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Ancient Egypt
Mr. B - Ancient Egypt
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| cataract | A large waterfall, series of rapids, or strong flood or rush of water; there are 6 cataracts on the Upper Nile |
| delta | A triangular-shaped plain at the mouth pf a river formed when sediment is deposited by flowing water (ex: Nile Delta, Ganges Delta, Mississippi Delta) |
| Nile River | Longest river in the world (4,258 miles) flowing north from the mountains of central Africa to the Mediterranean Sea |
| Herodotus | Famous ancient Greek author and historian who traveled and wrote about the ancient world. |
| silt | Rich, fertile soil deposited by the flooding of the Nile river |
| Lower Nubia | An ancient region in Northern Africa extending from the Nile Valley in Egypt to present-day Sudan, between the 1st and 2nd cataracts. |
| Upper Nubia | An ancient region between the 2nd and 6th cataracts of the Nile |
| Upper Egypt | An area of ancient Egypt between 30 degrees North latitude and the 1st cataract |
| Lower Egypt | The area of the northern Nile Valley located in Ancient Egypt above 30 Degrees North and extending to the Nile Delta |
| Kemet | Egyptian term meaning "the Black Land". |
| Aswan Dam | Hydro-electric dam completed in 1971, located at the 1st cataract .Created Lake Nassar. |
| Red Sea | Body of salt water located east, between Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula |
| pharaoh | An all-powerful king and religious leader. Considered a living god. |
| dynasty | A series of rulers from the same family |
| regent | Powerful adviser who helps a young pharaoh rule until he comes of age. |
| Hathshepsut | Powerful female pharaoh known for expanding trade |
| Menes | Old Kingdom pharaoh; founder of the first Egyptian dynasty; he unified Upper and Lower Egypt; founded the capital city of Memphis. |
| Thutmose III | One of the greatest pharaohs of the New Kingdom period. A powerful military leader; stepson of Hathshepsut. |
| Ramses II | Considered the greatest pharaoh of the New Kingdom. A strong military leader who defeated the Hittites at the battle of Kadesh. Constructed massive building projects such as the Temple of Abu Simbel. |
| mummy | The embalmed, preserved remains of a long-dead person or animal |
| pyramid | Towering triangular shaped structure with a square base, made from massive stone blocks. |
| Great Pyramid | Largest of the pyramids at Giza; built by Pharaoh Cheops (Khufu). One of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. Tallest structure in the ancient world. |
| Giza Plateau | Elevated area located just southwest from Cairo. Site of the 3 great pyramids and the Sphinx |
| Sphinx | Mysterious stone structure with the head of a man and the body of a lion; located next to the pyramids at Giza |
| hieroglyph | pictograph symbol language of the Egyptians |
| afterlife | place where one goes after death |
| astronomer | one who studies the movement of the stars and planets |
| Jean Francois Champollion | French scholar who deciphered the Rosetta Stone code |
| Rosetta Stone | Stone slab, discovered in 1799 near Rosetta, with matching inscriptions in Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphics, that led to the deciphering of the ancient Egyptian symbols. |
| artisan | a craftsman such as a metal worker, potter, artist, sculptor, etc. |
| Memphis | Capital city of Egypt's Old Kingdom |
| Luxor | New Kingdom city along the Upper Nile. Site of great temples and shrines built by Ramses and other pharaohs. |
| Karnak | Temple site near Luxor. One of the best preserved religious sites of ancient Egypt. |
| Thebes | Capital of Ancient Egypt |
| Saqqara | Site of Pharaoh Djoser's revolutionary step pyramid, consisting of 6 mastabas stacked atop each other. |
| Abu Simbel | Stunning temple built by Ramses the Great out of solid rock. Moved from its original site in the 1960's so it would not be flooded by the construction of the Aswan HIgh Dam. |
| King Tutankhamun (Tut) | Boy pharaoh whose untouched tomb full of riches was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings. |
| Akhenaton | New Kingdom pharaoh whose name means "Servant of Aten". He was very unpopular because he forced Egyptians to abandon their old gods and worship only one god, Aten, the sun. His original name was Amenhotep. |
| Libya | North African country located to the west of Egypt |
| Kerma | An ancient Nubian market town |
| Napata | One of the three most powerful Nubian kingdoms located between the Nile's 3rd and 4th cataracts. |
| Meroe | A city of ancient Nubia, located in present-day Sudan. |
| Khartoum | Important trading center located at the confluence of the White Nile and Blue Nile. Present-day capital of Sudan. |
| Deir el-Bahri | Temple complex built by Queen Hatshepsut |
| El Amarna | New capital city founded by Ahkenaten to worship the new god, Aten |
| Old KIngdom | The earliest period of Egyptian dynasties. (2575 - 2134B.C.E.) The pyramids of Saqqara and Giza were built during this period. |
| Middle Kingdom | Period of dynasties from 2040 - 1640B.C.E. |
| New Kingdom | Dynastic period which included pharaohs Thutmose, Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, and Tutankhamun (1550 - 1070B.C.E.) |
| Suez Canal | Key waterway built by the French and British in 1869 that crosses the Isthmus of Suez, connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. |
| Dr. Zahi Hawass | Egyptian archaeologist; head of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. Has often appeared on History Channel |
| Howard Carter | British archaeologist who discovered King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, the richest archaeological find in history. |
| Lorn Carnarvon | British aristocrat who financially sponsored Howard Carter's excavations in the Valley of the Kings |
| Valley of the Kings | A remote and barren located west of the Nile, opposite the religious sites of Karrnak and Luxor, and the ancient capital, Thebes where most of Egypt's pharaohs and queens were buried. Site where King Tut's tomb was discovered. |
| Canopic Jars | Alabaster jars found in ancient Egyptian tombs to store the organs the dead for the afterlife |
| Wedjat Eye | sacred symbol representing the eye of Horus, god of the sky |
| scarab beetle | a species of beetle, considered sacred, depicted in Egyptian art. Represents death and rebirth. |
| papyrus | a reed plant that grows along the Nile, used by the Egyptians to make paper |
| embalming | Preparing (a dead body) for burial by removing the organs, and to preserve it by using salts, chemicals, drugs, or balsams. |
| alabaster | white, translucent mineral, used for ornamental objects such as canopic jars |
| limestone | a sedimentary rock used as a building stone in the construction of the pyramids and other Egyptian monuments |
| mummification | the process of drying and embalming to preserve the body of a dead person or animal |
| stela | a carved stone pillar comemmerating an event |
| obelisk | a tapering, four-sided monument, usually made from a single solid block of stone and having a pyramidal apex. |
| famine | widespread starvation usually caused by crop failure or natural disaster |
| Khafre (Chephren) | Pharaoh (son of Khufu) who built the center, 2nd largest pyramid at Giza |
| Menkare | Pharaoh (son of Khafre) who built the smallest of the 3 pyramids at Giza |
| The Louvre | famous fine arts and history museum in Paris, France featuring the Rosetta Stone a a large collection of Egyptian antiquities |
| The British Museum | famous fine arts and history museum in London, UK featuring a large collection of antiquities from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome. |
| Metropolitan Museum | famous fine arts and history museum in New York City |
| Ra or Amun-re | Egyptian sun god;the creator worshiped throughout Egypt (typically represented as a hawk-headed man bearing on his head the solar disk |
| Osiris | Lord of the Underworld (land of the dead) |
| Horus | Egyptian god regarded as either the son or the brother of Isis and Osiris, and usually represented as a falcon or as a man with the head of a falcon. |
| Thoth | tgod of wisdom, learning, and magic represented as a man with the head either of an ibis (bird with a long thin beak) or of a baboon. |
| Isis | Goddess of fertility, the sister and wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, and usually represented as a woman with a cow's horns with the solar disk between them |
| Anubis | Egyptian god of tombs who weighed the hearts of the dead; represented as having the head of a jackal. |
| mastaba | an ancient Egyptian tomb made of mud brick, rectangular in plan with sloping sides and a flat roof. |
| cartouche | an oval shape containing the hieroglyphic symbols depicting the name of the pharaoh or important person. |
| Book of the Dead | Bound papyrus sheets with magic texts and symbols that were buried with the dead to help them pass through the dangers of the underworld. |
| amulet | a small object worn on a necklace to ward off evil, harm, or illness or to bring good fortune; protecting charm. |
| ankh | a cross with a loop at the top, used as a symbol of generation or enduring life in Egyptian culture. |
| lapis lazuli | a deep-blue mineral used mainly as a gem or as a pigment. Similar to turquoise. |
| motif | a design or style that is repeated often |
| relief sculpture | the area around an image is carved out leaving a raised image |
| excavation | a systematic digging of a site |
| archaeology | the scientific study of historic or prehistoric peoples and their cultures by analysis of their artifacts, inscriptions, monuments, and other such remains, especially those that have been excavated. |
| Senet | a board game played by Egyptians |
| shaduf | a pole with a bucket and counter-weight used to move water from the river or canals to irrigation ditches |
| shabti | a small model or figure of a servant to help the dead in the afterlife |
| crook | a stick with a curved top or hook carried by a god or pharaoh to symbolize power and kingship, and pharaoh as caretaker or shepherd of his people |
| flail | small whip carried by a pharaoh to symbolize his authority to punish |
| sarcophagus | a stone outer coffin, carved with hieroglyphics, with the more elaborate coffins inside |
| Alexandria | City located at the mouth of the Nile Delta, built and named by Alexander the Great. Known as the greatest center of learning in the ancient world. |
| Ptolemy (Ptolemaic dynasty) | Pharaoh who started the Ptolemaic dynasty (Greco-Roman period). Ptolemy I was a Greek general who was named pharaoh by Alexander the Great to rule Egypt as part of his empire. |
| Khufu (Cheops) | Old Kingdom Pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid of Giza |
| Egyptologist | An archaeologist who specializes in the how the Ancient Egyptians lived by studying their artifacts |
| White Nile | The main channel of the Nile flowing north from its source in Lake Victoria in highlands of central Africa. |
| Blue Nile | Tributary of the Nile that joins main channel of the Nile at the city of Khartoum in Sudan (Nubia) |
| Khafre (aka; Chephre) | Pharaoh, son of Khufu (Cheops), who built the second largest pyramid at Giza |
| limestone | A sedimentary rock excavated from quarries into large blocks to build the pyramids, temples and cities of Egypt. |
| Bastet | Egyptian goddess with the head of a cat. Goddess of cats, protection, joy, dance, music, family |
| Djoser | Old Kingdom pharaoh who built the step pyramid at Saqqara |
| The Red Land | The barren, dry land that lay beyond the fertile Nile River valley and the Nile Delta |
| The Black Land | The fertile land of rich soil in the Nile river Valley and Delta that the Egyptians called Kemet. |
| oasis | A fertile patch in the desert with its own fresh water supply |
| natron | A natural salt from the desert that the Egyptian priests used in mummification |
| vizier | Chief adviser to the pharaoh |
| turquoise | A blue-green precious stone imported from mines in the Sinai Peninsula |
| papyrus | A reed that grows in abundance along the marshy banks of the Nile that was used by the Egyptians to make the first paper. Also used in bundles to make boats and as roofs on homes. |
| flax | A plant from which thread can be made and woven into linen, a lightweight fabric. |
| Exodus | The escape and migration of the Jews, who had been slaves, out of Egypt led by Moses. |
| Giza PLateau | Area of flat, elevated land west of the city of Cairo, where the 3 great pyramids and the Sphinx are located |
| confluence | The location where two or more rivers join |
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bottleguy
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