*History 8 Egypt Vocabulary

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1. inundation

An inundation is a flood or the rising of a body of water, which will flow onto normally dry land. It is used in the manual to describe how the Nile floods each year and rich soil is left on the banks from the inundation.

Sources: Manual and [1]

By Alden Arnold

2. Palette of Narmer The Palette of Narmer is a 2 foot long piece of slate depicting King Narmer conquering the Kingdom of the Upper Delta. The Palette also shows two names Narmer and Menes. We believe the Namer and Menes were the same person. Lauren Biegel Manual pg. 126 to learn more: http://www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html

3. Mound of creation

One of the Egyptian creation myths consists of an island rising out of the water and life forming there. Also, on the mound the gods were created. In an area near Hierakonpolis, a model mound of creation was discovered. The model mound was 150 feet wide and 8 feet tall. Around the mound there was a sandstone wall. The Egyptian myth of creation is very similar to other creation myths from the rest of the world.

Sources:

http://www.metmuseum.org/~/media/Files/Learn/For%20Educators/Publications%20for%20Educators/The%20Art%20of%20Ancient%20Egypt.pdf (Cycles of Life section)

Beniretto, Rosie, and Clay Elliott, comps. Manual for Cultural Foundations of Ancient Civilizations. Vol. 2. Houston: St. John's School, 2013. 126. Print.

Jonathan Bloom

4. Pyramids

The first pyramid was built by King Zoser and his architect Imhotep and it was 200 feet tall with six steps. Although it started as a flat tomb, Imhotep added three levels on top of it to make it four steps tall. Two steps were later added to make it taller. This pyramid was the first great building of the world. The word pyramid in Egyptian means 'a place of ascension' and that is basically what it was believed to be. The pyramids were believed to be a stairway to heaven for the dead king, and in the pyramid the king became an extension of the Sun God. The pyramid was the place where the Ba (soul) and Ka (spirit god/double) met, and they were filled with representations of the king so the Ba and Ka would recognize each other. Around 2500 B.C., many other kings (Senefru, Khufu, Khafre) built pyramids that were similar to Zoser's. Each king tried to build a bigger pyramid than his predecessor and the pyramids were very grand. Khufu's pyramid base even measured 13 acres on one side - It is also one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and remains largely intact to this day. The pyramids were made from stone blocks that could weigh thousands of pounds. An Egyptian king's pyramid could take up to 20 years to build and around 20,000 workers helped build a pyramid, although it is not believed to have been slave labor. Although many people believe pyramids were built throughout Egyptian history, they were only built for a period of about 200-400 years, known as the Pyramid Age.

Sources:

CF Manual Pages 127 and 128

Timelines of Ancient Civilizations - Ancient Egypt - Part One (Video - February 6, 2013)

Egypt Lecture on February 6, 2013

Information about Djoser's Pyramid: http://emhotep.net/2009/08/21/locations/lower-egypt/djosers-step-pyramid-the-gem-of-saqqara/

Information about Khufu's Pyramid: http://www.unmuseum.org/kpyramid.htm

Pictures:

Khufu's Pyramid: [[2]]

Djoser's Pyramid: [[3]]

Gwendelyn Butler

5. necropolis

Necropolis comes from a Greek word meaning a cemetery, especially a large and elaborate one from an ancient city. Some of the biggest examples of necropolises are the pyramids and the areas around them. The first main necropolis that was ever built was Saqqara, which is located outside of Memphis. This is where the first pyramid and the first stone building, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was built by Imhotep and Djoser. This was built to honor Djoser when he died because be believed that he needed something better than the traditional burial chamber. With the help of Imhotep, he designed the 200 foot step pyramid around his burial chamber to honor him and help him ascend into heaven. After this was built, many other tombs of important officials were placed in this necropolis as well, not just Djoser's. This necropolis was divided into Saqqara Proper and South Saqqara, each filled with ceremonial tombs. After Saqqara, many other necropolises were built with the intention of being better than the past ones. These were a large part of Egyptian life because the Egyptians fully believed in the afterlife and because many people would honor their past family members and rulers by building tombs for them.

For good pictures, go to: http://www.powerplaces.com/Egypt_Great_Pyramid_and_Sphinx.htm

Sources: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/necropolis, http://www.touregypt.net/southsaqqaraindex.htm, http://www.touregypt.net/saqqaraindex.htm, CF Manual Page 127, Time Lines of Ancient Civilizations: Ancient Egyptians Part 1 (2/6/2013)

Cam Cook

6. obelisk

The word obelisk is derived from the greek word obelisks meaning needle, and it is a carved four sided pillar that are originally found at the entrances of Egyptian temples because they were believed to have magical protection over them. This type of Egyptian obelisk was made from a single piece of stone, usually granite, and had hieroglyphics carved into it. Also, obelisks were wider at their square or recantagle bases then their pyramid like tops, and could be over 100 feet tall. During the time of the Roman Empire many Egyptian obelisks were transported to Italy. There are still obelisks in the modern world we live in. For example, a very famous obelisk is the Washington Monument.

Link to image: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/templeentrance.htm

Sources: <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obelisk> <http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/00502/English/Obelisks.htm> <http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/templeentrance.htm>

Page done by Evan Eisenberg on 2/6/2013

7 revetment

A revetment is barricade used to support an embankment. In Egypt this term is associated with the Nile and it deserts and mountains because they are a barricade that invaders have to go through to be able to invade Egypt. Nile farther you go upstream the more cataracts or set of rapids you have to cross. These are very dangerous and difficult to go though, especially with a large army. This makes floating down the Nile from the South to invade Egypt impossible, making the Nile a revetment or natural defense. In the East and the West there are the harsh deserts with many mountains. These mountains are hard to pass with their many twists and peaks and treacherous passes. Even if an army could get through the mountains they would have to go through a dessert terrain with no water sources for many hundreds of miles. Bringing enough water to support a large army for that amount of time is near impossible, further closing off Egypt from invaders from the East and the West. These natural defenses or revetment protect Egypt and were the reason why Egypt could not be invaded for so long.

Sources:

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/revetment

Manual pages 136-137

“The Gift of the Nile” Class Lecture

Mary Ann Enerson

8. enigmatic (Open for correction!)

Enigmatic comes from the word enigma, meaning mysterious or something that there is little known evidence for. An example of an enigmatic figure in ancient Egypt is Sneferu, the first pyramid builder. Little is known about his life, except for the fact that he created the first prototypes for pyramids. He did not get all of the glory for the pyramids, however, as Imhotep, the architect for King Djoser is the most publicized creator of pyramids ever. Sneferu's prototypes helped Imhotep, but Sneferu is still mostly unknown to the world. Sneferu also built pyramids, but the angles were a little bit off, so the pyramids turned into the "bent" shape, angling less extremely upward toward the top.

Sources: Class notes 2/6/13 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enigmatic -Noah Garcia

9. sphinx

10. iconography

11. interregnum

An interregnum is a temporary (or not temporary) time when there is no ruler or had a temporary leader. After the old kingdom fell, there was interregnum which was very chaotic and disorder. We know that this period lasted for almost one hundred years even though there is not much evidence from this interregnum. War broke out and eventually the Thebans emerged victorious and reunified Egypt under a single rule.

Sources:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ancient-egyptian-culture.html

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/interregnum

Byrn Ledbetter

12. hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphs are symbols used by the egyptians for writing and comes from the greek word meaning, "sacred writing". They were originally used for keeping records of the kings possessions. The languages grew to over 750 characters. Hieroglyphs omit vowels, so the letters ht, for example, could be hat, hit, hut, hot, or hate. the words were written based on how they sounded, not how they looked. for example, the words here and hear could be written using the same symbols. they can be read right to left, left to right, or vertically going downward. The direction the men or animal symbols are facing determines the direction they are read. For, example, if there was a symbol facing right, the line would be read right to left.

source: http://www.egyptartsite.com/glyph.html#a

Harrison Ray