upper part of a column that connects the capital of the column to the architrave.

Afnet:

A cloth head covering.

Akh:

The glorified spirit of a deceased person entitled to offerings from his family members.

Amarna:

City on the east bank of the Nile midway between Thebes and Memphis built circa 1353–1336 B.C.E. Called Akhetaten, “Horizon of the Aten,” it was the capital of Egypt during the reign of Akhenaten.

Amarna Period:

The reign of Akhenaten (1353–1336 B.C.E. ) centered at the capital city of Amarna.

Amun:

God of the air, “the hidden one.”

Amun-Re:

Chief state god of the New Kingdom and later.

Ankh:

Hieroglyphic sign that means “life.”

Anubis:

God of the cemetery, represented by a jackal or a man with the head of a jackal.

Architrave:

Horizontal structural member that connects the columns and door frames to one another. Also carries roof.

Aten:

A deity represented by the disc of the sun; also the cult promoted by Akhenaten (1353–1336 B.C.E. ).

Atum:

The creator god who sat on the “first” hill and created the world. This hill is often represented in Egyptian buildings by a mound of sand or sand foundations.

Ba:

Soul of the deceased that was the manifestation of the person that could travel between the afterlife and the mummy. It took the form of a bird.

Barque:

A small ship propelled either with oars or sails.

Batter:

A receding upward slope of the outer face of a structure.

Battered walls:

Walls with a slope at the edges.

Bench marks:

Surveyor’s levels marked on the ground.

Cataracts:

The six rapids in the Nile River between Aswan and Khartoum.

Cavetto cornice:

Concave Egyptian cornice.

Chantress:

A woman responsible for the music used in the rituals at the major temples. She usually earned a salary independent of her husband or father.

Clerestory:

An outside wall of a room or building that rises above an adjoining roof and contains windows.

Coptic:

An Egyptian alphabetic script based on the Greek alphabet, with additional letters derived from Demotic signs.

Corbelled blocks:

Stones arranged so that each projects beyond the front face of the stone below, reducing the span over a room.

Cornice:

Molded projection on the top of a building façade, usually hollow in Egypt.

Cramp:

Dovetail-shaped clamp that connects two stones.

Cubits:

Egyptian unit of measurement equal to 21 inches.

Dado:

Lower part of an interior wall.

Deir el-Medina:

A New Kingdom (1539–1075 B.C.E. ) village in the hills of western Thebes occupied by workmen who decorated the royal tombs.

Delta:

The mouth of the Nile River in Lower Egypt. In antiquity, it consisted of seven major branches and was the site of several important ports and cult centers.

Demotic:

An Egyptian script developed around 650 B.C.E. that was more cursive than hieratic.

Desheret:

The Red Land; desert.

Divine Adoratrice of Amun: See God’s Wife of Amun. Divine Booth:

A shrine where a statue of a god was kept.

Dynasty:

A powerful group or family that ruled Eygpt for a period of time. Egyptian history is divided into thirty dynasties.

Electrum:

A mixture of silver and gold.

Ennead:

A grouping of nine gods.

Faiyum:

A depression or low area in north-central Egypt.

False door:

A stone or wood door that does not open. False doors were offering places. A statue of the deceased was usually placed behind the false door but would have been inaccessible.

First Intermediate Period:

The era of Egyptian history from 2130 to 1980 B.C.E. when the central government had collapsed and local governors ruled the various provinces.

God’s Wife of Amun:

Chief priestess from the New Kingdom (1539–1075 B.C.E. ) to the Late Period (664–332 B.C.E. ); later called the Divine Adoratrice of Amun.

Graffito:

(plural: graffiti ) Writing on a wall.

Graywacke:

A hard gray sandstone, composed of quartz and feldspar, that Egyptian sculptors used. In Egyptian, bekhen -stone.

Hathor:

Goddess of love and music, usually represented as a cow or a cow-headed woman.

Heb-sed:

Jubilee Festival that a king celebrates after he ruled thirty years. The festival renews the king’s powers.

Hieratic:

A cursive script closely based on hieroglyphic writing.

Hieroglyph:

A pictorial script used by ancient Egyptians from approximately 3100 B.C.E. until 395 B.C.E.

Hittites:

A people living in Anatolia. Between 1400 and 1200 B.C.E. they contested with Egypt for control of Syria.

Horus:

God of the sky in the form of a falcon, son of Osiris and Isis, nephew of Seth.

Hyksos:

“Rulers of the Foreign Lands,” probably Amorites, Semitic-speaking people who ruled Lower Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period (1630–1539 B.C.E. ).

Inclination: See Batter. Isfet:

Evil, disorder, injustice or wrongdoing. The opposite of Maat.

Isis:

The goddess associated with the king’s throne and great magician, wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. She raised Horus after Osiris’ death until he could claim the throne as legitimate king.

Ka:

Life force, part of the soul.

Karnak:

City on the east bank of the Nile River in Upper (southern) Egypt. The northern section of ancient Thebes. The site of the Great Temple of the god Amun.

Kemet:

“The Black Land,” cultivated land along the Nile River.

Khat:

A kind of cloth head covering.

Kinnarum:

A type of lyre popular in the Near East and Egypt.

Late Period:

An era of Egyptian history from 664–332 B.C.E. when Egypt was dominated by foreigners including Libyans, Kushites, Assyrians, and Persians.

Leveling Lines:

Surveyor’s levels marked on a wall.

Lintel:

Horizontal member of a door frame, connecting two jambs.

Lower Egypt:

Northern Egypt, which is lower in altitude than southern Egypt. It is also called the Delta.

Luxor:

City on the east bank of the Nile in Upper (southern) Egypt. Site of a temple constructed by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II.

Maat:

The concept of right conduct and right order approved by the gods. The opposite of Isfet.

Mastaba:

Bench-shaped tomb that was commonly constructed for the elite. The first pyramid was six mastabas piled on top of each other.

Memphis:

City in Lower (northern) Egypt, traditional political capital of Egypt since the beginning of the First Dynasty (3000–2800 B.C.E. ). In the city there is the Temple of Ptah. The pyramids of Giza and Saqqara are nearby.

Middle Kingdom:

The period of Egyptian history from 2008 to 1630 B.C.E. characterized by a strong central government at Memphis.

Migdol:

A small square tower used in fortified positions.

Naos:

An inner room in a temple where the statue of the god was located.

Nemes:

A royal kerchief worn only by the king.

Netjer:

“God”; a term used to refer to a deceased king becoming Osiris, the divine king of the dead.

Netjer Nefer:

“Good God” or “Perfect Youthful God”; a term used to describe the king as the god Amun’s junior partner.

New Kingdom:

The period of Egyptian history from 1539–1075 B.C.E. characterized by territorial expansion as far as Mesopotamia and Nubia.

Nile River:

The longest river in the world (4,160 miles long) flowing northward from Uganda, to Sudan and Egypt.

Nomarch:

A local governor of a nome.

Nome:

Administrative province.

Nubia:

Sudan and the southern portion of Egypt.

Obelisk:

Single block of tapering stone that ends in a point and represents a form of the sun god.

Ogdoad:

A grouping of eight gods in four pairs.

Old Kingdom:

The period of Egyptian history from 2675 to 2130 B.C.E. characterized by strong central government and building of massive pyramids.

Opet Festival:

An annual event at Thebes to celebrate a king’s reign.

Osiris:

King of the afterlife, father of Horus, husband of Isis, brother of Seth.

Ostracon:

(plural: ostraca ) A broken piece of pottery or limestone chip with writing or drawing on it.

Palace façade:

A paneled motif used on the front of the earliest mud brick palace but used on tombs and sarcophagi to create royal associations for the deceased.

Papyrus:

A material used by the Egyptians as a writing surface made from the pressed pith of the papyrus plant.

Pharaoh:

“The Great House”; the term used to describe the ruler of ancient Egypt from the reign of Thutmose III (1479–1425 B.C.E. ) in the Eighteenth Dynasty and onward.

Phyle:

A group of workers who serve the temple or state on a rotating basis, alternating with other phyles. Five existed in the Old Kingdom (Great Phyle, Eastern Phyle, Green Phyle, Little Phyle, and Perfection Phyle). A phyle’s name probably referred to its protective deity. The phyles served in rotation, each working for part of the year. By the New Kingdom the system had been reorganized.

Plumb bob:

A string with a weight at one end used to determine that a wall is level vertically.

Portcullis:

Large stone used to block an entryway to a tomb.

Predynastic Period:

Egyptian history before Dynasty 0.

Pronaos:

Antechamber to the inner room (naos) of a temple.

Ptah:

Creator god and maker of all things; a patron of craftsmen and sculptors.

Ptolemaic Period:

The era of Egyptian history from 332 to 30 B.C.E. when the descendants of the Macedonian general Ptolemy ruled Egypt.

Punt:

Present-day Ethiopia, Somalia, or Djibouti.

Putlog:

A beam used to support a rope used to lower heavy loads inside a shaft.

Putlog hole:

The hole in a wall used to support a putlog.

Pylon:

Tower in the shape of a cut-off pyramid, used as the entrance to a temple or tomb.

Ramesside Period:

An era during the New Kingdom (1539–1075 B.C.E. ) when eleven kings named Ramesses ruled Egypt (1292–1075 B.C.E. ).

Re:

Sun god, major royal deity beginning in the Fifth Dynasty.

Roman Period:

Period of Roman rule of Egypt beginning in 30 B.C.E. and ending in 395 C.E.

Sarcophagus:

(plural: sarcophagi ) A stone coffin.

Sed-Festival:

Jubilee festival celebrated by king after the first thirty years of a reign and at fixed periods afterwards.

Set Square:

A-shaped device for finding ninety-degree angles.

Skid poles:

A track made of parallel beams used to transport heavy materials.

Sledge:

A sled used on sand for transporting heavy loads.

Stela:

(plural: stelae ) Upright piece of stone with inscription.

Torus molding:

Semi-circular or three-quarter circular molding along the edge of a building.

Votive object:

Object used as a gift to the gods or to a deceased person.