1.
Pharaoh
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The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person. During the reign of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom, after the rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. During the eighteenth dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a designation of the ruler. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ˤ3 on its own was used as regularly as hm. f, the term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. For instance, the first dated appearance of the pharaoh being attached to a rulers name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun and this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-second dynasty kings. Shoshenq I was the successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives, by this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Φερων. In the Bible, the title also occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, interestingly, the Arabic combines the original pharyngeal ayin sound from Egyptian, along with the -n ending from Greek. English at first spelt it Pharao, but the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew, meanwhile in Egypt itself, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ prro and then rro. Scepters and staves were a sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-scepter, the earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to pre-dynastic times. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to the late Naqada period, another scepter associated with the king is the was-scepter. This is a long staff mounted with an animal head, the earliest known depictions of the was-scepter date to the first dynasty
2.
Egyptian chronology
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The majority of Egyptologists agree on the outline and many details of the chronology of Ancient Egypt. Scholarly consensus on the outline of the conventional chronology current in Egyptology has not fluctuated much over the last 100 years. For the Old Kingdom, consensus fluctuates by as much as a few centuries and this is illustrated by comparing the chronology as given by two Egyptologists, the first writing in 1906, the second in 2000. The disparities between the two sets of result from additional discoveries and refined understanding of the still very incomplete source evidence. For example, Breasted adds a ruler in the Twentieth dynasty that further research showed did not exist, following Manetho, Breasted also believed all the dynasties were sequential, whereas it is now known that several existed at the same time. These revisions have resulted in a lowering of the chronology by up to 400 years at the beginning of Dynasty I. The backbone of Egyptian chronology are the years as recorded in Ancient Egyptian king lists. In addition, some Egyptian dynasties may have overlapped, with different pharaohs ruling in different regions at the same time, not knowing whether monarchies were simultaneous or sequential results in widely differing chronological interpretations. However, further research has shown that these censuses were taken in consecutive years. The sed festival was celebrated on the thirtieth anniversary of the Pharaohs ascension. However, once again, this may not be the practice in all cases. In the early days of Egyptology, the compilation of regnal periods may also have been hampered due to bias on the part of the Egyptologists. This was most pervasive before the mid 19th century, when Manethos figures were recognized as conflicting with biblical chronology based on Old Testament references to Egypt, in the 20th century, such biblical bias has mostly been confined to alternative chronologies outside of scholarly mainstream. A useful way to work around these gaps in knowledge is to find chronological synchronisms, over the past decades, a number of these have been found, although they are of varying degrees of usefulness and reliability. While this does not fix a person or event to a specific year, another example are blocks from the Old Kingdom bearing the names of several kings, which were reused in the construction of Middle Kingdom pyramid-temples at Lisht in the structures of Amenemhat I. The poor documentation of these finds in the Serapeum also compounds the difficulties in using these records. The best known of these is the Sothic cycle, and careful study of this led Richard A. Parker to argue that the dates of the Twelfth dynasty could be fixed with absolute precision. More recent research has eroded this confidence, questioning many of the assumptions used with the Sothic Cycle and this is useful especially for the Early Dynastic period, where Egyptological consensus has only been possible within a range of about three or four centuries
3.
Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt
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The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period. The known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Twenty-First Dynasty are as follows, After the reign of Ramesses III, the pharaohs of the Twenty-First Dynasty ruled from Tanis, but were mostly active only in Lower Egypt which they controlled. This dynasty is described as Tanite because its capital was based at Tanis. Meanwhile, the High Priests of Amun at Thebes effectively ruled Middle and Upper Egypt in all, the later Egyptian Priest Manetho of Sebennytos states in his Epitome on Egyptian royal history that the 21st Dynasty of Egypt lasted for 130 years. Jaroslav Černý, Studies in the Chronology of the Twenty-First Dynasty, JEA32, 24-30 Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt Family Tree High Priests of Amun at Thebes
4.
Amenemope (pharaoh)
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Usermaatre Amenemope was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty. A probable son of Psusennes I and his queen Mutnedjmet, Amenemope succeeded his fathers long reign after a period of coregency. This coregency has been deduced thanks to a linen bandage mentioning a. king Amenemope, which has been reconstructed as king Amenemope, Year 49. Kitchen refers to the existence of Papyrus Brooklyn 16, during his reign as Pharaoh, Amenemope claimed the title of High Priest of Amun in Tanis as Psusennes also did before him. Apart from his Tanite tomb and the aforementioned Theban burials, Amemenope is a poorly attested ruler and he continued with the decoration of the chapel of Isis Mistress of the Pyramids at Giza and made an addition to one of the temples in Memphis. All versions of Manethos Epitome reports that Amenophthis enjoyed 9 years of reign, neither children nor wives are known for him, and he was succeeded by the seemingly unrelated Osorkon the Elder. According to the analysis of his skeleton performed by Dr. Douglas Derry and it seems that the king suffered a skull infection which likely developed into meningitis and led to his death. His undisturbed tomb was rediscovered by French Egyptologists Pierre Montet and Georges Goyon in April 1940, Montet had to stop his excavation until the end of World War II, then resumed it in 1946 and later published his findings in 1958. When the excavators entered the burial chamber, they argued that it was originally made for queen Mutnedjmet. On the mummy were found two gilt funerary masks, two pectorals, necklaces, bracelets, rings and a cloisonné collar, four of these items bore the name of Psusennes I. The funerary masks depict the king as young, although Goyon stated that at the moment of discovery the masks had an expression of suffering and pleading, the mummy and funerary goods are now in Cairo Museum. La Découverte des trésors de Tanis, hornung, Erik, Krauss, Rolf, Warburton, David A. eds. The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt
5.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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The royal titulary or royal protocol of an Egyptian pharaoh is the standard naming convention taken by the kings of Ancient Egypt. It symbolises worldly power and holy might and also acts as a sort of mission statement for the reign of a monarch. The full titulary, consisting of five names, did not come into standard usage until the Middle Kingdom, the Horus name is the oldest form of the pharaohs name, originating in the Predynastic Period. Many of the oldest-known Egyptian pharaohs were known only by this title, the Horus name was usually written in a serekh, a representation of a palace façade. The name of the pharaoh was written in hieroglyphs inside this representation of a palace, typically an image of the falcon God Horus was perched on top of or beside it. At least one Egyptian ruler, the 2nd dynasty Seth-Peribsen, used an image of the god Seth instead of Horus and he was succeeded by Khasekhemwy, who placed the symbols of both Seth and Horus above his name. Thereafter, the image of Horus always appeared alongside the name of the pharaoh, by the time of the New Kingdom the Horus name was often written without the enclosing serekh. The name is first definitively used by the First Dynasty pharaoh Semerkhet and this particular name was not typically framed by a cartouche or serekh, but always begins with the hieroglyphs of a vulture and cobra resting upon two baskets, the dual noun nebty. Also known as the Golden Horus Name, this form of the name typically featured the image of a Horus falcon perched above or beside the hieroglyph for gold. The meaning of this title has been disputed. One belief is that it represents the triumph of Horus over his uncle Seth, Gold also was strongly associated in the ancient Egyptian mind with eternity, so this may have been intended to convey the pharaohs eternal Horus name. Similar to the Nebty name, this particular name typically was not framed by a cartouche or serekh, the pharaohs throne name, the first of the two names written inside a cartouche, and usually accompanied the title nsw-bity. The term nsw-bity It has been suggested that the Berber term for strong man, the epithet neb tawy, Lord of the Two Lands, referring to valley and delta regions of Egypt, often occurs as well. This was the name given at birth and it was first introduced to the set of royal titles in the Fourth Dynasty and emphasizes the kings role as a representative of the solar god Ra. For women who became pharaoh, the title was interpreted as daughter also. Modern historians typically refer to the ancient kings of Egypt by this name, Middle Egyptian, An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Cairo, London, and New York, The American University in Cairo Press and Thames and Hudson. The Great Name, Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary, Egyptian Grammar, Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs
6.
Ra
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Ra or Re is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty in the 25th and 24th centuries BC, he had become a god in ancient Egyptian religion. In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was merged with the god Horus and he was believed to rule in all parts of the created world, the sky, the earth, and the underworld. He was associated with the falcon or hawk, when in the New Kingdom the god Amun rose to prominence he was fused with Ra as Amun-Ra. During the Amarna Period, Akhenaten suppressed the cult of Ra in favor of another deity, the Aten, the deified solar disc. The cult of the Mnevis bull, an embodiment of Ra, had its center in Heliopolis, all forms of life were believed to have been created by Ra, who called each of them into existence by speaking their secret names. Alternatively man was created from Ras tears and sweat, hence the Egyptians call themselves the Cattle of Ra, in the myth of the Celestial Cow it is recounted how mankind plotted against Ra and how he sent his eye as the goddess Sekhmet to punish them. When she became bloodthirsty she was pacified by drinking beer mixed with red dye, to the Egyptians, the sun represented light, warmth, and growth. This made the sun deity very important, as the sun was seen as the ruler of all that he created, the sun disk was either seen as the body or eye of Ra. Ra was the father of Shu and Tefnut, whom he created, Shu was the god of the wind, and Tefnut was the goddess of the rain. Sekhmet was the Eye of Ra and was created by the fire in Ras eye, Ra was thought to travel on the Atet, two solar barks called the Mandjet or morning boat and the Mesektet or evening boat. These boats took him on his journey through the sky and the Duat, while Ra was on the Mesektet, he was in his ram-headed form. When Ra traveled in his sun boat, he was accompanied by other deities including Sia and Hu. Sometimes, members of the Ennead helped him on his journey, including Set, who overcame the serpent Apophis, and Mehen, when Ra was in the underworld, he would visit all of his various forms. Apophis, the god of chaos, was a serpent who attempted to stop the sun boats journey every night by consuming it or by stopping it in its tracks with a hypnotic stare. During the evening, the Egyptians believed that Ra set as Atum or in the form of a ram, the night boat would carry him through the underworld and back towards the east in preparation for his rebirth. When Ra was in the underworld, he merged with Osiris, the god of the dead, Ra was worshipped as the Creator god among some ancient Egyptians, specifically followers of his cult at Heliopolis. It was believed that Ra wept, and from his tears came man and these cult-followers believed that Ra was self-created, while followers of Ptah believed that Ra was created by Ptah
7.
Amun
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Amun was a major Ancient Egyptian deity. He was attested since the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amaunet, with the 11th dynasty, he rose to the position of patron deity of Thebes by replacing Monthu. After the rebellion of Thebes against the Hyksos and with the rule of Ahmose I, Amun acquired national importance, expressed in his fusion with the Sun god, Ra, Amun-Ra retained chief importance in the Egyptian pantheon throughout the New Kingdom. Amun-Ra in this period held the position of transcendental, self-created creator deity par excellence, he was the champion of the poor or troubled and his position as King of Gods developed to the point of virtual monotheism where other gods became manifestations of him. With Osiris, Amun-Ra is the most widely recorded of the Egyptian gods, as the chief deity of the Egyptian Empire, Amun-Ra also came to be worshipped outside of Egypt, according to the testimony of ancient Greek historiographers in Libya and Nubia. As Zeus Ammon he came to be identified with Zeus in Greece, Amun and Amaunet are mentioned in the Old Egyptian Pyramid Texts. The name Amun meant something like the one or invisible. Amun rose to the position of tutelary deity of Thebes after the end of the First Intermediate Period, as the patron of Thebes, his spouse was Mut. In Thebes, Amun as father, Mut as mother and the Moon god Khonsu formed a family or Theban Triad. The history of Amun as the god of Thebes begins in the 20th century BC. The city of Thebes does not appear to have been of great significance before the 11th dynasty, major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Re took place during the 18th dynasty when Thebes became the capital of the unified ancient Egypt. Construction of the Hypostyle Hall may have begun during the 18th dynasty, though most building was undertaken under Seti I. Merenptah commemorated his victories over the Sea Peoples on the walls of the Cachette Court and this Great Inscription shows the kings campaigns and eventual return with booty and prisoners. Next to this inscription is the Victory Stela, which is largely a copy of the more famous Israel Stela found in the complex of Merenptah on the west bank of the Nile in Thebes. Merenptahs son Seti II added 2 small obelisks in front of the Second Pylon, and this was constructed of sandstone, with a chapel to Amun flanked by those of Mut and Khonsu. The last major change to the Precinct of Amun-Res layout was the addition of the first pylon, the local patron deity of Thebes, Amun, therefore became nationally important. The pharaohs of that new dynasty attributed all their enterprises to Amun. The victory accomplished by pharaohs who worshipped Amun against the rulers, brought him to be seen as a champion of the less fortunate
8.
Thebes, Egypt
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Thebes, known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located east of the Nile about 800 kilometers south of the Mediterranean. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor, Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome. It was close to Nubia and the desert, with their valuable mineral resources. It was a center and the wealthiest city of ancient Egypt at its heyday. The Ancient Egyptians originally knew Thebes as Wose or Wase A was was the scepter of the pharaohs, a staff with an animals head. Thebes is the Latinized form of the Greek Thebai, the form of the Demotic Egyptian Ta-pe. This was the name not for the city itself but for the Karnak temple complex on the northern east bank of the city. As early as Homers Iliad, the Greeks distinguished the Egyptian Thebes as Thebes of the Hundred Gates, as opposed to the Thebes of the Seven Gates in Boeotia, from the end of the New Kingdom, Thebes was known in Egyptian as Niwt-Imn, the City of Amun. Amun was the chief of the Theban Triad of gods whose other members were Mut and this name appears in the Bible as the Nōʼ ʼĀmôn of the Book of Nahum and probably also as the No mentioned in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. In the interpretatio graeca, Amun was seen as a form of Zeus, the name was therefore translated into Greek as Diospolis, the City of Zeus. To distinguish it from the other cities by this name. The Greek names came into use after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. Thebes was located along the banks of the Nile River in the part of Upper Egypt about 800 km from the Delta. It was built largely on the plains of the Nile Valley which follows a great bend of the Nile. As a natural consequence, the city was laid in a northeast-southwest axis parallel to the river channel. Thebes had an area of 93 km2 which included parts of the Theban Hills in the west that culminates at the sacred 420-meter al-Qurn, in the east lies the mountainous Eastern Desert with its wadis draining into the valley. Significant of these wadis is Wadi Hammamat near Thebes and it was used as an overland trade route going to the Red Sea coast. In the fourth Upper Egyptian nome, Thebes was found to have neighboring towns such as Per-Hathor, Madu, Djerty, Iuny, Sumenu, according to George Modelski, Thebes had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2000 BC
9.
Karnak
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The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak, comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings. Building at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom and continued into the Ptolemaic period, the area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut and the main place of worship of the eighteenth dynasty Theban Triad with the god Amun as its head. It is part of the city of Thebes. The Karnak complex gives its name to the nearby, and partly surrounded, the complex is a vast open-air museum, and the second largest ancient religious site in the world, after the Angkor Wat Temple of Cambodia. It is believed to be the second most visited site in Egypt. It consists of four parts, of which only the largest is currently open to the general public. The term Karnak often is understood as being the Precinct of Amun-Ra only, the three other parts, the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Montu, and the dismantled Temple of Amenhotep IV, are closed to the public. There also are a few temples and sanctuaries connecting the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Amun-Re. The Precinct of Mut is very ancient, being dedicated to an Earth and creation deity, the original temple was destroyed and partially restored by Hatshepsut, although another pharaoh built around it in order to change the focus or orientation of the sacred area. Many portions of it may have carried away for use in other buildings. The key difference between Karnak and most of the temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Construction of temples started in the Middle Kingdom and continued through to Ptolemaic times, approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the features of Karnak are unique, but the size. The deities represented range from some of the earliest worshiped to those worshiped much later in the history of the Ancient Egyptian culture and it also contains evidence of adaptations, using buildings of the Ancient Egyptians by later cultures for their own religious purposes. One famous aspect of Karnak is the Hypostyle Hall in the Precinct of Amun-Re,122 of these columns are 10 meters tall, and the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over three meters. The architraves on top of columns are estimated to weigh 70 tons. These architraves may have been lifted to these heights using levers and this would be an extremely time-consuming process and also would require great balance to get to such great heights. A common alternative theory regarding how they were moved is that large ramps were constructed of sand, mud, brick or stone, if stone had been used for the ramps, they would have been able to use much less material
10.
Pinedjem I
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Pinedjem I was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt from 1070 to 1032 BC and the de facto ruler of the south of the country from 1054 BC. He was the son of the High Priest Piankh, however, many Egyptologists today believe that the succession in the Amun priesthood actually ran from Piankh to Herihor to Pinedjem I. According to the new hypothesis regarding the succession of the Amun priesthood, Herihor instead intervened to assume to this office. After Herihors death, Pinedjem I finally claimed this office which had once held by his father Piankh. He inherited a political and religious base of power at Thebes, Pinedjem strengthened his control over both Middle and Upper Egypt and asserted his kingdoms virtual independence from the Twenty-first Dynasty based at Tanis. He married Duathathor-Henuttawy, a daughter of Ramesses XI, to cement his relations with the powerful families of the period. Their son, Psusennes I, went on to become Pharaoh at Tanis, in practice, however, the 21st dynasty kings and the Theban high priests were probably never very far apart politically since they respected each others political autonomy. Around Year 15 or 16 of Smendes, Pinedjem I proclaimed himself pharaoh over Upper Egypt and his daughter, Maatkare, held the position of Divine Adoratrice of Amun. Pinedjems mummy was found in the cache at Deir el-Bahri and his parents Piankh and Nodjmet had several children, three brothers and one sister of Pinedjem I are known. Three of his wives are known, another wife was Isetemkheb, Singer of Amun. She is mentioned along with Pinedjem I on bricks found at el-Hiban, a possible third wife is Tentnabekhenu, who is mentioned on the funerary papyrus of her daughter Nauny. Nauny was buried at Thebes and is called a Kings Daughter, thus it is likely that Pinedjem was her father
11.
Duathathor-Henuttawy
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Duathathor-Henuttawy, Henuttawy or Henttawy was an ancient Egyptian princess and later queen. Henuttawy is likely to have been the daughter of Ramesses XI, the placement of Henuttawy in the royal families of the late 20th dynasty and the early 21st dynasty is not entirely clear and open to interpretation. Kitchen had conjectured there were two women called Henuttawy during the period to explain some of the associated with the name Henuttawy. Wente had shown that Henuttawy was the wife of Pinedjem I and it is likely she was also the mother of Henuttawy who is depicted along with Maatkare and Mutnedjmet in Karnak. Niwiński conjectured that Henuttawy was the daughter of Ramesses XI and Tentamun, dodson recognizes two queens named Tentamun. One is the wife of Ramesses Xi and the mother of Henuttawy and this Queen is mentioned in the funerary papyrus of Queen Hennutawy. Another Queen named Tentamun was presumably a daughter of Ramesses XI and possibly a sister of Henuttawy. The latter Tentamun is mentioned in the Story of Wenamun and she is mentioned before her husbands ascendence to the throne on a chalice found in Tanis, on a door lintel and on a relief in the Khonsu temple in the Karnak temple complex. Even here she is mentioned as a queen, with her name written in a cartouche, later she is also mentioned on a stela in Coptos, in Muts temple in Karnak and on several objects found in her sons tomb in Tanis. She is depicted on the facade of the Khonsu temple in Karnak and her mummy and coffins were found in the DB320 cache along with those of several members of her immediate family. She was buried elsewhere before being moved to the cache, henuttawys mummy was found in a set of two wooden coffins. The coffins must have covered in gold, but all of the gold had been adzed off. They are now in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo, the mummy was damaged by tomb robbers. In the search for the heart scarab the main part of the chest area had been penetrated, packing linen under a subjects skin had become common practice in 20th Dynasty mummification, but had caused the flesh on the face of Lady Henuttawy to burst open. The face was restored after discovery, auguste Mariette purchased two large funerary papyrus rolls that are thought to have belonged to Queen Henuttawy
12.
Tanis
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Tanis is a city in the north-eastern Nile Delta of Egypt. It is located on the Tanitic branch of the Nile which has long since silted up, Tanis was a city in ancient Egypt and served as a parallel religious center to Thebes in the Third Intermediate Period. No archaeological evidence from it pre-dates the reign of Psusennes I, taniss creation was most likely due to the silting up of the Nile branch that ran by Pi-Ramesses, which forced people to seek another area with access to water. Later on, Tanis would become known as Thebes of Lower Egypt, the kings at Tanis saw themselves as the legitimate successors on the throne of Upper and Lower Egypt. They used traditional titles and displayed their royalty in building work, Tanis was founded in the late Twentieth Dynasty, and became the northern capital of Egypt during the following Twenty-first Dynasty. It was the city of Smendes, founder of the 21st dynasty. During the Twenty-second Dynasty, Tanis remained as Egypts political capital and it was an important commercial and strategic city until it was threatened with inundation by Lake Manzala in the 6th century AD, when it was finally abandoned. The refugees founded the city of Tennis. The Hebrew story of Moses’ being found in the marshes of the Nile River as told in Exodus 2, the demise of the city may well have been caused by the relocation of Nile tributaries. Tanis was the site of archaeological digs beginning in the 19th century, involving Flinders Petrie. In 1866, Karl Richard Lepsius discovered at Tanis the Decree of Canopus—an inscription closely related to the Rosetta Stone and this discovery contributed significantly to the decipherment of hieroglyphics. There are ruins of a number of temples, including the temple dedicated to Amun. However, the burials of three Dynasty 21 and Dynasty 22 pharaohs — Psusennes I, Amenemope and Shoshenq II — survived the depredations of tomb robbers throughout antiquity. The chief deities of Tanis were Amun, his consort, Mut and this triad was, however, identical to that of Thebes, leading many scholars to speak of Tanis as the northern Thebes. In 2009, the Egyptian Culture Ministry reported archaeologists had discovered the site of a lake in a temple to the goddess Mut at the San al-Hagar archaeological site in ancient Tanis. The lake, built out of blocks, had been 15 meters long and 12 meters wide. It was discovered 12 meters below ground in good condition and this was the second sacred lake found at Tanis. The first lake at the site had been identified in 1928, a French archeological team selected a site from the imagery and confirmed mud-brick structures approximately 30 cm below the surface
13.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
14.
Egyptian language
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The language spoken in ancient Egypt was a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. The earliest known complete sentence in the Egyptian language has been dated to about 2690 BCE, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the seventeenth century in the form of Coptic. The national language of modern Egypt is Egyptian Arabic, which gradually replaced Coptic as the language of life in the centuries after the Muslim conquest of Egypt. Coptic is still used as the language of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It has several hundred fluent speakers today, the Egyptian language belongs to the Afroasiatic language family. Of the other Afroasiatic branches, Egyptian shows its greatest affinities with Semitic, in Egyptian, the Proto-Afroasiatic voiced consonants */d z ð/ developed into pharyngeal ⟨ꜥ⟩ /ʕ/, e. g. Eg. Afroasiatic */l/ merged with Egyptian ⟨n⟩, ⟨r⟩, ⟨ꜣ⟩, and ⟨j⟩ in the dialect on which the language was based. Original */k g ḳ/ palatalize to ⟨ṯ j ḏ⟩ in some environments and are preserved as ⟨k g q⟩ in others, Egyptian has many biradical and perhaps monoradical roots, in contrast to the Semitic preference for triradical roots. Egyptian probably is more archaic in this regard, whereas Semitic likely underwent later regularizations converting roots into the triradical pattern, scholars group the Egyptian language into six major chronological divisions, Archaic Egyptian language Old Egyptian language Middle Egyptian language, characterizing Middle Kingdom. Demotic Coptic The earliest Egyptian glyphs date back to around 3300 BC and these early texts are generally lumped together under the general term Archaic Egyptian. They record names, titles and labels, but a few of them show morphological and syntactic features familiar from later, more complete, Old Egyptian is dated from the oldest known complete sentence, found in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen and dated to around 2690 BCE. It reads, dmḏ. n. f t3wj n z3. f nswt-bjt pr-jb. snj He has united the Two Lands for his son, extensive texts appear from about 2600 BCE. Demotic first appears about 650 BCE and survived as a written language until the fifth century CE and it probably survived in the Egyptian countryside as a spoken language for several centuries after that. Bohairic Coptic is still used by the Coptic Churches, Old, Middle, and Late Egyptian were all written using hieroglyphs and hieratic. Demotic was written using a script derived from hieratic, its appearance is similar to modern Arabic script and is also written from right to left. Coptic is written using the Coptic alphabet, a form of the Greek alphabet with a number of symbols borrowed from Demotic for sounds that did not occur in ancient Greek. Arabic became the language of Egypts political administration soon after the early Muslim conquests in the seventh century, today, Coptic survives as the sacred language of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Coptic Catholic Church
15.
Ramesses XI
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Menmaatre Ramesses XI reigned from 1107 BC to 1078 BC or 1077 BC and was the tenth and final pharaoh of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt. He ruled Egypt for at least 29 years although some Egyptologists think he could have ruled for as long as 30, the latter figure would be up to 2 years beyond this kings highest known date of Year 10 of the Whm Mswt era or Year 28 of his reign. One scholar, Ad Thijs, has suggested that Ramesses XI reigned as long as 33 years—such is the degree of uncertainty surrounding the end of his long reign. Piankh is known to have campaigned in Nubia during Year 28 of Ramesses XIs reign, Ramesses XI was once thought to be the son of Ramesses X by Queen Tyti who was a Kings Mother, Kings Wife and Kings Daughter in her titles. Hence, Ramesses XIs mother was not Tyti and although he could have been a son of his predecessor, Ramesses XI is believed to have married Tentamun, the daughter of Nebseny, with whom he is assumed to have fathered Duathathor-Henuttawy—the future wife of the high priest Pinedjem I. Ramesses XI may have had another daughter named Tentamun who became king Smendes future wife in the next dynasty. Sometime during his reign, the High Priest of Amun, Amenhotep, was ousted from office by Pinehesy, the Viceroy of Kush who for some time took control of the Thebais. Ramesses XIs reign is notable for a number of important papyri that have been discovered, including the Adoption Papyrus. Ambras, the Turin Taxation Papyrus, of an unspecified year 12,10068, which includes on its verso two lists, called the House-list and the Srmt-list, Pap. 9997, of an unspecified year 14 and 15, and a series of Late Ramesside Letters written by -among others- the scribes of the Necropolis Dhutmose, Butehamun. Late Ramesside Letter no.9 establishes that the Whm Mswt period lasted into a 10th year. These individuals were recorded as only an ordinary Doorkeeper and Warehouseman in Papyri BM10403 and BM10052 respectively, which are explicitly dated to Year 1 and 2 of the Whm Mswt period. Thijs proceeds to use several anonymous Year 14 and 15 dates in another papyrus, BM9997, to argue that Ramesses XI lived at least into his 32nd and 33rd Regnal Years. This document mentions a certain Sermont, who was titled a ordinary Medjay in the Year 12 House-list but is called Chief of the Medjay in Papyrus BM9997. Sermonts promotion would thus mean that BM9997 postdates the House-list Papyrus, if true, then Ramesses XI should have survived into his 33rd Regnal Year or Year 15 of the Whm Mswt era before dying. 5, line 15 this same individual is presented as a mere “Doorkeeper”. Nevertheless, Thijs case for a Year 33 proper for Ramesses XI should be treated with caution, since there are two attested promotions of individuals in 2 separate papyri, however, there is a possibility that Ramesses XI did live into his 33rd regnal Year. Due to this connection, Thijs argued that the Taxation Papyrus also belonged to the whm-mswt era
16.
Pierre Montet
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Jean Pierre Marie Montet was a French Egyptologist. Montet was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, Rhône, and began his studies under Victor Loret at the University of Lyon and he excavated at Byblos in Lebanon between 1921 and 1924, excavating tombs of rulers from Middle Kingdom times. The latter tomb contained a gold bracelet of Osorkon I, Takelots father and he also found the fully plundered tomb of Osorkon II as well as the partly plundered tomb of this kings son, Prince Hornakht. The start of World War II in Western Europe in May 1940 stopped all work at Tanis. However, after the war, Montet resumed his activities at Tanis and proceeded to uncover the tomb of General Wendjebauendjed. During his academic career, he served as Professor of Egyptology at the University of Strasbourg from 1919 to 1948 and then at the Collège de France and he died in Paris on June 19,1966. Montet believed that his excavations at Tanis had uncovered Pi-Ramesses, after his death, Austrian Egyptologist Manfred Bietak discovered that although Montet had discovered Pi-Ramesses stonework at Tanis, the true location of the ancient city lay some 30 km to the south. Montet can be credited, however, as the discoverer of the city of Pi-Ramesses
17.
Upper and Lower Egypt
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Upper and Lower Egypt also referred to as The Two Lands is a name used for Ancient Egypt. The concept appears in titles of Egyptian Kings and Queens and appears in scenes in temple, tombs, the concept also refers to an innate sense of duality in the Ancient Egyptian culture. The Egyptian expression sema-tawy is usually translated as The Uniter of the Two Lands and was depicted as a human trachea entwined with the papyrus, the trachea stood for unification, while the papyrus and lily plant represent Lower and Upper Egypt. Standard titles of a King of Egypt was King of Upper and Lower Egypt, similarly a Queen might use titles such as Lady of The Two Lands, Mistress of the Entire Two Lands, and Mistress of the Two Lands. Ancient Egypt was divided into two regions, namely Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, to the north was Lower Egypt, where the Nile stretched out with its several branches to form the Nile Delta. To the south was Upper Egypt, stretching to Syene, Lower Egypt mostly consists of the Nile Delta. The two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united c.3000 BC, but each maintained its own regalia, the hedjet or White Crown for Upper Egypt and the deshret or Red Crown for Lower Egypt. Thus, the pharaohs were known as the rulers of the Two Lands, and wore the pschent, Ancient Egyptian tradition credited Menes, now believed to be the same as Narmer, as the king who united Upper and Lower Egypt. On the Narmer Palette the king is depicted wearing the Red Crown in one scene and the White crown in another, the union of Upper and Lower Egypt is depicted by knotted papyrus and reed plants. The binding motif represents both harmony through linkage and domination through containment, the duality is an important part of royal iconography. Sometimes the duality is further extended by having the knotted plants extend and bind foreign foes as well, during the first dynasty dualistic royal titles emerge, including the King of Upper and Lower Egypt title which combines the plant representing Upper Egypt and a bee representing Lower Egypt. The other dualistic title is the Two Ladies name or Nebty name, the two ladies as Nekhbet, the vulture goddess associated with Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt, and Wadjet, the cobra goddess associated with Buto in Lower Egypt. There are many depictions of the ritual unifications of the Two Lands and it is not known if this was perhaps a rite that would have been enacted at the beginning of a reign, or merely a symbolic representation. Many of the depictions of the show two gods binding the plants. Often the gods are Horus and Set, or on occasion Horus, there are several examples of Barque stands from the reigns of Amenhotep III, Taharqa, and Atlanersa that show two river gods performing the rite. This matches a scene from the Temple at Abu Simbel from the time of Ramesses II, there are only a handful of scenes that show the King himself performing the ritual. All of these are from barque stands and date to the reigns of Amenhotep III, Sety I, the latter two may be copies of the first one. Upper Egypt Lower Egypt Narmer History of ancient Egypt
18.
KV62
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KV62 is the standard Egyptological designation for the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, now renowned for the wealth of valuable antiquities it contained. The tomb was densely packed with items in great disarray, partly due to its small size, the two robberies, and the apparently hurried nature of its completion. Due to the state of the tomb, and to Carters meticulous recording technique, the tomb took eight years to empty, Tutankhamuns tomb had been entered at least twice, not long after he was buried and well before Carters discovery. The outermost doors of the enclosing the kings nested coffins were unsealed. In 1907, just before his discovery of the tomb of Horemheb, erroneously assuming that this site, numbered finally as KV54, was Tutankhamuns complete tomb, Davis concluded the dig. But Davis was to be proven spectacularly wrong, the British Egyptologist Howard Carter hired a crew to help him excavate at the site of KV62. Carter went back to a line of huts that he had abandoned a few seasons earlier, after clearance of the huts and rock debris beneath, they found a stone step cut into the bedrock. A flight of steps was partially uncovered, leading to the top of a mud-plastered doorway stamped with indistinct oval seals, called cartouches. Carter ordered the staircase to be refilled, and sent a telegram to Carnarvon, the excavators cleared the stairway completely, which allowed clearer seals lower down on the door to be read, seals bearing the name of Tutankhamun. However, further examination showed that the blocking had been breached and resealed on at least two occasions. Clearing the blocking led to a corridor that was completely blocked with packed limestone chippings, through which a robbers tunnel had been excavated. At the end of the tunnel was a sealed door that had been breached and re-sealed in antiquity. Carter then made a hole in the door, and used a candle to check for foul gases, the first step to the stairs was found on November 4,1922. The following day saw the exposure of a complete staircase, the end of November saw access to the antechamber and the discovery of the annex, and then the burial chamber and treasury. On November 29, the tomb was opened, and the first announcement, the first item was removed from the tomb on December 27. On February 16,1923, the chamber was opened. On February 12,1924, the lid of the sarcophagus was raised. In April, Carter argued with the Antiquities Service and left the excavation for the United States, work started in the treasury on October 24,1926, and between October 30 and December 15,1927, the annex was emptied and examined
19.
Tutankhamun
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Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom or sometimes the New Empire Period. He has, since his discovery, been referred to as King Tut. His original name, Tutankhaten, means Living Image of Aten, in hieroglyphs, the name Tutankhamun was typically written Amen-tut-ankh, because of a scribal custom that placed a divine name at the beginning of a phrase to show appropriate reverence. The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Tutankhamuns nearly intact tomb received worldwide press coverage and it sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamuns mask, now in the Egyptian Museum, remains the popular symbol. Exhibits of artifacts from his tomb have toured the world, in February 2010, the results of DNA tests confirmed that he was the son of Akhenaten. His mother was Akhenatens sister and wife, whose name is unknown, the mysterious deaths of a few of those who excavated Tutankhamuns tomb has been popularly attributed to the curse of the pharaohs. Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaten and one of Akhenatens sisters, as a prince, he was known as Tutankhaten. He ascended to the throne in 1333 BC, at the age of nine or ten and his wet nurse was a woman called Maia, known from her tomb at Saqqara. His teacher was most likely Sennedjem, when he became king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten, who later changed her name to Ankhesenamun. They had two daughters, both stillborn, computed tomography studies released in 2011 revealed that one daughter died at 5–6 months of pregnancy and the other at 9 months of pregnancy. No evidence was found in either mummy of congenital anomalies or an apparent cause of death, given his age, the king probably had very powerful advisers, presumably including General Horemheb and Grand Vizier Ay. Horemheb records that the king appointed him lord of the land as hereditary prince to maintain law and he also noted his ability to calm the young king when his temper flared. In his third year, under the influence of his advisors. He ended the worship of the god Aten and restored the god Amun to supremacy, the ban on the cult of Amun was lifted and traditional privileges were restored to its priesthood. The capital was moved back to Thebes and the city of Akhetaten abandoned and this is when he changed his name to Tutankhamun, Living image of Amun, reinforcing the restoration of Amun. As part of his restoration, the king initiated building projects, in particular at Karnak in Thebes, many monuments were erected, and an inscription on his tomb door declares the king had spent his life in fashioning the images of the gods. The traditional festivals were now celebrated again, including those related to the Apis Bull, Horemakhet and his restoration stela says, The temples of the gods and goddesses. Their shrines were deserted and overgrown and their sanctuaries were as non-existent and their courts were used as roads
20.
Lapis lazuli
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Lapis lazuli, or lapis for short, is a deep blue, semi-precious stone prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, in Shortugai, Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Lapis beads have been found at burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus. It was used in the mask of Tutankhamun. At the end of the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, today, mines in northeast Afghanistan and Pakistan are still the major source of lapis lazuli. Important amounts are produced from mines west of Lake Baikal in Russia. Smaller quantities are mined in Italy, Mongolia, the United States, the name Lapis lazuli came to be associated with its color. The English word azure, French azur, Italian azzurro, Polish lazur, Romanian azur and azuriu, Portuguese and Spanish azul, the most important mineral component of lapis lazuli is lazurite, a feldspathoid silicate mineral with the formula 861-2. Most lapis lazuli also contains calcite, sodalite, and pyrite, some samples of lapis lazuli contain augite, diopside, enstatite, mica, hauynite, hornblende, nosean, and sulfur-rich löllingite geyerite. Lapis lazuli usually occurs in marble as a result of contact metamorphism. The intense blue color is due to the presence of the radical anion in the crystal. An electronic excitation of one electron from the highest doubly filled molecular orbital into the lowest singly occupied orbital results in an intense absorption line at λmax ~617 nm. Lapis lazuli is found in limestone in the Kokcha River valley of Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan, Afghanistan was the source of lapis for the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, as well as the later Greeks and Romans. Ancient Egyptians obtained this material through trade from Afghanistan, during the height of the Indus Valley Civilisation about 2000 BC, the Harappan colony now known as Shortugai was established near the lapis mines. In addition to the Afghan deposits, lapis is also extracted in the Andes and it is mined in smaller amounts in Angola, Argentina, Burma, Pakistan, Canada, Italy, India, and in the United States in California and Colorado. Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, small statues, during the Renaissance, Lapis was ground and processed to make the pigment ultramarine for use in frescoes and oil painting. Its usage as a pigment in oil paint largely ended in the early 19th century when a chemically identical synthetic variety became available, Lapis lazuli is commercially synthesized or simulated by the Gilson process, which is used to make artificial ultramarine and hydrous zinc phosphates. It may also be substituted by spinel or sodalite, or by dyed jasper or howlite, Lapis lazuli has been mined in Afghanistan and exported to the Mediterranean world and South Asia since the Neolithic age
21.
Egyptian Museum
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The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or Museum of Cairo, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with an amount on display. The edifice is one of the largest museums in the region, as of February 2017, the museum is open to the public. The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities contains many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history and it houses the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities. The Egyptian government established the museum, built in 1835 near the Ezbekeyah Garden, in 1855 Archduke Maximilian of Austria was given all of the artifacts by the Egyptian government, these are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. A new museum was established at Boulaq in 1858 in a former warehouse, the building lay on the bank of the Nile River, and in 1878 it suffered significant damage in a flood of the Nile River. In 1891, the collections were moved to a royal palace. They remained there until 1902 when they were moved, for the last time, during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the museum was broken into, and two mummies were destroyed. Several artifacts were shown to have been damaged. Since then 25 objects have been found and those that were restored were put on display in September 2013 in an exhibition entitled Damaged and Restored. There are two floors in the museum, the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground there is an extensive collection of papyrus. The numerous pieces of papyrus are generally small fragments, due to their decay over the past two millennia, several languages are found on these pieces, including Greek, Latin, Arabic, and ancient Egyptian. The coins found on floor are made of many different metals, including gold, silver. The coins are not only Egyptian, but also Greek, Roman and this has helped historians research the history of Ancient Egyptian trade. Also on the floor are artifacts from the New Kingdom. These artifacts are generally larger than items created in earlier centuries, two special rooms contain a number of mummies of kings and other royal family members of the New Kingdom. In the garden adjacent to the building of the museum a memorial to famous egyptologists of the world is located, the Murder of Tutankhamen, A True Story
22.
Sarcophagus
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A sarcophagus is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word sarcophagus comes from the Greek σάρξ sarx meaning flesh, since lithos is Greek for stone, lithos sarcophagos means, flesh-eating stone. The word also came to refer to a kind of limestone that was thought to decompose the flesh of corpses trapped within it. Sarcophagi were most often designed to remain above ground, in Ancient Egypt, a sarcophagus acted like an outer shell. They are made of clay in shades of brown to pink. Added to the basin-like main sarcophagus is a broad, rectangular frame, often covered with a white slip and then painted. The huge Lycian Tomb of Payava, now in the British Museum, is a tomb monument of about 360 BC designed for an open-air placing. However, there are many important Early Christian sarcophagi from the 3rd to 4th centuries, most Roman examples were designed to be placed against a wall and are decorated on three of the sides only. More plain sarcophagi were placed in crypts, of which the most famous include the Habsburg Imperial Crypt in Vienna. The term tends to be often used to describe Medieval, Renaissance. They continued to be popular into the 1950s, at time the popularity of flat memorials made them obsolete. Nonetheless, a 1952 catalog from the industry still included 8 pages of them, broken down into Georgian and Classical detail, a Gothic and Renaissance adaptation. Shown on the right are sarcophagi from the late 19th century located in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the one in the back, the Warner Monument created by Alexander Milne Calder, features the spirit or soul of the deceased being released. In Sulawesi, Indonesia, waruga are a form of sarcophagus. Mont Allen, Sarcophagus, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, edited by Michael Gagarin, R. R. R. Smith, Sculptured for Eternity, Treasures of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Art from Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Ewald, Living with Myths, The Imagery of Roman Sarcophagi, egyptian sarcophagi sarcaphagi in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Sarcophagus
23.
Valley of the Kings
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The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes, within the heart of the Theban Necropolis. The wadi consists of two valleys, East Valley and West Valley, with the 2005 discovery of a new chamber. And the 2008 discovery of two further tomb entrances, the valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers and it was the principal burial place of the major royal figures of the Egyptian New Kingdom, as well as a number of privileged nobles. The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology and give clues as to the beliefs, almost all of the tombs seem to have been opened and robbed in antiquity, but they still give an idea of the opulence and power of the Pharaohs. This area has been a focus of archaeological and egyptological exploration since the end of the eighteenth century, in modern times the valley has become famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. In 1979, it became a World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis, exploration, excavation and conservation continues in the valley, and a new tourist centre has recently been opened. The types of soil where the Valley of the Kings is located are a sandwich of dense limestone and other sedimentary rock. During the Pleistocene the valley was carved out of the plateau by steady rains, there is currently little year-round rain in this part of Egypt, but there are occasional flash floods that hit the valley, dumping tons of debris into the open tombs. The quality of the rock in the Valley is inconsistent, ranging from finely-grained to coarse stone, the occasional layer of shale also caused construction and conservation difficulties, as this rock expands in the presence of water, forcing apart the stone surrounding it. It is thought that some tombs were altered in shape and size depending on the types of rock the builders encountered, builders took advantage of available geological features when constructing the tombs. Some tombs were quarried out of existing limestone clefts, others behind slopes of scree, the problems of tomb construction can be seen with tombs of Ramesses III and his father Setnakhte. Setnakhte started to excavate KV11 but broke into the tomb of Amenmesse, so construction was abandoned and he usurped the tomb of Twosret. When looking for a tomb, Ramesses III extended the partly-excavated tomb started by his father, the tomb of Ramesses II returned to an early style, with a bent axis, probably due to the quality of the rock being excavated. The area of the Theban hills is subject to infrequent violent thunder storms, recent studies have shown that there are at least seven active flood stream beds leading down into the central area of the valley. This central area appears to have been flooded at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the tombs KV63, KV62, and KV55 are dug into the actual wadi bedrock rather than the debris, showing that the level of the valley was five meters below its present level. This was the area that was the subject of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project ground scanning radar investigation, the Theban Hills are dominated by the peak of al-Qurn, known to the Ancient Egyptians as ta dehent, or The Peak. It has an appearance, and it is probable that this echoed the pyramids of the Old Kingdom. Its isolated position also resulted in reduced access, and special police were able to guard the necropolis
24.
Third Intermediate Period
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The Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1070 BC, ending the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. The period was one of decline and political instability, coinciding with the Late Bronze Age collapse of civilizations in the Near East and it marked by division of the state for much of the period and conquest and rule by foreigners. But many aspects of life for ordinary Egyptians changed relatively little, the period of the Twenty-First Dynasty is characterized by the countrys fracturing kingship. Even in Ramesses XIs day, the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt was losing its grip on power in the city of Thebes, after his death, his successor Smendes I ruled from the city of Tanis, but was mostly active only in Lower Egypt which they controlled. Meanwhile, the High Priests of Amun at Thebes effectively ruled Middle and Upper Egypt in all, however, this division was less significant than it seems, since both priests and pharaohs came from the same family. The country was reunited by the Twenty-Second Dynasty founded by Shoshenq I in 945 BC. In Thebes, a civil war engulfed the city between the forces of Pedubast I, who had proclaimed himself Pharaoh versus the existing line of Takelot II/Osorkon B. These two factions squabbled consistently and the conflict was resolved in Year 39 of Shoshenq III when Osorkon B comprehensively defeated his enemies. The Nubian kingdom to the south took full advantage of this division, piye established the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty and appointed the defeated rulers as his provincial governors. He was succeeded first by his brother, Shabaka, and then by his two sons Shebitku and Taharqa respectively, the reunited Nile valley empire of the 25th dynasty was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom. Pharaohs, such as Taharqa, built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile valley, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, Jebel Barkal, the 25th dynasty ended with its rulers retreating to their spiritual homeland at Napata. It was there that all 25th dynasty pharaohs are buried under the first pyramids to be constructed in the Nile valley in millennia, the Napatan dynasty led to the Kingdom of Kush, which flourished in Napata and Meroe until at least the 2nd century AD. The international prestige of Egypt had declined considerably by this time, the countrys international allies had fallen firmly into the sphere of influence of Assyria and from about 700 BC the question became when, not if, there would be war between the two states. This disparity became critical during the Assyrian invasion of Egypt in 670 BC, consequently, Pharaoh Taharqas reign, and that of his successor and cousin Tantamani, were filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians. In 664 BC the Assyrians delivered a blow, sacking Thebes. In 656 BC Psamtik I occupied Thebes and became Pharaoh, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, four successive Saite kings continued guiding Egypt into another period of peace and prosperity from 610 to 525 BC. Unfortunately for this dynasty, a new power was growing in the Near East – Persia, Pharaoh Psamtik III had succeeded his father Ahmose II for only 6 months before he had to face the Persian Empire at Pelusium. The Persians had already taken Babylon and Egypt was no match, the historiography of this period is disputed for a variety of reasons
25.
Cartouche
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In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche /kɑːrˈtuːʃ/ is an oval with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. They came into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, while the cartouche is usually vertical with a horizontal line, it is sometimes horizontal if it makes the name fit better, with a vertical line on the left. The Ancient Egyptian word for it was shenu, and it was essentially an expanded shen ring, in Demotic, the cartouche was reduced to a pair of brackets and a vertical line. Of the five royal titularies it was the prenomen, the name, and the Son of Ra titulary, the so-called nomen name given at birth. At times amulets were given the form of a cartouche displaying the name of a king, such items are often important to archaeologists for dating the tomb and its contents. Cartouches were formerly worn by Pharaohs. The oval surrounding their name was meant to them from evil spirits in life. The cartouche has become a symbol representing good luck and protection from evil, egyptians believed that one who had their name recorded somewhere would not disappear after death. A cartouche attached to a coffin satisfied this requirement, there were periods in Egyptian history when people refrained from inscribing these amulets with a name, for fear they might fall into somebodys hands conferring power over the bearer of the name. In the Rosetta Stone, the hieroglyph is used for the word name. For the cartouche cut in half, the half-cartouche hieroglyph, Gardiners sign listed no, v11, is used in the Egyptian language for words meaning, to cut, to divide, to separate. It was the use of cartouches on the Rosetta Stone that was the biggest clue allowing Jean-François Champollion to decipher hieroglyphics, cartouche Serekh, a predecessor to the cartouche Shen ring General Budge. The Rosetta Stone, E. A. Wallis Budge, c, archived from the original on June 15,2011
26.
Merenptah
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Merneptah or Merenptah was the fourth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He may have born in 1273 BC, ruling Egypt for almost ten years from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2,1203 BC. He was the son of Ramesses II and only came to power because all his older brothers. By the time he ascended to the throne he was almost sixty years old and his throne name was Ba-en-re Mery-netjeru, which means The Soul of Ra, Beloved of the Gods. It is presumed that Merneptah also was married to Queen Takhat and one of their sons would become the later Nineteenth Dynasty pharaoh, Seti II. They also were the parents of prince Merenptah and possibly the usurper, Amenmesse, Merneptah had to carry out several military campaigns during his reign. In year 5 he fought against the Libyans, who—with the assistance of the Sea Peoples—were threatening Egypt from the West, Merneptah led a victorious six-hour battle against a combined Libyan and Sea People force at the city of Perire, probably located on the western edge of the Delta. Later in the inscription Merneptah receives news of the attack and he has brought his wife and his children--leaders of the camp, and he has reached the western boundary in the fields of Perire. In the Athribis Stele, in the garden of Cairo Museum, it states His majesty was enraged at their report, like a lion, assembled his court and gave a rousing speech. Later he dreamed he saw Ptah handing him a sword and saying Take thou, when the bowmen went forth, says the inscription, Amun was with them as a shield. After six hours the surviving Nine Bows threw down their weapons, abandoned their baggage and dependents, Merneptah states that he defeated the invasion, killing 6,000 soldiers and taking 9,000 prisoners. its seed is no more. This is the first recognised ancient Egyptian record of the existence of Israel--not as a country or city, Merneptah was already an elderly man in his late 60s, if not early 70s, when he assumed the throne. Merneptah moved the center of Egypt from Piramesse, his fathers capital, back to Memphis. This palace was excavated in 1915 by the University of Pennsylvania Museum, merneptahs successor, Seti II, was a son of Queen Isetnofret. Seti was able to reassert his authority over Thebes in his fifth year and it is possible that before seizing Upper Egypt, Amenmesse had been known as Messuwy and had been viceroy of Kush. Merneptah suffered from arthritis and atherosclerosis and died an old man after a reign which lasted for nearly a decade, Merneptah was originally buried within tomb KV8 in the Valley of the Kings, but his mummy was not found there. In 1898 it was located along with eighteen other mummies in the mummy found in the tomb of Amenhotep II by Victor Loret. Merneptahs mummy was taken to Cairo and eventually unwrapped by Dr. G. Elliott Smith on July 8,1907, Dr Smith notes that, The body is that of an old man and is 1 meter 714 millimeters in height
27.
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
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The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Founded by Vizier Ramesses I, whom Pharaoh Horemheb chose as his successor to the throne, the warrior kings of the early 18th Dynasty had encountered only little resistance from neighbouring kingdoms, allowing them to expand their realm of influence easily. The situation had changed radically towards the end of the 18th Dynasty, the Hittites gradually extended their influence into Syria and Canaan to become a major power in international politics, a power that both Seti I and his son Ramesses II would need to deal with. The Pharaohs of the 19th dynasty ruled for one hundred and ten years. Seti Is reign is considered to be 11 years and not 15 years by both J. von Beckerath and Peter Brand, who wrote a biography on this pharaohs reign. Consequently, it will be amended to 11 years or 1290-1279 BC, therefore, Setis father and predecessor would have ruled Egypt between 1292-1290 BC. Many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes, more information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website. New Kingdom Egypt reached the zenith of its power under Seti I and Ramesses II, who campaigned vigorously against the Libyans and the Hittites. The city of Kadesh was first captured by Seti I, who decided to concede it to Muwatalli of Hatti in a peace treaty between Egypt and Hatti. He ultimately accepted that a campaign against the Hittites was a drain on Egypts treasury and military. In his 21st regnal year, Ramesses signed the first recorded peace treaty with Urhi-Teshubs successor, Hattusili III, Ramesses II even married two Hittite princesses, the first after his second Sed Festival. At least as early as Josephus, it was believed that Moses lived during the reign of Ramesses II and this dynasty declined as internal fighting between the heirs of Merneptah for the throne increased. Amenmesse apparently usurped the throne from Merneptahs son and successor, Seti II, after his death, Seti regained power and destroyed most of Amenmesses monuments. Both Bay and Setis chief wife Twosret had a reputation in Ancient Egyptian folklore. After Siptahs death, Twosret ruled Egypt for two years, but she proved unable to maintain her hold on power amid the conspiracies. She was likely ousted in a revolt led by Setnakhte, founder of the Twentieth Dynasty, Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt Family Tree
28.
Ramesses II
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Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great and Ozymandias, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He often is regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and his successors and later Egyptians called him the Great Ancestor. Ramesses II led several expeditions into the Levant, reasserting Egyptian control over Canaan. He also led expeditions to the south, into Nubia, commemorated in inscriptions at Beit el-Wali, at age fourteen, Ramesses was appointed Prince Regent by his father Seti I. He is believed to have taken the throne in his teens and is known to have ruled Egypt from 1279 BC to 1213 BC. Manetho attributes Ramesses II a reign of 66 years and 2 months, most Egyptologists today believe he assumed the throne on May 31,1279 BC, estimates of his age at death vary,90 or 91 is considered most likely. Ramesses II celebrated an unprecedented 14 sed festivals during his reign—more than any other pharaoh. On his death, he was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, his later was moved to a royal cache where it was discovered in 1881. The early part of his reign was focused on building cities, temples and he established the city of Pi-Ramesses in the Nile Delta as his new capital and used it as the main base for his campaigns in Syria. He is known as Ozymandias in the Greek sources, from a transliteration into Greek of a part of Ramesses throne name, Usermaatre Setepenre, The justice of Rê is powerful – chosen of Rê. Early in his life, Ramesses II embarked on campaigns to restore possession of previously held territories lost to the Nubians and Hittites. He also was responsible for suppressing some Nubian revolts and carrying out a campaign in Libya, during Ramesses IIs reign, the Egyptian army is estimated to have totaled about 100,000 men, a formidable force that he used to strengthen Egyptian influence. The Sherden people probably came from the coast of Ionia, from southwest Anatolia or perhaps, a stele from Tanis speaks of their having come in their war-ships from the midst of the sea, and none were able to stand before them. In that sea battle, together with the Sherden, the pharaoh also defeated the Lukka, the immediate antecedents to the Battle of Kadesh were the early campaigns of Ramesses II into Canaan. The inscription is almost totally illegible, due to weathering, additional records tell us that he was forced to fight a Canaanite prince who was mortally wounded by an Egyptian archer, and whose army subsequently, was routed. Ramesses carried off the princes of Canaan as live prisoners to Egypt, Ramesses then plundered the chiefs of the Asiatics in their own lands, returning every year to his headquarters at Riblah to exact tribute. In the fourth year of his reign, he captured the Hittite vassal state of Amurru during his campaign in Syria, the Battle of Kadesh in his fifth regnal year was the climactic engagement in a campaign that Ramesses fought in Syria, against the resurgent Hittite forces of Muwatallis. The pharaoh wanted a victory at Kadesh both to expand Egypts frontiers into Syria, and to emulate his father Seti Is triumphal entry into the city just a decade or so earlier and he also constructed his new capital, Pi-Ramesses
29.
Cairo University
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Cairo University is Egypts premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo and it was founded and funded as the Egyptian University by a committee of private citizens with royal patronage in 1908 and became a state institution under King Fuad I in 1925. In 1940, four years following his death, the University was renamed King Fuad I University in his honor and it was renamed a second time after the Free Officer’s Coup of 1952. The University currently enrolls approximately 155,000 students in 22 faculties and it counts three Nobel Laureates among its graduates and is one of the 50 largest institutions of higher education in the world by enrollment. The university was founded on 21 December 1908, as the result of an effort to establish a center for higher education. Several constituent colleges preceded the establishment of the university including the College of Engineering in 1816, Cairo University was founded as a European-inspired civil university, in contrast to the religious university of Al Azhar, and became the prime indigenous model for other state universities. In 1928, the first group of students enrolled at the university. Armenian bureaucrat Yaqub Artin made the first known published reference to establishing an Egyptian university in 1894, in a report, he suggested the existing higher professional schools could well provide the basis for a university. Syrian journalist Jurji Zaydan called for an Egyptian college school in 1900 in his monthly magazine Al-Hilal, the new school would provide an alternative to the student missions to Europe begun under Muhammad Ali. Controversy surrounding Zaydan’s publications would later prevent him taking a teaching post at the University. A number of other prominent Egyptians played a role in the university’s foundation, as Donald M. Wealthy Egyptians began to independently pledge funds to the establishment of a university as early as 1905. Following the Dinshaway incident, Mustafa Kamil al-Ghamrawi, a notable from Beni Suef. Mustafa Kamil published a call for funds, while Saad Zaghlul. The members of the meeting founded a committee with Zaghlul as vice-president and Amin as secretary, however, splinters quickly emerged between the Watanists, the disciples of Abduh and the Royalists, leaving the project in the hands of the Palace. By the time of its establishment in 1908, Prince Fuad I was the rector, the British, particularly Lord Cromer, had continually opposed the establishment of such a university. Only a year after his departure from Egypt, under Sir Eldon Gorst, was the Egyptian University finally established, the Egyptian educational system remained woefully underdeveloped under British rule. Two decades after occupation, education received less than 1 percent of the state budget, Donald M. Reid speculates that this was due to fear that European-style education would create political unrest or foment opposition to British rule. Cromer also opposed providing financial aid to the university after the committee began to pursue the matter independently of the British
30.
Menkheperre
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Menkheperre, son of Pharaoh Pinedjem I by wife Duathathor-Henuttawy, was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt from 1045 BC to 992 BC and de facto ruler of the south of the country. Menkheperres eldest full brother Masaharta followed their father Pinedjem I as High Priest and he was followed by another brother, Djedkhonsuefankh, after whose death, in the 25th year of Smendes I, Menkheperre became High Priest. With his elder half-brother ruling at Tanis as Pharaoh Psusennes I, Menkheperres power, like that of Masaharta, Menkheperre married his niece Isetemkheb, daughter of his brother Psusennes I and wife Wiay. Their children were, Smendes II, also called Nesbanebdjed II, henuttawy C, wife of Smendes II, Chantress of Amun. She is mentioned on the 10th pylon of the Karnak temple and she was buried in the Deir el-Bahari tomb MMA60, her coffins are now in Boston and New York. She had a daughter called Isetemkheb, Pinedjem II, High Priest after his brothers death. He married his sister Isetemkheb and became the father of Pharaoh Psusennes II, Isetemkheb D, wife of Pinedjem II. Hori, priest of Amun and Seth and his mummy and coffins were found at Bab el-Gasus and are now in Cairo. She was buried at Bab el-Gasus under the pontificate of Psusennes II and she was buried at Bab el-Gasus, her coffins and papyrus are now in Cairo. She was married to Tjanefer, Third Prophet of Amun and their sons, Pinedjem and Menkheperre became Third and Fourth Prophet of Amun, respectively. Banishment Stela, a stela issued by Menkheperre during his early pontificate, philippe Collombert, Quand Menkheperre sadresse à Amon, RdÉ48, 257-259. Cathie Spieser, La titulature du grand-prêtre dAmon Menkheperré de la statuette N43 du Musée de Durham, CdÉ77, 47-54
31.
Smendes
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Hedjkheperre Setepenre Smendes was the founder of the Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt and succeeded to the throne after burying Ramesses XI in Lower Egypt – territory which he controlled. While Smendes precise origins remain a mystery, he is thought to have been a governor in Lower Egypt during the Renaissance era of Ramesses XI. Nesibanebdjedet may have been a son of a lady named Hrere, Hrere was a Chief of the Harem of Amun-Re and likely the wife of a high priest of Amun. If Hrere was the mother of Nesibanebdjedet, then he was a brother of Nodjmet and through her brother-in-law of the High Priests Herihor, Nesibanebdjedet was married to Tentamun B, likely a daughter of Ramesses IX. They may have been the parents of his successor Amenemnisu, Smendes features prominently in the Report of Wenamun. This story is set in an anonymous Year 5, generally taken to be year 5 of the so-called Renaissance of Pharaoh Ramesses XI, however, since Karl Jansen-Winkeln has proposed to reverse the order of the High Priests of Amun Herihor and Piankh, this ascription has become disputed. Following Jansen-Winkeln, Arno Egberts therefore argues that the story is set in the regnal year of Smendes. Wenamun first visits Smendes at Tanis and personally presented his letters of accreditation to Smendes in order to receive the permission to travel north to modern Lebanon. Smendes responds by dispatching a ship for Wenamuns travels to Syria, Smendes appears as a person of the highest importance in Tanis. The quarry stela describes how Smendes while residing in Memphis, heard of danger to the temple of Luxor from flooding, gave orders for repairs, Smendes is assigned a reign of 26 Years by Manetho in his Epitome and was the husband of Tentamun. Menkheperre then exiled the leaders of the rebellion to the Western Desert Oases and these individuals were pardoned several years later during the reign of Smendes successor, Amenemnisu. His prenomen or throne name Hedjkheperre Setepenre/Setepenamun—which means Bright is the Manifestation of Rê, Chosen of Rê/Amun—became very popular in the following 22nd Dynasty and 23rd Dynasty. In all, five kings, Shoshenq I, Shoshenq IV, Takelot I, Takelot II, on the death of Smendes in 1052 BC, he was succeeded by Neferkare Amenemnisu, who may have been this kings son. Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell Books
32.
Osorkon the Elder
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Aakheperre Setepenre Osorkon the Elder was the fifth king of the twenty-first dynasty of Ancient Egypt and was the first Pharaoh of Libyan origin. He is also known as Osochor, following Manethos Aegyptiaca. Osorkon the Elder was the son of Shoshenq A, the Great Chief of the Ma by the latters wife Mehtenweshkhet who is given the title of Kings Mother in a document. Osochor was the brother of Nimlot A, the Great Chief of the Ma, and Tentshepeh A the daughter of the Great Chief of the Ma and, thus, young argued that this king Aakheperre Setepenre was the unknown Osochor. This hypothesis was not fully accepted by all Egyptologists at that time, since none of the other kings named Osorkon had a mother named Mehtenweshkhet, it was conclusively established that Aakheperre Setepenre was indeed Manethos Osochor, whose mother was Mehtenweshkhet. The Lady Mehtenweshkhet A was also the mother of Nimlot A, Great Chief of the Meshwesh and, thus, in 1999 Chris Bennett made a case for a Queen Karimala known from an inscription in the temple of Semna being his daughter. She is called both Kings Daughter and Kings Wife and her name suggests she may have been Libyan. Given the date of the inscription, she might have been the queen of either king Siamun or king Psusennes II and this would lead to the attribution to his throne name Aakheperre both the epithets Setepenre and Setepenamun. Osorkon the Elders reign is significant because it foreshadows the coming the Libyan Twenty-second dynasty and he is credited with a reign of six years in Manethos Aegyptiaca and was succeeded in power by Siamun, who was either Osorkons son or an unrelated native Egyptian
33.
Siamun
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Neterkheperre or Netjerkheperre-setepenamun Siamun was the sixth pharaoh of Egypt during the Twenty-first dynasty. He built extensively in Lower Egypt for a king of the Third Intermediate Period and is regarded as one of the most powerful rulers of this Dynasty after Psusennes I. Siamuns prenomen, Netjerkheperre-Setepenamun, means Divine is The Manifestation of Ra, very little is known of the family relationships of Siamun. In 1999, Chris Bennett made a case for a Queen Karimala known from an inscription in the temple of Semna being the daughter of Osorkon the Elder and she is called both Kings Daughter and Kings Wife. Her name suggests she may have been Libyan, which would fit in with her being the daughter of Osorkon the Elder, given the date of the inscription, she might have been the queen of either king Siamun or king Psusennes II. What is more, a marriage to her might explain how Siamun, Siamun is often identified with the last king of Manethos 21st Dynasty, Psinaches. This king is credited with a reign of only 9 Years, however, there is no real basis for interpreting the name Psinaches as a corruption of the name Netjerkheperre-setepenamun Siamun. Recently, it has suggested that Manethos Psinaches might rather be a reference to king Tutkheperre Shoshenq as the direct successor of Manethos Osorkon the Elder. The highest attested yeardate for Siamun is a Year 17 the first month of Shemu day, mentioned in fragment 3B and it records the induction of Hori, son of Nespaneferhor into the Priesthood at Karnak. This date was a lunar Tepi Shemu feast day, based on the calculation of this lunar Tepi Shemu feast, Year 17 of Siamun has been shown by the German Egyptologist Rolf Krauss to be equivalent to 970 BC. Hence, Siamun would have taken the throne about 16 years earlier in 986 BC, a stela dated to Siamuns Year 16 records a land-sale between some minor priests of Ptah at Memphis. Henceforth, references to Pharaoh Psusennes II, Pharaoh Shoshenq I, Pharaoh Osorkon I, prior to Siamuns reign and all throughout the Middle and New Kingdom, the word pharaoh referred only to the office of the king. According to the French Egyptologist Nicolas Grimal, Siamun doubled the size of the Temple of Amun at Tanis and he also built at Heliopolis and at Piramesse where a surviving stone block bears his name. Siamun constructed and dedicated a new temple to Amun at Memphis with 6 stone columns, finally, he bestowed numerous favours onto the Memphite Priests of Ptah. These activities are dated from Year 1 to Year 10 of Siamuns reign, one fragmentary but well known surviving triumphal relief scene from the Temple of Amun at Tanis depicts an Egyptian pharaoh smiting his enemies with a mace. Siamun appears here in typical pose brandishing a mace to strike down prisoners now lost at the right except for two arms and hands, one of which grasps a remarkable double-bladed ax by its socket. More recently Paul S. Ash has put forward an argument that Siamuns relief portrays a fictitious battle. He points out that in Egyptian reliefs Philistines are never shown holding an axe, and he also argues that there is nothing in the relief to connect it with Philistia or the Levant
34.
Kom Ombo
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Kom Ombo or Ombos or Latin, Ambo and Ombi – is an agricultural town in Egypt famous for the Temple of Kom Ombo. It was originally an Egyptian city called Nubt, meaning City of Gold and it became a Greek settlement during the Greco-Roman Period. In antiquity the city was in the Thebaid, the capital of the Nomos Ombites, upon the east bank of the Nile, latitude 24°6 north. Ombos was a town under every dynasty of Egypt, Pharaonic, Macedonian, and Roman. Ombos was the first city below Syene at which any remarkable remains of antiquity occur, the Nile, indeed, at this portion of its course, was ill-suited to a dense population in antiquity. It runs between steep and narrow banks of sandstone, and deposits but little of its fertilizing slime upon the dreary, there are two temples at Ombos, constructed of the stone obtained from the neighboring quarries of Hadjar-selseleh. The smaller temple to the northwest was sacred to the goddess Isis, both, indeed, are of an imposing architecture, and still retain the brilliant colors with which their builders adorned them. They are, however, of the Ptolemaic age, with the exception of a doorway of sandstone and this was part of a temple built by Tuthmosis III in honor of the crocodile-headed god Sobek. The monarch is represented on tress, the doorjambs, holding the reed and chisel, the emblems of construction. The Ptolemaic portions of the larger temple present an exception to an almost universal rule in Egyptian architecture and it has no propylon or dromos in front of it, and the portico has an uneven number of columns, in all fifteen, arranged in a triple row. Of these columns, thirteen are still erect, as there are two principal entrances, the temple would seem to be two united in one, strengthening the supposition that it was the Pantheon of the Ombite nome. The hill on which the Ombite temples stand has been excavated at its base by the river. The crocodile was held in especial honor by the people of Ombos, juvenal, in his 15th satire, has given a lively description of a fight, of which he was an eye-witness, between the Ombitae and the inhabitants of Tentyra, who were hunters of the crocodile. On this occasion the men of Ombos had the worst of it, the satirist, however, has represented Ombos as nearer to Tentyra than it actually is, these towns, in fact, being nearly 100 miles from each other. The Roman coins of the Ombite nome exhibit the crocodile and the effigy of the crocodile-headed god Sobek, at this site there is another Nilometer used to measure the level of the river waters. On the opposite side of the Nile was a suburb of Ombos, the city was a bishopric before the Muslim conquest, and under the name Ombi is included in the Catholic Churchs list of titular sees. Karol Wojtyła was titular bishop of Ombi from 1958 until 1963, the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert. Today, irrigated sugar cane and corn account for most of the agricultural industry, most of the 60,000 villagers are native Egyptians, although there is a large population of Nubians who were displaced from their land upon the creation of Lake Nasser
35.
Smendes II
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Nesbanebdjed II, or in Hellenized form, Smendes II, was a High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt. He briefly governed from about 992 BC to 990 BC, Smendes was one of the sons of High Priest Menkheperre and Princess Isetemkheb, the daughter of Psusennes I. He married his sister Henuttawy C and had a daughter, Isetemkheb E, another wife, Takhentdjehuti bore him Neskhons and his pontificate was short and left few traces, missing, for instance from the annals of Egyptian historian Manetho. He is mentioned on an inscription in Karnak, on mummy bandages and he was succeeded by his brother Pinedjem II
36.
Mut
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Mut, which meant mother in the ancient Egyptian language, was an ancient Egyptian mother goddess with multiple aspects that changed over the thousands of years of the culture. Alternative spellings are Maut and Mout and she was considered a primal deity, associated with the waters from which everything was born through parthenogenesis. She also was depicted as a woman with a head dress, the rulers of Egypt each supported her worship in their own way to emphasize their own authority and right to rule through an association with Mut. Some of Muts many titles included World-Mother, Eye of Ra, Queen of the Goddesses, Lady of Heaven, Mother of the Gods, and She Who Gives Birth, But Was Herself Not Born of Any. Mut was a title of the waters of the cosmos, Naunet, in the Ogdoad cosmogony during what is called the Old Kingdom. The hieroglyph for Muts name, and for itself, was that of a vulture. Much later new myths held that since Mut had no parents, making up a complete triad of deities for the later pantheon of Thebes, it was said that Mut had adopted Menthu, god of war. Lower and upper Egypt both already had patron deities–Wadjet and Nekhbet–respectively, indeed they also had lioness protector deities–Bast and Sekhmet–respectively, when Thebes rose to greater prominence, Mut absorbed these warrior goddesses as some of her aspects. Later in ancient Egyptian mythology deities of the pantheon were identified as equal pairs, female and male counterparts, in that phase, Mut and Amun had a son, Khonsu, another moon deity. The authority of Thebes waned later and Amun was assimilated into Ra, Mut, the doting mother, was assimilated into Hathor, the cow-goddess and mother of Horus who had become identified as Ras wife. Subsequently, when Ra assimilated Atum, the Ennead was absorbed as well, and so Mut-Hathor became identified as Isis, the most important of the females in the Ennead, and the patron of the queen. Alternatively, as a result of her assimilations, Mut is sometimes depicted as a cobra, a cat, a cow, or as a lioness as well as the vulture. The last image on this shows the goddesss facial features which mark this as a work made sometime between late Dynasty XVIII and relatively early in the reign of Ramesses II. There are temples dedicated to Mut still standing in modern-day Egypt and Sudan, reflecting the widespread worship of her and that temple had the statue that was regarded as an embodiment of her real ka. Her devotions included daily rituals by the pharaoh and her priestesses, interior reliefs depict scenes of the priestesses, currently the only known remaining example of worship in ancient Egypt that was exclusively administered by women. Usually the queen, who carried the royal lineage among the rulers of Egypt. The pharaoh participated also and would become a deity after death, in the case when the pharaoh was female, records of one example indicate that she had her daughter serve as the high priestess in her place. Often priests served in the administration of temples and oracles where priestesses performed the religious rites
37.
Khonsu
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Khonsu is the Ancient Egyptian god of the moon. His name means traveller, and this may relate to the travel of the moon across the sky. Along with Thoth he marked the passage of time, Khonsu was instrumental in the creation of new life in all living creatures. At Thebes he formed part of a triad with Mut as his mother. As the god of light in the night, Khonsu was invoked to protect against wild animals and it was said that when Khonsu caused the crescent moon to shine, women conceived, cattle became fertile, and all nostrils and every throat was filled with fresh air. This bloodthirsty aspect leads him to be referred to, in such as the Pyramid texts and he also became associated with more literal placentas, becoming seen as a deification of the royal placenta, and so a god involved with childbirth. Khonsu is typically depicted as a mummy with the symbol of childhood and he has close links to other divine children such as Horus and Shu. He is sometimes shown wearing a head like Horus, with whom he is associated as a protector and healer, adorned with the sun disk. Most of the construction of the complex at Karnak was centered on Khonsu during the Ramesside period. Khonsus reputation as a healer spread outside Egypt, a stele records how a princess of Bekhten was instantly cured of an illness upon the arrival of an image of Khonsu. King Ptolemy IV, after he was cured of an illness, called himself Beloved of Khonsu Who Protects His Majesty, locations of Khonsus cult were Memphis, Hibis and Edfu. Khonsu gradually replaced the war-god Monthu as the son of Mut in Theban thought during the Middle Kingdom, because the pool at the temple of Mut was in the shape of a crescent moon. The father who had adopted Khonsu was thought to be Amun, who had already been changed into a more significant god by the rise of Thebes, as these two were both considered extremely benign deities, Menthu gradually lost his more aggressive aspects. In art, Khonsu was depicted as a man with the head of a hawk and his head was shaven except for the sidelock worn by Egyptian children, signifying his role as Khonsu the Child. Occasionally he was depicted as a holding the flail of the pharaoh. He was sometimes pictured on the back of a goose, ram and his sacred animal was the baboon, considered a lunar animal by the ancient Egyptians. In the Egyptian Myth-based trilogy, The Kane Chronicles, Khonsu is allowed by Osiris to visit the characters, Sadie and Carter. He would give one hour for every piece they got off the board
38.
Naqada III
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Naqada III is the last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory, dating approximately from 3200 to 3000 BC. It is the period during which the process of state formation and they would more probably have been completely unrelated and very possibly in competition with each other. In this period, those names were inscribed in the form of serekhs on a variety of surfaces including pottery. The Protodynastic Period in ancient Egypt was characterised by a process of political unification. Furthermore, it is during this time that the Egyptian language was first recorded in hieroglyphs, there is also strong archaeological evidence of Egyptian settlements in southern Canaan during the Protodynastic Period, which are regarded as colonies or trading entrepôts. State formation began during this era and perhaps even earlier, various small city-states arose along the Nile. Centuries of conquest then reduced Upper Egypt to three states, Thinis, Naqada, and Nekhen. Sandwiched between Thinis and Nekhen, Naqada was the first to fall, nekhens relationship with Thinis is uncertain, but these two states may have merged peacefully, with the Thinite royal family ruling all of Egypt. The Thinite kings were buried at Abydos in the Umm el-Qaab cemetery, most Egyptologists consider Narmer to be both the last king of this period and the first king of the First Dynasty. Southern Canaan as an Egyptian Protodynastic Colony, the Emergence of the Egyptian State. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press. The Prehistory of Egypt, From the First Egyptians to the First Pharaohs, the Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Contacts Between Egypt and Syro-Palestine During the Protodynastic Period, biblical Archeologist, Perspectives on the Ancient World from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean. Http, //www. touregypt. net/featurestories/hdyn00. htm Unification Theories, Digital Egypt, UK, UCL
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