History - Ancient Egypt Study Guide

Narmer Palette

Narmer Palette

3000- 2920 BCE, used for grinding and mixing minerals for cosmetics (dark eyeliner used), ceremonial- carved on both sides, complex imagery, relief sculpture, found at Hierakonpolis.

Nile River

4,175 miles, crosses 9 countries throughout Africa, longest river in the world, believed to be a passageway between life and death, tombs build on west side of Nile, believed to be place of death since Arrah set in the west each day, was to Egypt as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were to Mesopotamia

Anubis

represented as a jackal or a man with a jackal head, god of embalming and the dead, patron of lost souls, son of Osiris and Nepthys, watched over dead and mummification process, replaced by Osiris as god of the dead around 3rd Century BCE

Ra

depicted with body of a man, head of a falcon and a sun-disk with a cobra on his head, king of deities and father

Mummification

performed to prevent insects from getting into the body, preserved organs, intestines, liver, lungs and stomach, kept in canopic jars next to the tomb, heart left in body since it was believed to be the center of moral judgment, thoughts and emotion, covered body with salt for 70 days, body kept in sarcophagus, heart weighed against ostrich feather, if in balance, good afterlife, if not, heart eaten

Valley of the Kings

tombs inside a mountain (valley near Thebes), intended to safeguard burials, used from 1500-1000 BCE, had a descending corridor interrupted by deep shafts and pillared chambers ending with the burial chamber, holding the sarcophagus and grave goods, majority were looted, King Tuts tomb was found there

Hieroglyphics

ancient Egyptian language consisting of symbols representing certain words or letters

Rosetta Stone

currently in British museum, was used to decipher hieroglyphics, writing in hieroglyphics and ancient greek on the stone, both with the same message, soldiers of Napoleon found stone in 1798, was given to British as a peace treaty, making its way to the British Museum in 1802, Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered the text

Ankh

represents word and concept of life, also represents heaven, male and female, the morning sun and the earth, used to express desire for someone to live; "may you live and be well," key to eternal life

Scarab Beetle

also known as kheper, refers to the ideas of existence, manifestation, development, growth and effectiveness

Pschent

a combination of the crowns of both upper and lower Egypt, symbolizes their unification

Feather of Maat

represents Maat, goddess of truth, cosmic balance and justice, feather represents truth, upon someones death, their heart will be weighed against a feather like this to determine their afterlife

The Giza Plateau

includes Great Pyramid of Khufu, middle pyramid built by Khafre (Khufus son), it is 470ft high, Tura (limestone casing) still visible on top, great Sphinx in Khafres pyramid, final pyramid for Khafres son, Menkaure (2500 BCE), 218ft high