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| amulet:
a charm worn to protect
the wearer from evil or to bring good luck ankh: the Egyptian word for "life" ba: one aspect of the human life force, usually represented as a human-headed bird, which after death could leave and reenter the body at will bark: a small sailing vessel, models of which were used to carry divine images in Egyptian religious processions Book of the Dead: the modern name for a collection of New Kingdom funerary spells, derived from the Coffin Texts and Pyramid Texts, which were typically written on papyrus and placed in the tomb cartouche: a circular or oval frame used to enclose the name of an Egyptian king or member of the royal family Coffin Text: a series of magical spells, derived from the Pyramid Texts, which were inscribed on coffins and the walls of sarcophagus chambers during the Middle Kingdom demotic: literally, "popular," a type of cursive Egyptian script that originated in Dynasty 26 and was widely used for the next thousand years djed: the Egyptian word for "stability," represented by a sacred pillar epigraphy: the study of inscriptions false door: an architectural element in Egyptian tombs in front of which offerings would be made to the deceased. The ka of the deceased was believed to enter and exit the tomb through this doorway hieratic: a cursive form of hieroglyphs used on papyrus ka: one aspect of the human life, perceived as a spiritual double that continued to live after a person's death in situ: literally, "in position." In archaeological terminology, it refers to an artifact, architectural feature or other find that has been excavated or exposed in its original, ancient context maat: the Egyptian concept of world order, justice, and truth, represented by the hieroglyph of a feather and sometimes personified as a goddess wearing a feather on her head mastaba: from the Arabic word for "bench," a flat, rectangular, mud-brick tomb with sloping sides, characteristic of Memphite cemeteries, especially in the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts: Egypt's earliest body of religious literature, carved on the walls of royal pyramids of Dynasties 5 and 6, and consisting of a series of spells intended to guide the deceased king into the afterlife serekh: a rectangular frame containing the king's name and decorated with a niched facade representing the palace shabti: small figurines placed in tombs to act as substitutes for the deceased when he or she was called upon to perform agricultural labor in the afterlife sistrum: a musical instrument whose metal frame held elements that jangled when shaken, often used in the religious celebrations of the goddesses Hathor and Isis stela: a carved or inscribed slab set up in cemeteries and sanctuaries for commemorative purposes uraeus: the symbol of a rearing cobra worn on the forehead crown of Egyptian kings and queens and believed to have a protective function |
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