Mediterranean

limestone

Tora for face of the pyramid. giza plateu limestone for most of the pyramid

The Palette of King Narmer

An ancient Egyptian artifact that depicts the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. It features intricate carvings showcasing King Narmer, symbolizing his power and the beginning of the dynastic period.

3150-3125

slate in bas relief / low relief sculpture - scuplture carved in low relief

open composition

a composition wherein there is much space between objects allowing

for a clear distinction of scenes or figures

Osiris

legendary founder of Egypt

Isis

Osiris’s lover

Seth

god of chaos

Horus

son of Isis, charged with restoring order

Ka

Spirit

Ma’at

Cosmic and mundane order

Composite View

Standard Egyptian style of portraying humans/animals, where eye,

shoulders and arm are show frontally, but head and legs are in profile

Pyramid of king Djoser who rule ca. 2630-2611

Inside large complex with exterior stone wall a mile long and 33 feet high

• Pyramid is 204-feet tall, stepped

• Began as mastaba, low flat-topped burial chamber

Pyramids of Khufu, Khafra and Menkaure, at Giza

Date: 2580-2472. Culture: Egyptian.

Khufu, ca. 2580-2520
Khafra, 2520–2494
Menkaure 2490–2472

Khufu’s Pyramid

Date: 2580-2520. Culture: Egyptian. 481 ft. tall, 756 ft2 footprint,

limestone, granite and gilding

Mortuary temple

location of preparation of king’s body for burial

King’s chamber

burial chamber of king, constructed in Aswan granite

Ben-ben

sacred stone on which first rays of the sun had purportedly fallen

Tura limestone

limestone from the Tura quarry on the Nile

Statue of Khafra. Date: 2500. Culture: Egyptian. 5’6” tall, diorite, ca. 2500,

One of 23

Found in the Valley Temple

Frontality: though three-dimensional, the image is meant to be seen and

encountered from the front.

Closed Composition: a composition wherein all parts of the work are tightly

compacted

Valley Temple

Vtemple associated with one of the Pyramids of Giza where posthumous religious ceremonies took place celebrating the ka of the

deceased king

Diorite

an extremely hard stone quarried in the upper Nile valley

Papyrus

(from Greek πάπυρος/papyrus) A fabric similar to thick paper made from the inner

fibrous parts of the papyrus plant. The plant is cut into strips and placed in two layers of horizontal

and vertical strips before being hammered together and tried.

• Hieroglyphic scrip

Hieratic script

a cursive script used in the Papyrus

Wadi el-Jarf

port site on Gulf of Suez active under the reign of Khufu.

• Wadi: a valley, often dry except during rainy season

Akhet Khufu: Horizon of Khufu

(domain of the dead king): site mentioned in the papyri from

Wadi el-Jarf, understood to be the Pyramid and mortuary complex at Giza.

Ankhu Khufu: (valley temple and domain of the living king), at Giza, currently buried

Sinai Peninsula

geographically connective peninsula between Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba

• Site of copper and turquoise mines, accessed from late 4th millennium BCE by Egyptians

• Sementiu: geological prospectors

Serabit el-Khadim

site of earliest rock-cut engravings, dating to ca. 3100 BCE during

the 0 and first dynasties

Wadj-wer

great green” the mining area in Sinai identified by its green color

Merer

Administrative official. Alive at end of Khufu’s reign (attested ca. 2525-2520 BCE)

weret

Merer was Leader of weret (“the Great”) za

Za

a phyle, or group of 40 men, part of the larger aper, a group of 160 men, led by

Dedi, a scribe

Papyrus B from Wadi el-Jarf

a section of papyrus which includes the day-to-day log of

Merer and his men working across the 26th and 27th year of Khufu’s reign

Djadja

: building at the mouth of the Nile, probably port infrastructure, built by Merer and his men.

She Akhet Khufu

Marina at the Horizon of Khufu

Ro-She Khufu

gate to the Marina of Khufu

Central Canal Basin

primary shipping and docking canal for offloading of materials to Giza

plateau from Nile

Heit el-Ghurab

Wall of the Crow” in Arabic. A wall 10m high with a gate 7m high. Associated

also with the village, south of the wall, perhaps an extension of palace court buildings and town

Gypsum

soft sulfate mineral used often in plaster

limestone chips, gypsum, tafla used to build ramps

Tafla

a clay substance from the Giza plateau that serves as a kind of mortar

limestone chips, gypsum, tafla used to build ramps

Sealing

clay, wax or other hardened substance with an impression made by a stamp, or seal.

Often carrying identifying information about the owner or proprietary