Nabaw. Gold, which was mined in Nubia and in the eastern desert. Silver was only found in the eastern desert mines. The symbol is for silver which was imported from Asia.
Natron. The ‘Divine Salt’ was used to desiccate bodies during the embalming process. This naturally occurring compound comes mainly from the Wadi Natron, an area to the north-west of Cairo.
Neber-per. Ancient Egyptian for The House of a Lady.
Nefer and Nefer-Nefer. Ancient Egyptian for ‘good’ and ‘very good’. The hieroglyph is for ‘good’
Nemes head cloth. Rectangular dyed linen head dress of Pharaohs. Typically, seen on the Great Sphinx at Giza and the golden mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamen.
Nile. Egyptian River. From the Greek Neilos, Great River. Ancient Egyptian Iteru. Literally, The Great River.
Nome. Greek for an administrative district in Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian Sepat.
Ntr. Ancient Egyptian for ‘god’.
Ntrt. Ancient Egyptian for ‘goddess’.
Nubia. An area south of Egypt in what is now Sudan. Ancient Egyptian Wawat. Within Nubia there developed a number of kingdoms and Nubia was a trade route through which Egypt gained access to exotic goods, such as ivory, hardwoods, ebony and incense, from the lands to its south. The Kingdom of Kerma in northern Nubia had been crushed by Pharaoh Tuthmosis I, who built a new capital at Napata. Thereafter, Egyptian control over Nubian gold mines produced prodigious wealth, much of which underpinned Ramesses II’s building programme. The kingdom of Kush established in Nubia developed sufficient power to allow its kings to overthrow the Egyptians in the 8th Dynasty and their kings ruled Egypt for almost 100 years. During the New Kingdom period (1532BC to 1070BC) Egypt built fortresses and temples below the Second Cataract throughout northern Nubia to enforce their rule. Ramesses II built temples at Beit el-Wali, Gerf Hussein, Amada, el-Sebu’a, el-Derr, Aksha, Amara West, Tumbos, el-Lessiya and the massive temple at Abu Simbel.
Osiris. One of the most important Egyptian deities. The principal god of the underworld, the judge of the soul and the ruler of the Afterlife.
Panehsy. Personal name. Alternatively Pinhasi.
Per. Ancient Egyptian for house.
Per aa. Ancient Egyptian for ‘The Great House’ or palace. Also used to designate king or pharaoh. It is from this word we derive ‘pharaoh’ via Hebrew.
Peret. Ancient Egyptian for Winter – the fallow season leading to the period of planting and sowing and, hence, new growth.
Pijeti. An Ancient Egyptian word for barbarian – literally, bowman. Used widely for people who were non-Egyptians, who regarded all others as being without culture and civilisation. The term ‘Asiatic’ was used to describe the peoples from the north and east of the Kingdom.The symbol is for a captive Asian.
Priesthood. The priesthood evolved its own hierarchy. The High Priest (First Prophet of Amun) held the highest and most powerful rank. Beneath him came the Second, Third and Fourth Prophets of the Gods and then the ordinary priests who undertook a wide range of functions within the temples.Given the multiplicity of deities and temples the religious structure of Ancient Egypt is a complex subject. The first symbol is for the priesthood, the second is for a priest.
Pylon. A major Ancient Egyptian architectural element. Constructed of stone, they were monumental gateways to temples. Formed by two flat faced towers with a passageway between the two, usually closed off with a double winged wooden door. The flat walls were used for inscriptions and as a background for colossal statues, flagpoles and obelisks.
Pyramid. Monumental structure usually built as a tomb. Ancient Egyptian Mr.
Qadesh. City in historic Canaan on the Orontes River. Alternatively Kadesh. The ruins, at Tell Nebi Mends, are located about 24 kilometres from the modern city of Homs in Syria.
Ramesseum. Mortuary/funerary temple of Ramesses II in Western Thebes. Named Rhamesseion by Jean-Francois Champollion in 1829. Ancient Egyptian Khnemt-waset.
Red Crown. Symbolised Lower Egypt
Royal insignia. Pharaohs carried the flail in the left hand, a whip in the right, wore an artificial beard and sometimes carried a crook or Heka sceptre in his right hand. These items were manifestations of pharaonic power and the right to rule.
Royal names. From the Old Kingdom onwards, all kings had formal names. The full regal title was usually enclosed within a cartouche. The name was composed of a Horus name, a Nebty name (a link between Nekhbet, the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt and Edjo, the cobra goddess of Lower Egypt), the Golden Horus name, the Praenomen (a religious name adopted upon a king’s ascension and always preceded by neswe-bit, meaning ‘he who belongs to the sedge and the bee’ – sedge, represented Upper Egypt, the bee, Lower Egypt), and finally, the Nomen – the king’s name before he was crowned.
Sais. Town. Modern Egyptian town of Sa el-Hagar. Ancient Egyptian Zau. Garrison town in the western Delta.
Scribe. Scribes, by virtue of their ability to read and write, held the highest professional ranks in the bureaucracy – spiritual, military and secular. Scribes managed every aspect of Egypt’s administration. They were the keepers of ‘The God’s Words’- hieroglyphics.
Sea of Reeds. From the Hebrew Yam Suph. There is much conjecture about thetranslation of this expression. It may refer to the Red Sea or, alternatively, to a lost lake somewhere on the eastern side of the Kingdom of Egypt. In this book, it is meant to be the Red Sea.
Sea-Peoples. Despite extensive research there is no definitive identification of the people who attacked Egypt during the late New Kingdom era. Ramesses II beat off an attack in the 2nd year of his reign, recording on an obelisk ‘the unruly Sherden whom no one had ever known how to combat, they came boldly sailing in their warships from the midst of the sea, none being able to withstand them’. His son, Merenptah, successfully crushed a second attempted invasion and Ramesses III defeated two well mounted invasions during his reign. The Sea Peoples were identified, at the time, as Pekest, Tjeker, Skekelesh, Denyen and Weshen people. Evidence suggests they could have been Trojans, Philistines, Lydians, Mycenaens, Anatolians or bands of mixed origin who turned their hand to piracy and invasion. That they posed a significant threat to Ancient Egypt is beyond dispute and ample written evidence testifies to the efforts the New Kingdom pharaohs took to thwart their ambitions.
Sem priest. For want of a better description the Sem priest was second in rank after the High Priest at the Temple of Ptah at Memphis. It was often a title given to the king’s eldest son who could deputise for him at religious festivals. The Sem priest wore a leopard skin as part of his apparel. Prince Khaemwaset became Sem Priest in Memphis in year 16 of his father’s reign and High Priest in year 45. Khaemwaset was the heir apparent from years 50 until his death in year 55.The formal title of a Sem priest was ‘Greatest Director of the Craftsmen’ as Ptah was the patron god of craftsmen. As written in hieroglyphics wr-xrp-Hmwt. Also Setem priest
Semit. Ancient Egyptian word, one of many, for cemetery or burial ground.The symbol is for tomb.
Seti. Name of two New Kingdom pharaohs. Alternately, Sethos.
Shemu. Ancient Egyptian for summer. The Egyptians had three seasons in their year – the inundation, the season of growth and renewal and the fallow period before the inundation.
Shen/Shenew Ancient Egyptian word for ‘cartouche’. Literally an endless circle of rope in which the name of (usually) a ruler was engraved. ‘Cartouche’ is a French word.
Sirius. Star. Ancient Egyptian Sepdet, ‘Sophet’ and Sothis. Its arrival in the early morning sky heralded the beginning of the annual flooding of the Nile.
Sistrum. A muscal instrument associated with temple services. In the form of a handle with metal devices that, when hit or shaken, rattle.
Stone. Egypt is richly endowed with both soft and hard rock as well as semi precious stones.The principal construction materials, limestone and sandstone,occur throughout Egypt. Granite and granodiorite was quarried at Aswan. Alabaster, and calcite were mined at Hatnub, a site some
200 kilometres south of Cairo. Basalt came from Gebel-Qatrani, near the Faiyum. Turquoise, azurite and green malachite came from the Wadi al Megara in the Sinai, diorite and gneiss from Gebel el-Asir, greywacke (bekhen) from quarries in the Wadi Hammamat, gypsum from Umm el-Sawan north-west of Cairo, emeralds from Mt. Zabara near Bernice, marble from Gebel Rokham and aquamarine was found along the Red Sea coastline. Lead, galena, beryl, tin, amethyst, alum, dolerite, pottery clay, felspar and even limited amounts of iron ore were also mined in areas between the Nile and the Red Sea. The image is of limestone.
Tawosret. Name of Egyptian queen. Alternatively Tausert.
The Delta. A geographic area from Cairo north to the Mediterranean Sea bounded on the west by the modern city of Alexandria and on the east by the Suez Canal. The Delta was always a rich agricultural area as this was where the Nile disgorged considerable quantities of fertile silt during the annual inundation. North of Cairo, the Nile splits into the Rosetta and Damietta branches with many smaller rivers flowing through the entire region which was both economically and militaristically important to the kingdom. The Delta was the site of many ancient towns, most now lost under centuries of silt and sand. Unhappily, there has been a considerable amount of re-use of monumental stone since the fall of Ancient Egypt though remains of statues and monumental ruins litter the region.
Thebes. Greek name for the nome and city, both called, in Ancient Egyptian, Waset. Also Niwt-imn or the City of Amun or Niwt-rst – The Southern City. Cult centre of the gods Amun, Mut and Khonsu. Grew in influence under the early New Kingdom pharaohs. Today, it generally encompasses the great temple complexes at Karnak, Luxor, The Valleys of the Kings and Queens, the mortuary temples on the western bank of the Nile and surrounding religious sites.
Time. The 365 day year was used by the Egyptians. The year was divided into twelve months of thirty days each and three seasons of four months.The extra five days were added each year and were considered festival days to celebrate the birthdays of the dieties Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis and Nephthys. The hieroglyph is for ‘year’.
Tuthmosis. Name of pharaohs. Alternatively, Thuthmosis, Thutmes, Thutmose, Tuthmose, Thotmes, and even Tahutimes, which may be the closest to the Egyptian pronunciation. Originally Djehutimes. All modern versions are written with the benefit of introduced vowels.
Unit of linear measurement. The prime unit of length was known as the Royal Cubit maintained as 523.5mm (20.61 inches), and was subdivided into 7 palms of 4 digits each, giving 28 digits.
1 finger, db = 18¾ mm
1 palm, šsp = 4 db = 75 mm
1 hand, drt = 5 db = 93¾ mm
1 fist, amm = 6 db = 112½ mm
1 span, spd = 12 db = 225 mm
1 foot, bw = 16 db = 300 mm
1 remen, (one remen = 5 palms) rmn = 20 db = 375 mm
1 ordinary cubit, mh = 6 šsp = 450 mm
1 royal cubit, mh = 7 šsp = 525 mm
1 nibw = 8 šsp = 600 mm
1 double remen = 2 rmn = 750 mm
1 rod, h3yt = 10 mh (royal) = 5.25 m
1 ht, ht n nhw = 10 h3yt = 52.5 m
1 minute of march = 350 mh (royal) = 183.75 m
1 hour of march, atur, itrw = 21,000 mh (royal) ≈ 11 km
For longer distances, the Ancient Egyptians used a minute of march of 350 royal cubits and an atur (hour of march) or itrw (river journey) of 21,000 royal cubits.
Units of Weight. A considerable amount of trade was based on barter and the Ancient Egyptians developed standard weights for commercial products. The main unit during the New Kingdom dynasties was the deben which is equal to 91 grammes of copper. A qedety is 1/10th of a deben and sahty is 1/6th of a deben of copper. The hin was also used as a hollow measure for commodities such as cereal grains. One hin was about 0.48 litres.
Uraeus. Term for the cobra symbol that rears up on the headdress of pharaohs or gods
Ushabtis/Shabti. Models of servants placed within tombs. For the non-royal, the ushabtis were awoken after death to undertake the labour that was expected in the Second Life in the Field of Reeds. For a king, ushabtis would continue to serve him as he was served in life. Tombs could have hundreds of these figurines complete with their tools of trade.
Valley of the Kings. Burial place of New Dynasty pharaohs in the Theban Hills. Ancient Egyptian Ta Set Aan (The Great Place) or Ta-Sekhet-ma’at (The Great Field).
Valley of the Queens. Burial place of New Dynasty queens and royal children in the Theban Hills. Ancient Egyptian, Ta-Set- Neferu, literally, The Place of the Children of the Pharaoh.
Vizier. A Greek word for the highest civilian official in Ancient Egypt after the pharaoh. The vizier headed the royal administrative functions. Ancient Egyptian Tjaty. The symbol is for chamberlain – a near equivalent.
Wab. Ancient Egyptian word for an ordinary priest. The most common phrase was Hem-netjer literally, The Servant of the God.
Weapons. Soldiers were armed with a variety of weapons including the mace, dagger, bows, throwing stick, sword, spear and battle axe. Bronze, copper and iron were used to forge stabbing and cutting weapons.The Egyptians skills in employing the chariot on the battlefield were well documented.
Wedjat. The eye of the god, Horus. Used as a good luck symbol which was worn as an amulet to ward off evil. It also means sound, to be whole and prosperous.
White Crown. Symbolised Upper Egypt.
Conversion factors – Metric System to Imperial or US Customary System
1 kilometre
= 0.621 miles
1 millimetre
= 0.0254 inch
1 metre
= 39.37 inches
1 tonne
= 1000 kilograms = 2240 pounds = 1 ton
1 kilogram
= 2.205 pounds
1 gram
= 0.035 ounces
1 litre
= 33.814 fluid ounces
1 cubic metre
= 1.308 cubic yards
I hectare
= 2.471 acres
Ramesses II. His cartouche shows both his official and personal names. In the left cartouche the names read King of Upper and Lower Egypt (user-Maet-Re, Setep-en Re). On the right it reads Son of Re (Ramesses Mi-Amen)
APPENDIX 1 – Genealogy Tables -New Kingdom Royalty
Notes
M- Mummy C- Coffin
1
mummy in coffin of Pinudjem I
2
wooden box with mummified liver or spleen in KV20
3
mummy in coffin of Neskhons
4
3 mummies only
5
mummy in coffin of Rai
6
coffin also held mummy of Ramesse III
7
mummy in coffin of Paheripedjet
8
mummy in coffin of Pediamum
9
mummy lost after 1881
10
mummy & coffin also held mummy of Ramesses IX
11
eight coffins & mummies
12
parts of mummy
Appendix 2 -Tombs in the Valley of the Kings
The Golden Falcon Page 65