Any study of ancient Egypt involves an encounter with unfamiliar terms.
This glossary lists many of the more common concepts and items with which Egyptologists have to deal.

 

TERM	DESCRIPTION
Amulet	A charm worn by the living or placed on a mummy to ward off evil spirits or bring good luck.
Ankh	A hieroglyphic sign symbolising life; it has been likened to a sandal strap.
Anthropoid	Coffins in the shape of a human.
Ba	Believed by ancient Egyptians to be the spirit or soul. It is often depicted as a bird with a human head.
Benben Stone	A scared stone at Heliopolis that was believed to be connected with the primeval mound that emerged from the waters of chaos and where the Sun's first rays fell. The concept of the obelisks evolved from this stone as perhaps did the pyramids.
Blue Crown (khepresh)	Beginning in the 18th Dynasty, pharaohs sometimes wore a crown with the appearance of a flanged helmet of cloth covered with golden discs.
Book of the Dead	A collection of spells that were sometimes provided for the deceased in the form of a papyrus roll from the New  Kingdom onward. The spells were supposed to assist the deceased to safely reach the netherworld.
Canopic Jars	A set of jars which contained some of the internal organs removed from the deceased during mummification. Some examples include sets of four jars with different stoppers which protected specific organs - human headed Imsety (the liver), baboon-headed Hapy (lungs), jackal-headed Duamutef (stomach), and falcon-headed Qebehsenuef (intestines).
Cartonnage	A material used for making mummy masks and coffins. It was built up from layers of linen or papyrus stiffened with gesso (plaster) and then painted or gilded.
Cartouche	An oval which was drawn to contain the hieroglyphs that spelt out a king's or queen's name.
Cenotaph	A tomb built for ceremonial purposes but not used for the actual burial.
Coffin	A container for a mummy. It could be a rectangular box or anthropoid (human) shaped. The word coffin is often interchanged with sarcophagus, although strictly the latter refers to the outer stone container which contains the coffin.
Coptic	Refers to Egyptian Christians and their language.
Delta	The area of northern Egypt where the Nile River flows into the Mediterranean Sea.  It is a triangular area of very fertile land.
Demotic	A form of ancient Egyptian writing which was developed in the 7th century BC and used for everyday writing in the Late and Graeco-Roman periods.
Double Crown (pschent)	Once Upper and Lower Egypt were unified, the King wore the Double Crown which combined the elements of the White and Red crowns.
Dynasty	A succession of kings who were usually related. Egyptologists usually divide ancient Egypt's history into 31 dynasties up to the arrival of Alexander the Great. The system was initially devised by the priest Manetho in the third century BC.
Ennead	A group of nine gods, such as the ones in the Great Ennead of Heliopolis.
Egyptologist	An archaeologist who specialises in the study of ancient Egypt by examining artefacts and documents left behind by the long-dead civilisation.
Faience	A glazed earthenware that was often used for amulets and some vessels.
Hieratic	A cursive form of ancient Egyptian writing which lost the pictorial aspect of hieroglyphs.
Hieroglyphs	The ancient Egyptian writing which used symbols based on animals, humans/gods and implements.
Inundation	The annual flooding of the Nile River.
Ka	Created as a "double" of a living person at birth. It left the body upon the death of the person and received offerings ensuring the deceased's survival in the afterlife.
Lower Egypt	The northern part of Egypt around the Nile Delta.
Mastaba	An Arabic word for bench, it has been applied to early tombs where the building above the ground was a rectangular structure with a flat roof, thereby resembling a bench.
Mummy	The preserved body of a deceased person or animal.
Natron	A salt (sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate) that was used in the mummification process to dry out the body of the deceased in order to assist in its preservation.
Necropolis	Egyptian burial grounds. From the Greek word for "city of the dead" or cemetery.
Nemes	A striped headcloth worn by the pharaoh.
Nilometer	A staircase found in some temples next to the Nile where the level of the river would be read during the inundation.
Nome	A province of ancient Egypt - there were 42 nomes.
Obelisk	A tapering, four-sided pillar of stone which was usually inscribed with hieroglyphs to honour a pharaoh.  Most were made of granite. The biggest Egyptian obelisk now stands in Rome and is nearly 31 metres tall. The biggest still in Egypt is 29.5 metres high and is estimated to weigh over 300 tonnes.
Ostracon	A limestone flake or potsherd (fragment of pottery) used for practising writing or drawing. Also used for record keeping and correspondence.
Papyrus	A water reed once abundant in Egypt. It was processed into a form of paper used for important records.
Pharaoh	The Egyptian king, the word meant "The Great House" which was the royal palace. Its first use in reference to the king can be traced to the New Kingdom.
Pylon	Greek for "gate",  these were huge towers on each side of the entrance to a temple. They were often decorated with reliefs of pharaohs or gods.
Pyramid	Pyramids were four-sided structures that generally tapered to a point at the top. They were built of stone or mud brick to house the remains of the Egyptian king. Small ones sometimes were provided for queens. Pyramids were used by kings in the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Numerous small pyramids were built in Nubia much later.
Red Crown (deshret)	The crown worn by the pharaoh and representing Lower Egypt. It is in the shape of a chair with a coil protruding from the front.
Sarcophagus (plural: sarcophagi)	A stone container that usually housed the coffin and mummy. The surface was often inscribed with texts to assist the deceased in the journey through the underworld. One often finds the word sarcophagi being applied to the coffin within.
Shabti	A model servant figure which was supposed to do the hard work for the deceased in the afterlife. Also known as a ushabti.
Sistrum	A musical rattle with discs threaded onto bars across a fork. They were often used by women involved with temples, particularly in association with the goddess Hathor.
Sphinx	A statue in the shape of a lion with the head of a human or ram. A sphinx was a symbol of royal power.
Stela	An inscribed stone or wooden slab with an inscription dedicated to someone, an event or a decree.
Temple	A "house" in the form of a building or complex of buildings dedicated to a particular god or goddess. Within the temple was a shrine with an image of the god which priests tendered to every day. The cults of some gods became very powerful and their temple administrations sometimes amassed great wealth.
Upper Egypt	The area of Egypt south of the Nile Delta.
Uraeus	A cobra emblem worn by the pharaoh as part of his headdress. The cobra was meant to protect the pharaoh by spitting fire at his enemies.
Vizier	The chief minister of Egypt answerable only to the pharaoh. He was responsible for the day-to-day running of the country. In the New Kingdom there were two viziers - one for Upper Egypt and one for Lower Egypt. The position became less important in the Late Period.
White Crown (hedjet)	The crown worn by the pharaoh and representing Upper Egypt. It is in the shape of a tall conical headpiece with a small bulb on the top.