| amulet |
small token, for example a hieroglyphic symbol or figurine of a god, that
is believed to provide magical protection or another kind of benefit to its wearer |
| Amun |
god of Thebes, "the hidden one," shown in human form with a tall
crown of feathers. Sacred animals are the ram and the goose |
| Amun-Re |
from the Middle Kingdom onward this fusion of Amun and Re is the
preeminent deity, combining in a single entity all the characteristics of the creator and
sustainer of the world |
| ankh |
hieroglyphic sign meaning "life" and "to live"
|
| Anubis |
god of embalming, protector of the deceased, guardian of the cemetery
|
| Atef |
crown resembles the crown of Upper Egypt with an ostrich plume on each
side and horizontal ram's horns underneath; worn by Osiris, to symbolize his triumph over
death, and by the king in certain rituals
|
| Aten |
solar disk: under Akhenaten worshiped as the medium through which the
divine power of light comes into the world |
| Atum |
"the undifferentiated one": according to myth, the primeval
being and creator of the world; also god of the setting sun |
| ba |
the spiritual part of a deceased person that has the ability to act and
move about. The ba of a god can be translated as that god's efficacy.
In art the ba of a deceased person appears as a human-headed bird. |
| bas relief |
low relief in which the images are raised from the background, which has
been cut away |
| Bastet |
goddess of the city of Bubastis in the delta, depicted as a cat or as a
human with a cat's head; often understood as the benign counterpart of Sakhmet |
| Bes |
protective dwarf deity with a monstrous face and a lion's ruff; a
household god who averts evil, especially at times of childbirth, and is in charge of
sexual life |
| blue crown |
the khepresh, a helmet-shaped crown
frequently worn by kings from the New Kingdom on, usually colored blue |
| canopic jars |
funerary jars containing organs removed from the mummy; these were made in
sets of four to contain the lungs, stomach, liver, and intestines |
| cartonnage |
a material made of layers of gummed linen or papyrus and plaster; a medium
for mummy masks and coffins |
| cartouche |
oval frame (meant to indicate a tied rope) in which the birth and throne
names of the king are written |
| crook and flail |
from the early Old Kingdom onward, part of the king's paraphernalia also
held by Osiris. Originally the crook probably derived from a shepherd's stick; as a
hieroglyph it signified the word "ruler." The flail resembles a fly whisk. |
| cult symbol |
symbol of a deity, often itself an object of veneration
|
| cursive |
a style of writing in which successive characters are joined and angles
are rounded |
| demotic |
a cursive form of hieroglyphic writing developed in the seventh century B.C., written from right to left
|
| double crown |
the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt worn together |
| dynasty |
a series of rulers descending within a family; following the Ptolemaic
historian Manetho, ancient Egyptian history is divided into thirty dynasties |
| faience |
a powdered quartz paste, which is modeled or molded and fired; it is
either self-glazed or made with applied glaze |
| false door |
a panel in the form of a niched doorway through which the deceased could
receive offerings |
| gesso |
a mixture of whiting and glue often used to prepare a surface for painting |
| Harakhty |
"Horus of the horizon," the god of the rising sun, depicted as a
falcon or a falcon-headed human crowned by a sun disk
|
| Hathor |
a goddess sometimes depicted as a cow or with cow's horns and ears;
associated with joy, music, and love
|
| Heh |
god of millions of years, of eternity
|
| hieratic |
handwritten counterpart to the hieroglyphic script, developed in the Old
Kingdom mainly for writing on papyrus; written from right to left
|
| hieroglyph |
a Greek word meaning "sacred symbol." In Egypt, one of
some seven hundred signs used in writing (considerably more if one counts signs used
exclusively in the Old Kingdom and the periods after the New Kingdom).
"Hieroglyphs" refers to the signs themselves; "hieroglyphic script" is
Egyptian writing. (Calling the signs "hieroglyphics" is incorrect.)
|
| Horus |
ancient sky god in the form of a falcon, embodiment of the divine powers
of the living king; son of Osiris and Isis
|
| ideogram |
(sense sign) a hieroglyph signifying the actual object depicted or a
closely connected notion
|
| Isis |
wife of Osiris, mother of Horus, the divine magician because of her
extraordinary powers, divine mourner of the dead; her name is written with the
hieroglyphic sign for "throne," which she wears on her headdress
|
| ka |
life force; the hieroglyphic sign is a pair of extended arms
|
| Maat |
right order and justice established by the gods, personified by the
goddess Maat, who wears an ostrich feather on her head or is represented by the ostrich
feather itself
|
| magic rod |
a squared or rectangular object carved with symbols, such as felines,
crocodiles, protective wedjat eyes, and baboons tending
lamps, that Egyptians may have believed helped the sun reappear each day from the chaos of
night. These rods were placed in tombs to guarantee a similar rebirth to the deceased.
|
| mastaba |
a type of Egyptian tomb having a rectangular superstructure with exterior
walls slightly slanting inward as they rise; contains chapels, chambers, and a shaft
leading to an underground burial chamber |
| mortuary temple |
a temple erected and endowed by a king where he could receive offerings in
perpetuity after his death
|
| Mut |
"mother": worshiped as the consort of Amun; shown as a vulture
or as a woman wearing the double crown
|
| myrrh |
a fragrant aromatic plant gum used in making perfume, unguents, and
incense
|
| natron |
a natural salt used in mummification
|
| necropolis |
from the Greek meaning "city of the dead,"
especially the large cemetery of an ancient city
|
| Neith |
"the terrifying one": protector of the king and one of four
goddesses who guard the coffin and the canopic box
|
| nemes |
a royal headdress, probably of striped linen or perhaps leather, with
lappets falling forward over each shoulder and with the fabric gathered and tied in back
|
| Nephthys |
sister of Isis, protector of coffins and canopic jars
|
| Nut |
the winged sky goddess; as a woman arching over the earth she is the
personification of the vault of the heavens
|
| Osiris |
according to myth, Egypt's first king; created by the gods, Osiris
suffered a violent death, was made whole again magically by Isis, and became the ruler of
the dead
|
| ostracon |
a limestone or pottery flake used to sketch, practice writing, or make
notes
|
| papyrus |
the writing surface of Egyptian scribes, made from the pith of papyrus
stalks separated into strips that were flattened and placed side by side, slightly overlapping. On top of this layer, another layer of strips was placed at right angles to the
first. The surface was then repeatedly pounded to make it smooth. The plant juices
released in the pounding caused the strips to adhere to each other permanently without the
aid of glue. In art, images of papyrus plants symbolized the world, which arose from the
primeval waters at the time of creation. The plant was also the heraldic symbol of Lower
Egypt.
|
| Ptah Sokar |
creator god and patron of craftsmen: shown as a human without any
indication of limbs
|
| Re |
meaning simply "sun," the most important name of the sun god,
who was later combined with many other gods; the creator and sustainer of the world, who
travels in a bark through the sky by day and through the underworld by night
|
| Re-Harakhty |
falcon-headed god, fusion of Re and Harakhty
|
| red crown |
red headdress, cylindrical in shape with a high back extension,
symbolizing the sovereignty of the king over Lower Egypt
|
| Sakhmet |
ambivalent goddess of war, disease, and chaos, who could also cause such
calamities to cease and, in her role as the sun's destructive eye, could repel hostile
powers threatening Egypt; usually shown with a lioness's head and a lion's mane
|
| sarcophagus |
a coffin made of stone
|
| Selket |
goddess--shown in human form with a scorpion on her head--who, with
Isis, protected Horus during his childhood and was one of the four goddesses who guard the
coffin and canopic box
|
| serdab |
an Arabic word for the statue chamber of a tomb
|
| Seth |
violent deity, murderer of his brother Osiris (who had been divinely
installed to maintain order); shown in human form with the head of a strange doglike
creature; associated with the desert, where the ordered world ends; nonetheless, Seth uses
his powers to help protect the sun god during his nightly journey through the underworld
|
| sistrum |
a sacred rattle consisting either of a metal hoop with crossbars to which
metal disks are attached or of a rectangular centerpiece in the shape of a small temple
gate with two metal bands at each side
|
| sledge |
a platform on flat runners used to transport loads
|
| sons of Horus |
protectors of the internal organs removed during mummification.
Human-headed Imsety protects the liver; baboon-headed Hapy, the lungs; jackal-headed
Duamutef, the stomach; and hawk-headed Qebehsenuef, the intestines.
|
| stela (pl. stelae) |
an upright slab of stone carved and inscribed with religious or historical
texts and representations
|
| sunk relief |
relief in which the forms are set back from the flat stone surface
|
| Taweret |
hippopotamus goddess of childbirth
|
| Tefnut |
goddess of moisture, who, with Shu, god of light and air, was the first
divine couple created by Atum
|
| temple precinct |
the enclosed area around a temple
|
| Thoth |
god of writing, scribes, and the moon; depicted as an ibis-headed human or
as a baboon
|
| throne name |
the designation "king of Upper and Lower Egypt"; one of the two
most important names of the king, the other being his birth name, which identified him as
the "son of Re"
|
| underworld |
the dangerous world through which a boat carrying the sun god and his
companions, including the deceased, must travel every night
|
| uraeus |
the mythical fire-spitting cobra, a protector of kings and gods, worn on
the front of the headdress, depicted rearing up with dilated hood
|
| wadi |
valley or stream bed that is dry except perhaps in the rainy season
|
| wedjat eye |
an eye with stylized falcon markings, meaning "that which is made
whole," the symbol of the left eye of Horus, torn out by Seth in their battle over
who should rule Egypt. The eye, which was restored by the god Thoth, is a symbol of
revitalization after death. Each part of the Horus eye represented a mathematical fraction
in writing. Altogether the fractions add up to one, or the whole.
|
| white crown |
tall tapering crown with a bulbous terminus, the crown of Upper Egypt |
