by Paul Sussman
Lepsius, Karl Richard (1810–84). German Egyptologist. Director of Berlin Museum. Published a seminal twelve-volume study of the monuments of Egypt.
Linear A As yet undeciphered script used in ancient Crete.
Lydia Ancient Near Eastern kingdom. In modern Turkey.
Machimos Warrior.
Malqata Site of former palace of Amenhotep III on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor.
Mariette, Auguste Ferdinand (1821–81). French Egyptologist. Founder of Egyptian Department of Antiquities and National Museum.
Mastaba Oblong tomb, made of stone or mud bricks. From the Arabic word for bench.
Medinet Habu Village on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, and site of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III.
Memphis Capital of the Old Kingdom, an important administrative centre throughout ancient Egyptian history.
Midan Tahrir The hub of modern Cairo. The name means 'Liberation Square'.
Mihrab Niche in a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca.
Minoan Ancient Bronze Age culture based on island of Crete.
Mizmar Musical wind instrument, akin to the oboe.
Molochia An Egyptian dish made from stewed mallow leaves. Rather like spinach.
Mortuary temple Temple where prayers were recited and sacrifices offered for the well-being of the deceased, usually a king.
Moulid Popular festival or fair, usually in honour of a local saint or holy person.
Muezzin Mosque official who summons the faithful to prayer five times each day.
Munshid A devotional singer or chanter.
Necropolis Literally 'city of the dead'. A burial ground.
Nefertiti Great Royal Wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten. Some scholars believe that on Akhenaten's death she took the name Smenkhkare and ruled as a pharaoh in her own right. Immortalized in the famous 'Nefertiti Bust' in the Berlin Museum.
Old Kingdom Ancient Egyptian history is divided into three Kingdoms – Old, Middle and New – with Intermediate Periods between them. The Old Kingdom lasted from c. 2575 to 2134 BC.
Osiris Ancient Egyptian god of the underworld.
Ostrakon Piece of pottery or limestone bearing an image or text. Effectively the ancient equivalent of the modern-day doodling pad.
Pectoral Jewel, usually pylon-shaped, worn on the chest or breast.
Pendlebury, John Devitt Stringfellow (1904–41). Egyptologist. Excavated at Amarna. Shot by Germans on Crete during the Second World War.
Peret One of three seasons into which the ancient Egyptian year was divided (the others were Akhet and Shemu). Peret was the season of planting and growth, and lasted roughly from October to February.
Persepolis Former capital of ancient Persia. In modern-day Iran. Petosiris The name of a noble family buried at Tuna el-Gebel. Their tomb is unique in its use of both Egyptian and Greek styles to portray daily life in ancient Egypt.
Petrie, William Matthew Flinders (1853–1942). Archaeologist and Egyptologist. Worked extensively in Egypt and Palestine.
Pylon Massive entrance or gateway standing in front of a temple.
Qurn High, pyramid-shaped peak overlooking the Valley of the Kings. Means 'the horn' in Arabic. Called Dehenet by the ancient Egyptians.
Rais Foreman or overseer of works.
Ramesses I First pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty (although some consider Horemheb to have been the first). Ruled c. 1307–1306 BC.
Ramesses II Third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Ruled c. 1290–1224 BC. One of ancient Egypt's greatest pharaohs.
Ramesses III Twentieth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled c. 1194–1163 BC. His mortuary temple at Medinet Habu is one of the most beautiful monuments in Egypt.
Ramesses VIII Twentieth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled c. 1136–1131 BC.
Ramesseum Mortuary temple of Ramesses II, on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor.
Ramessid Umbrella title given to the period of the Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties.
Ra (orRe) Ancient Egyptian sun god.
Re-Harakhty Ancient Egyptian god combining the attributes of Ra and Horus. State god of the New Kingdom. Usually depicted as a man with the head of a falcon.
Rek'ah Prayer cycle.
Rekhmire Vizier of Tuthmosis III (ruled c. 1479–1425 BC) and Amenhotep II (ruled c. 1427–1401 BC).
Rohlfs, Gerhard (1831–96). German explorer. Travelled extensively in the western desert, making a landmark crossing of the Great Sand Sea in 1874.
Rosellini, Niccolo Francesco Ippolito Baldessare (1800–43). Italian Egyptologist. Founder of Egyptology in Italy.
Saidee Native of Upper Egypt.
Saqqara Necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital at Memphis. A vast desert burial ground covering almost seven square kilometres, and including the Step Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt's first true pyramid.
Scarab A dung beetle. Considered sacred in ancient Egypt.
Serapeum A series of vast underground galleries at Saqqara where the Apis Bull – a sacred cult animal of the ancient Egyptians – was buried.
Seth Egyptian deity, brother and murderer of Osiris, associated with deserts, war and chaos. Represented by an unidentified animal.
Seti I Nineteenth Dynasty pharaoh, father of Ramesses II. Ruled c. 1306–1290 BC.
Shabti Small mummiform figure, usually of wood or faience, placed in a tomb in order to perform tasks for the deceased in the afterlife.
Sharia Islamic law.
Shepseskaf Final pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. Ruled c. 2472–2467 BC.
Shisha pipe A water pipe. Found in cafes and private homes throughout Egypt.
Siga A board game, also known as Tab-es-Siga. Similar to draughts. Thought to derive from the ancient Egyptian board game Senet.
Smenkhkare Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh, ruled c. 1335–1333 BC. Some scholars have suggested that Smenkhkare was actually Nefertiti, who ruled as a pharaoh in her own right following the death of her husband Akhenaten.
Snofru First king of the Fourth Dynasty. Ruled c. 2575–2551 BC.
Stele Upright block of stone or wood carrying images and inscriptions. Sura A chapter of the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Each of the 114 suras is divided into a number of ayat, or sections.
Susa Former capital of the Persian empire. In modern Iran. Teftish Office.
Termous Type of bean.
Thebes Name given by the Greeks to ancient Waset, modern Luxor.
Thoth Ancient Egyptian god of writing and counting. Usually depicted with a human body and the head of an ibis.
Touria Hoe.
Tuna el-Gebel Ancient site in Middle Egypt, near the town of Mallawi.
Tuthmosis II Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled c. 1492–1479 BC.
Ummah The Moslem community.
Waset Ancient Egyptian name for modern Luxor.
Yuya and Tjuyu A noble couple, lived in the fourteenth century BC. Great-grandparents of Tutankhamun. Their tomb in the Valley of the Kings – KV46 – was found in 1905. Until the discovery of Tutankhamun in 1922, it was considered one of the greatest finds in the history of Egyptian archaeology.
Zamalek District of Cairo. Occupies the northern part of Gezira Island. Zikr A group of devout Moslems, usually belonging to one of the mystic Sufi brotherhoods, who perform a trance-inducing devotional dance.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Numerous people helped in the writing of this book, which would never have made it out of my head, let alone into the bookshops, without their advice, assistance and support.
Special thanks to my wonderful agent, Laura Susijn, who believed in me when many others didn't, and to my editor, Simon Taylor, a master of the art of painless revision.
Nicholas Reeves, Ian Shaw and Stephen Quirke provided crucial advice on aspects of ancient Egyptian history and language, and I owe them a huge debt of gratitude, as well as an apology for the many liberties I have taken with the information they provided.
Stephen Ulph and James Freeman filled in the numerous gaps in my knowledge of, respectively, moder
n Arabic and ancient Greek. Thanks to them, and also to Andrew 'Splodge' Rogerson and Tom Blackmore for their invaluable comments on the manuscript.
Of all the many friends who buoyed me up with words of encouragement, four in particular deserve mention: John Bannon, Nigel Topping, Xan Brooks and Bromley Roberts.
Finally, two special acknowledgements. First, to my aunt Joan, who first planted a love of ancient Egypt in my mind, and subsequently nurtured it through many joyous afternoons in the British Museum.
Secondly, and most importantly, to all my many friends in the Arab Republic of Egypt, who have shown me such unfailing warmth, kindness and generosity.