1.
Qakare Ini
–
Qakare Ini was an ancient Egyptian or Nubian ruler who most likely reigned at the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th Dynasty over Lower Nubia. Although he is the best attested Nubian ruler of time period. Qakare Ini is the best attested of a series of coeval Nubian rulers including Segerseni, indeed, his full pharaonic royal titulary is known thanks to 16 rock inscriptions found in Umbarakab, Mudenejar, Guthnis, Taifa, Abu Simbel and Toshka, all in Lower Nubia. These inscriptions record Qakare Inis titulary, sometimes only a cartouche, in the case of the inscription from Toshka, Qakare Inis name is inscribed next to that of Iyibkhentre. However, the Egyptologist Darrell Baker proposed that this was due to the lack of space on the rather than pointing to a connection between the two rulers. Thus, the relationships between Qakare Ini and the other two Nubian rulers of the period, Segerseni and Iyibkhentre, remain unknown, Qakare Ini is not attested on any Egyptian king list. Qakares personal name is Ini although in literature he is reported as Intef or Initef, curiously. In fact, both those rulers seem to have had problems in being recognized as legitimate pharaohs. This is rejected by Darrell Baker and the Czech archeologist Zbyněk Žába who believe that Qakare Ini lived concurrently with the end of the 11th Dynasty in the late 20th century BCE, henri Gauthier, Nouvelles remarques sur la XIe dynastie, BIFAO9, pp. 99–136. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3, p.74, arthur Weigall, A Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia
Qakare Ini
–
Drawing of an inscription depicting Qakare's full titulary.
2.
Pharaoh
–
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
Pharaoh
–
Den
Pharaoh
–
Narmer Palette
Pharaoh
–
Nomen and prenomen of
Ramesses III
Pharaoh
–
Royal titulary
3.
Egyptian chronology
–
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
Egyptian chronology
–
Astronomical ceiling from the tomb of
Seti I showing stars and constellations used in calendar calculations
Egyptian chronology
–
'Diagonal star table' from the
11th Dynasty coffin lid; found at
Asyut, Egypt.
Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim
4.
Seventh and Eighth Dynasties of Egypt
–
The Dynasties VII and VIII ruled Egypt for approximately 20–45 years and various dates have been proposed, 2181–2160 BC, 2191–2145 BC, 2150–2118 BC. The power of the pharaohs of the 7th/8th Dynasties was waning while that of the provincial governors, eventually the nomarchs of Heracleopolis Magna overthrew the 8th Dynasty and founded the 9th Dynasty. The Egyptian priest Manetho wrote an history of Egypt during the 3rd century BC known as the Aegyptiaca, Manethos work has not survived to this day and is only known to us via three later writers who quoted from it. Unfortunately, these three sources are difficult to work with. Africanus claims that Dynasty VII consisted of 70 kings that ruled during a period of seventy days in Memphis, however, Eusebius records that during Dynasty VII five kings ruled over seventy five days, and Dynasty VIII includes five kings who ruled for 100 years. Seventy kings in seventy days is considered the correct version of Manetho. This epithet is interpreted to mean that the pharaohs of this period were extremely ephemeral, because Manetho does not provide actual historical data on this period, many argue that the seventh dynasty is fictitious. The Turin and Abydos king lists were written during the reigns of Seti I and his son Ramses II and both record the pharaohs of Egypt from the 1st Dynasty onwards. The kings mentioned on the entries 42 to 56 of the Abydos king list come between the end of Dynasty VI and the beginning of Dynasty XI, and do not appear to be from the 9th nor from the 10th and these are thus assigned to the 8th Dynasty. The Turin Canon is heavily damaged, and cannot be read without much difficulty, there seems to be room for two more kings before the end of the dynasty. This would indicate that the parts of the Turin Papyrus probably contained the kings in the fifty-first to fifty-fifth registers of the Abydos King List. Because the Turin papyrus omits the first nine kings on the Abydos list, hayes thinks it reasonable that the Egyptians may have divided Dynasties VII and VIII at this point. Some of the acts of the final four Dynasty VIII kings are recorded in their decrees to Shemay and his pyramid has been found at Saqqara near that of Pepi II and, like its predecessors, had the Pyramid Texts written on the walls. However many kings there actually were, it is clear that during this period a breakdown of the central authority of Egypt was underway. The rulers of these dynasties were based in Memphis, with the exception of the final Dynasty VIII kings and this group of kings was eventually overthrown by a rival group, Dynasty IX, based in Herakleopolis Magna. The classification of the Egyptian pharaohs into dynasties is due to the Egyptian priest Manetho who wrote an history of Egypt called Aegyptiaca in the 3rd century BC. Manetho assigns 70 kings ruling 70 days to the 7th Dynasty thereby reflecting the chaos prevailing at the end of the Old Kingdom and in the early First Intermediate Period
Seventh and Eighth Dynasties of Egypt
–
Kings of the 8th Dynasty on the Abydos king list, from
Netjerkare Siptah to
Neferkamin.
5.
Neferkamin Anu
–
Neferkamin Anu was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. According to the Abydos King List and the latest reconstruction of the Turin canon by Kim Ryholt and this opinion is shared by the egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath, Thomas Schneider and Darell Baker. As a pharaoh of the 7th/8th Dynasty, Neferkamin Anu would have reigned over the Memphite region, Neferkamin Anu is mentioned on the entry 52 of the Abydos King list, which was compiled in the early Ramesside period. The list names his predecessor as Neferkare Pepiseneb and his successor as Qakare Ibi, the Turin canon identifies Nerferkamin Anu with a Nefer mentioned on column 4, line 10 of the document, which is in agreement with the Abydos king list. Any detail about Neferkamin Anus reign is lost in a lacuna of the Turin canon, the name of Neferkamin Anu is translisterated as Neferkamin Anu even though it is reported as Sneferka Anu on the Abydos King list. The reason for this transliteration is that the hieroglyph sign O34, reading s, could replace the sign R22 for the god Min and reading Mn
Neferkamin Anu
–
The cartouche of Neferkamin Anu on the
Abydos King List reading Sneferka Anu.
6.
Neferkaure II
–
Neferkaure was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. According to the Abydos King List and the latest reconstruction of the Turin canon by Kim Ryholt and this opinion is shared by the egyptologists Jürgen von Beckerath, Thomas Schneider and Darell Baker. As a pharaoh of the 7th/8th Dynasty, Neferkaures seat of power was Memphis, Neferkaure is named on the 54th entry of the Abydos King List, a king list redacted some 900 years after the First Intermediate Period during the reign of Seti I. Neferkaures name is lost in a lacuna of the Turin canon affecting column 5, the length of Neferkaures reign is nonetheless preserved with 4 years,2 months and 0 days. Neferkaure is also known from an inscription, a fragmentary decree inscribed on a limestone slab known as Coptos Decree h. One of the two existing fragments of this decree was given by Edward Harkness to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the decree is dated to the fourth regnal year of Neferkaure, which is the highest attested date of any king of the 7th/8th Dynasty. The first sign of the kings Horus name is present while the second sign is debated. Von Beckerath commits only to the first sign and reads Kha, while Baker and William C. Hayes read Khabau
Neferkaure II
–
The cartouche of Neferkaure on the
Abydos King List.
7.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
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
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
Serekh containing the name of
Djet and an association with
Wadjet, on display at the
Louvre
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
Praenomen of the
Cartouche of
Thutmose II preceded by Sedge and Bee symbols, Temple of
Hatshepsut,
Luxor
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
In the
Middle Kingdom, the full titulary was sometimes written in a single cartouche, as in this example from
Senusret I, from
Beni Hasan.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
Royal titulary
8.
Turin King List
–
The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is an Egyptian hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio in Turin. The papyrus is the most extensive list available of kings compiled by the Egyptians, the papyrus is believed to date from the reign of Ramesses II, during the middle of the New Kingdom, or the 19th Dynasty. The beginning and ending of the list are now lost, there is no introduction, the composition may thus have occurred at any subsequent time, from the reign of Ramesses II to as late as the 20th Dynasty. The papyrus lists the names of rulers, the lengths of reigns in years, with months, in some cases they are grouped together by family, which corresponds approximately to the dynasties of Manetho’s book. The list includes the names of rulers or those ruling small territories that may be unmentioned in other sources. The list also is believed to contain kings from the 15th Dynasty, the Hyksos who ruled Lower Egypt, the Hyksos rulers do not have cartouches, and a hieroglyphic sign is added to indicate that they were foreigners, although typically on King Lists foreign rulers are not listed. The papyrus was originally a tax roll, but on its back is written a list of rulers of Egypt – including mythical kings such as gods, demi-gods, and spirits, as well as human kings. As such, the papyrus is not supposed to be biased against certain rulers and is believed to all the kings of Egypt up through at least the 19th Dynasty. The papyrus was found by the Italian traveler Bernardino Drovetti in 1820 at Luxor, Egypt and was acquired in 1824 by the Egyptian Museum in Turin, when the box in which it had been transported to Italy was unpacked, the list had disintegrated into small fragments. Jean-Francois Champollion, examining it, could recognize only some of the larger fragments containing royal names, a reconstruction of the list was created to better understand it and to aid in research. Subsequent work on the fragments was done by the Munich Egyptologist Jens Peter Lauth, in 1997, prominent Egyptologist Kim Ryholt published a new and better interpretation of the list in his book, The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period c. After another study of the papyrus, a version from Ryholt is expected. Despite attempts at reconstruction, approximately 50% of the papyrus remains missing and this papyrus as presently constituted is 1.7 m long and 0.41 m wide, broken into over 160 fragments. In 2009, previously unpublished fragments were discovered in the room of the Egyptian Museum of Turin, in good condition. A new edition of the papyrus is expected, the papyrus is divided into eleven columns, distributed as follows. The names and positions of several kings are still being disputed, List of lists of ancient kings List of pharaohs Palermo stone Alan Gardiner, editor. “Some remarks on Helcks Anmerkungen zum Turiner Konigspapyrus‘. “ Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 81, “The Date of the End of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. ”Journal of Near Eastern Studies 21, no. “A Genealogical Chronology of the Seventeenth Dynasty. ”Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 39, george Adam Smith, Chaldean Account of Genesis p290 Contains a different translation of the Turin Papyrus in a chart about dynasty of gods
Turin King List
–
Drawing of the The Turin King list
9.
Ancient Egypt
–
Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. It is one of six civilizations to arise independently, Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer. In the aftermath of Alexander the Greats death, one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter and this Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province. The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture, the predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world and its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. The Nile has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history, nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Nile valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the climate of Northern Africa became increasingly hot and dry. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was less arid than it is today. Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates, foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Egyptians, and this is also the period when many animals were first domesticated. The largest of these cultures in upper Egypt was the Badari, which probably originated in the Western Desert, it was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools. The Badari was followed by the Amratian and Gerzeh cultures, which brought a number of technological improvements, as early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia, used to shape blades and other objects from flakes. In Naqada II times, early evidence exists of contact with the Near East, particularly Canaan, establishing a power center at Hierakonpolis, and later at Abydos, Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile. They also traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the desert to the west. Royal Nubian burials at Qustul produced artifacts bearing the oldest-known examples of Egyptian dynastic symbols, such as the crown of Egypt. They also developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last predynastic phase, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into a system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language. The Early Dynastic Period was approximately contemporary to the early Sumerian-Akkadian civilisation of Mesopotamia, the third-century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still used today
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Great Sphinx and the
pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt
–
A typical Naqada II jar decorated with gazelles. (Predynastic Period)
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Narmer Palette depicts the unification of the Two Lands.
10.
Eighth dynasty of Egypt
–
The Dynasties VII and VIII ruled Egypt for approximately 20–45 years and various dates have been proposed, 2181–2160 BC, 2191–2145 BC, 2150–2118 BC. The power of the pharaohs of the 7th/8th Dynasties was waning while that of the provincial governors, eventually the nomarchs of Heracleopolis Magna overthrew the 8th Dynasty and founded the 9th Dynasty. The Egyptian priest Manetho wrote an history of Egypt during the 3rd century BC known as the Aegyptiaca, Manethos work has not survived to this day and is only known to us via three later writers who quoted from it. Unfortunately, these three sources are difficult to work with. Africanus claims that Dynasty VII consisted of 70 kings that ruled during a period of seventy days in Memphis, however, Eusebius records that during Dynasty VII five kings ruled over seventy five days, and Dynasty VIII includes five kings who ruled for 100 years. Seventy kings in seventy days is considered the correct version of Manetho. This epithet is interpreted to mean that the pharaohs of this period were extremely ephemeral, because Manetho does not provide actual historical data on this period, many argue that the seventh dynasty is fictitious. The Turin and Abydos king lists were written during the reigns of Seti I and his son Ramses II and both record the pharaohs of Egypt from the 1st Dynasty onwards. The kings mentioned on the entries 42 to 56 of the Abydos king list come between the end of Dynasty VI and the beginning of Dynasty XI, and do not appear to be from the 9th nor from the 10th and these are thus assigned to the 8th Dynasty. The Turin Canon is heavily damaged, and cannot be read without much difficulty, there seems to be room for two more kings before the end of the dynasty. This would indicate that the parts of the Turin Papyrus probably contained the kings in the fifty-first to fifty-fifth registers of the Abydos King List. Because the Turin papyrus omits the first nine kings on the Abydos list, hayes thinks it reasonable that the Egyptians may have divided Dynasties VII and VIII at this point. Some of the acts of the final four Dynasty VIII kings are recorded in their decrees to Shemay and his pyramid has been found at Saqqara near that of Pepi II and, like its predecessors, had the Pyramid Texts written on the walls. However many kings there actually were, it is clear that during this period a breakdown of the central authority of Egypt was underway. The rulers of these dynasties were based in Memphis, with the exception of the final Dynasty VIII kings and this group of kings was eventually overthrown by a rival group, Dynasty IX, based in Herakleopolis Magna. The classification of the Egyptian pharaohs into dynasties is due to the Egyptian priest Manetho who wrote an history of Egypt called Aegyptiaca in the 3rd century BC. Manetho assigns 70 kings ruling 70 days to the 7th Dynasty thereby reflecting the chaos prevailing at the end of the Old Kingdom and in the early First Intermediate Period
Eighth dynasty of Egypt
–
Kings of the 8th Dynasty on the Abydos king list, from
Netjerkare Siptah to
Neferkamin.
11.
Memphis, Egypt
–
Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Mit Rahina,20 km south of Giza, according to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history and it occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta, and was home to feverish activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured a high density of workshops, factories, during its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion. Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah and its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah, was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of temple, rendered in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt. The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the country itself and its eventual downfall is believed to be due to the loss of its economic significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria. Its religious significance also diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica, the ruins of the former capital today offer fragmented evidence of its past. They have been preserved, along with the complex at Giza. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum, Memphis has had several names during its history of almost four millennia. Its Ancient Egyptian name was Inbu-Hedj, because of its size, the city also came to be known by various other names that were actually the names of neighbourhoods or districts that enjoyed considerable prominence at one time or another. For example, according to a text of the First Intermediate Period, it was known as Djed-Sut, the city was also at one point referred to as Ankh-Tawy, stressing the strategic position of the city between Upper and Lower Egypt. This name appears to date from the Middle Kingdom, and is found in ancient Egyptian texts. At the beginning of the New Kingdom, the city known as Men-nefer. The name Memphis is the Greek adaptation of this name, which was originally the name of the pyramid of Pepi I, in the Bible, Memphis is called Moph or Noph. The city of Memphis is 20 km south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile. The modern cities and towns of Mit Rahina, Dahshur, Abusir, Abu Gorab, the city was also the place that marked the boundary between Upper and Lower Egypt. The island of the city is today uninhabited, the closest settlement is the town of Mit Rahina
Memphis, Egypt
–
Ruins of the pillared hall of
Rameses II at Mit Rahina
Memphis, Egypt
–
This ritualistic object depicts the
god Nefertem, who was mainly worshipped in Memphis. The Walters Art Museum.
Memphis, Egypt
–
Rameses II flanked by Ptah and Sekhmet.
Memphis, Egypt
–
Sculpture from the Middle Kingdom restored in the name of Rameses II.
12.
Pyramid
–
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single point at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, as such, a pyramid has at least three outer triangular surfaces. The square pyramid, with base and four triangular outer surfaces, is a common version. A pyramids design, with the majority of the closer to the ground. This distribution of weight allowed early civilizations to create stable monumental structures and it has been demonstrated that the common shape of the pyramids of antiquity, from Egypt to Central America, represents the dry-stone construction that requires minimum human work. Pyramids have been built by civilizations in many parts of the world, the largest pyramid by volume is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla. Khufus Pyramid is built mainly of limestone, and is considered an architectural masterpiece. It contains over 2,000,000 blocks ranging in weight from 2.5 tonnes to 15 tonnes and is built on a base with sides measuring about 230 m. Its four sides face the four cardinal points precisely and it has an angle of 52 degrees and it is still the tallest pyramid. The Mesopotamians built the earliest pyramidal structures, called ziggurats, in ancient times, these were brightly painted in gold/bronze. Since they were constructed of sun-dried mud-brick, little remains of them, ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians for local religions. Each ziggurat was part of a complex which included other buildings. The precursors of the ziggurat were raised platforms that date from the Ubaid period during the fourth millennium BC, the earliest ziggurats began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period. The latest Mesopotamian ziggurats date from the 6th century BC, built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside, the facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance. Kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks, the number of tiers ranged from two to seven. It is assumed that they had shrines at the top, but there is no evidence for this. Access to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a ramp from base to summit
Pyramid
–
The
Egyptian pyramids of the
Giza Necropolis, as seen from the air
Pyramid
–
Pyramid of the Moon,
Teotihuacan
Pyramid
–
Prasat Thom temple at
Koh Ker
Pyramid
–
Pyramids of Güímar,
Tenerife (
Spain)
13.
Saqqara
–
Saqqara, also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English /səˈkɑːrə/, is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world-famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, located some 30 km south of modern-day Cairo, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 by 1.5 km. At Saqqara, the oldest complete stone building known in history was built, Djosers step pyramid. Another 16 Egyptian kings built pyramids at Saqqara, which are now in states of preservation or dilapidation. High officials added private funeral monuments to this necropolis during the pharaonic period. It remained an important complex for non-royal burials and cult ceremonies for more than 3,000 years, well into Ptolemaic, north of the area known as Saqqara lies Abusir, south lies Dahshur. The area running from Giza to Dahshur has been used as a necropolis by the inhabitants of Memphis at different times, some scholars believe that the name Saqqara is not derived from the ancient Egyptian funerary god Sokar, but from a supposed local Berber Tribe called Beni Saqqar. The earliest burials of nobles can be traced back to the First Dynasty, during this time, the royal burial ground was at Abydos. The first royal burials at Saqqara, comprising underground galleries, date to the Second Dynasty, the last Second Dynasty king Khasekhemwy was buried in his tomb at Abydos, but also built a funerary monument at Saqqara consisting of a large rectangular enclosure, known as Gisr el-Mudir. It probably inspired the monumental enclosure wall around the Step Pyramid complex, Djosers funerary complex, built by the royal architect Imhotep, further comprises a large number of dummy buildings and a secondary mastaba. French architect and Egyptologist Jean-Philippe Lauer spent the part of his life excavating and restoring Djosers funerary complex. During the second half of the Old Kingdom, under the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, the Fifth and Sixth Dynasty pyramids are not built of massive stone, but with a core consisting of rubble. They are consequently less well preserved than the world-famous pyramids built by the Fourth Dynasty kings at Giza, Unas, the last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, was the first king to adorn the chambers in his pyramid with Pyramid Texts. It was custom for courtiers during the Old Kingdom to be buried in mastaba tombs close to the pyramid of their king, clusters of private tombs were thus formed in Saqqara around the pyramid complexes of Unas and Teti. Few private monuments from this period have been found at Saqqara, Pyramid of king Khendjer Pyramid of an unknown king During the New Kingdom Memphis was an important administrative and military centre, being the capital after the Amaran Period. From the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards many high officials built tombs at Saqqara, when still a general, Horemheb built a large tomb here, though he was later buried as Pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes. Other important tombs belong to the vizier Aperel, the vizier Neferrenpet, the artist Thutmose and to Maia, many monuments from earlier periods were still standing, but dilapidated by this period. Prince Khaemweset, son of Pharaoh Ramesses II, made repairs to buildings at Saqqara, among other things, he restored the Pyramid of Unas and added an inscription to its south face to commemorate the restoration
Saqqara
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The stepped
Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara
Saqqara
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Map of the site
Saqqara
–
View of Saqqara necropolis, including
Djoser 's
step pyramid (centre), the
Pyramid of Unas (left) and the
Pyramid of Userkaf (right).
Saqqara
–
Funerary complex of Djoser
14.
Seti I
–
Menmaatre Seti I was a pharaoh of the New Kingdom Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The name Seti means of Set, which indicates that he was consecrated to the god Set, as with most pharaohs, Seti had several names. Upon his ascension, he took the prenomen mn-m3‘t-r‘, usually vocalized as Menmaatre, in Egyptian and his better known nomen, or birth name, is transliterated as sty mry-n-ptḥ or Sety Merenptah, meaning Man of Set, beloved of Ptah. Manetho incorrectly considered him to be the founder of the 19th dynasty, Seti, with energy and determination, confronted the Hittites several times in battle. Without succeeding in destroying the Hittites as a danger to Egypt, he reconquered most of the disputed territories for Egypt. The memory of Seti Is military successes was recorded in large scenes placed on the front of the temple of Amun. He was considered a king by his peers, but his fame has been overshadowed since ancient times by that of his son. Seti Is reign length was either 11 or 15 full years, Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen has estimated that it was 15 years, but there are no dates recorded for Seti I after his Year 11 Gebel Barkal stela. As he is quite well documented in historical records, other scholars suggest that a continuous break in the record for his last four years is unlikely. Peter J. Brand noted that the king personally opened new rock quarries at Aswan to build obelisks and this event is commemorated on two rock stelas in Aswan. Ramesses II used the prenomen Usermaatre to refer to himself in his first year and he made great barges for transporting them, and ships crews to match them for ferrying them from the quarry. However, despite this promise, Brand stresses that The German Egyptologist Jürgen von Beckerath also accepts that Seti Is reign lasted only 11 Years. Seti Is accession date has been determined by Wolfgang Helck to be III Shemu day 24, in 2011, Jacobus van Dijk questioned the Year 11 stated on the Gebel Barkal stela. This monument is badly preserved but still depicts Seti I in erect posture. Furthermore, the glyphs I ∩ representing the 11 are damaged in the upper part and may just as well be I I I instead. Subsequently, Van Dijk proposed that the Gebel Barkal stela is dated to Year 3 of Seti I, and that Setis highest date more likely is Year 9 as suggested by the wine jars found in his tomb. In a 2012 paper, David Aston analyzed the wine jars, Seti I fought a series of wars in western Asia, Libya and Nubia in the first decade of his reign. The Ways of Horus consisted of a series of forts, each with a well
Seti I
–
Image of Seti I from his temple in
Abydos
Seti I
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Hieroglyphs from the tomb of Seti I
Seti I
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Temple of Seti I at Abydos
Seti I
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Astronomical ceiling of Seti I tomb showing the personified representations of stars and constellations
15.
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
–
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
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
–
Seti I
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
–
Egyptian and Hittite Empires, around the time of the
Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC).
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
–
Ramesses II
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
–
Seti II
16.
Karl Richard Lepsius
–
Karl or Carl Richard Lepsius was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist and linguist and pioneer of modern archaeology. He was born in Naumburg an der Saale, Saxony, the son of Friedericke Glaser and Peter Carl Lepsius. Karl Richards grandfather was Johann August Lepsius, the mayor of Naumburg upon Saale and he studied Greek and Roman archaeology at the University of Leipzig, the George Augustus University of Göttingen, and the Frederick William University of Berlin. After the death of Champollion, Lepsius made a study of the French scholars Grammaire égyptienne. In that year, Lepsius travelled to Tuscany to meet with Ippolito Rosellini, in a series of letters to Rosellini, Lepsius expanded on Champollions explanation of the use of alphabetic signs in hieroglyphic writing, emphasizing that vowels were not written. In 1842, Lepsius was commissioned by King Frederich Wilhelm IV of Prussia to lead an expedition to Egypt, the Prussian expedition was modelled after the earlier Napoleonic mission, with surveyors, draftsmen, and other specialists. The mission reached Giza in November 1842 and spent six months making some of the first scientific studies of the pyramids of Giza, Abusir, Saqqara and they discovered 67 pyramids recorded in the pioneering Lepsius list of pyramids and more than 130 tombs of noblemen in the area. While at the Great Pyramid of Giza, Lepsius inscribed a graffito written in Egyptian hieroglyphs that honours Friedrich Wilhelm IV above the original entrance. In 1843 he visited Naqa and copied some of the inscriptions and representations of the temple standing there, afterwards they stopped at Coptos, the Sinai, and sites in the Egyptian Delta, such as Tanis, before returning to Europe in 1846. In 1866 Lepsius returned to Egypt, where he discovered the Decree of Canopus at Tanis, a closely related to the Rosetta Stone. Lepsius was president of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome from 1867–1880, and from 1873 until his death in 1884, the head of the Royal Library at Berlin. He was the editor of the Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, a scientific journal for the new field of Egyptology. While at the helm, Lepsius commissioned typographer Ferdinand Theinhardt to cut the first hieroglyphic typeface, the so-called Theinhardt font. Much of his work is fundamental to the field, indeed, Lepsius even coined the phrase Totenbuch. He was also a leader in the field of African linguistics, on 5 July 1846, he married Elisabeth Klein, daughter of the composer Bernhard Klein and great-granddaughter of Friedrich Nicolai. They had six children, including the geologist and Rector of the Darmstadt University of Technology G.1842, das Todtenbuch der Ägypter nach dem hieroglyphischen Papyrus in Turin mit einem Vorworte zum ersten Male Herausgegeben. Translated into English 1853 Discoveries in Egypt, Ethiopia and the Peninsular of Sinai, das allgemeine linguistische Alphabet, Grundsätze der Übertragung fremder Schriftsysteme und bisher noch ungeschriebener Sprachen in europäische Buchstaben. Berlin, Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz 1856, ägyptische königsdynastie nebst einigen bemerkungen zu der XXVI
Karl Richard Lepsius
–
Karl Richard Lepsius
Karl Richard Lepsius
–
Plates of
El-Lahun and
Tura from Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien.
17.
Lepsius list of pyramids
–
The Lepsius list of pyramid is the first attempt at systematically listing all the Egyptian pyramids, and as such, is a pioneering effort of early modern Egyptology. The list was published together with the results of the expedition in Lepsius work Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien, karl Richard Lepsius, who had learned of Champollions method to decipher the hieroglyphs and had met Ippolito Rosellini of the Franco-Tuscan Expedition, was chosen to lead it. The main aim of the expedition was to explore and record the remains of the ancient Egyptian civilization as well as to materials for the Egyptian Museum of Berlin. The Prussian expedition assembled in Alexandria in 1842 and quickly departed for Giza, proceeding north to south, Lepsius men then explored the pyramids field of Abusir, Saqqara, Dahshur and, in 1843, Hawara. Lepsius and its team stayed for 6 months in total at these locations as the Prussian expedition was the first study, in total, Lepsius and his men uncovered a total of 67 pyramids and 130 tombs. The pyramids, dating from the Third Dynasty until the Thirteenth Dynasty, were given roman numerals from north to south, Lepsius numerals have remained the standard designation for some of the pyramids. The results of the Prussian expedition to Egypt, comprising the list of pyramids, Lepsius drew maps of the locations his expedition visited and which regroup the pyramid listed above. They are presented below, from north to south
Lepsius list of pyramids
–
Map of the Giza plateau drawn by Lepsius (1850s)
18.
Shepseskaf
–
Shepseskaf was the sixth and last pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. He reigned 6 to 8 years starting circa 2510 BC, egyptologist George Andrew Reisner proposed that Shepseskaf was Menkaures son based on a decree mentioning that Shepseskaf completed Menkaures mortuary temple. This however cannot be considered a proof of filiation since the decree does not describe the relationship between these two kings. Furthermore, the completion of the tomb of a deceased pharaoh by his successor does not necessarily depend on a direct relation between the two. The mother, wives and children of Shepseskaf are unknown, if Menkaure was indeed his father, his mother could have been one of Menkaures royal wives Khamerernebty II or Rekhetre. Its possible that Shepseskafs wife was Khentkaus I, but this is far from certain, queen Bunefer has been suggested as a possible wife of Shepseskaf based on the titles as a priestess of Shepseskhaf. She may however have been a daughter who served as a priestess in the cult for her father, finally, Khamaat, the wife of a nobleman named Ptahshepses and daughter of a king, may be a daughter of Shepseskaf or Userkaf. No ruler named Djedefptah is recorded in documents such as royal monuments or private tombs in the Old Kingdom cemeteries of Giza. Finally, Shepseskafs reign is attested through the inscriptions made by the officials who served him. These are mostly found in Gizah and Saqqara, the fact that many of these inscriptions only mention Shepseskaf without further details hints at the short duration of his reign. The court officials who mentioned Shepseskaf are, Sekhemkare, a son of Khafra and his mastaba, located in Gizah yielded a list of the kings under whom he served, from Khafra down to Sahure through Shepseskaf. This list also gives Userkaf as the successor to Shepseskaf. Bunefer, royal princess and priestess of Shepseskaf funerary cult, buried in Gizah and she is believed to be either one of Shepseskafs wife, daughter or one of his sisters and to have participated in his burial ceremonies ·. Nisutpunetjer, who was a priest of the funerary cults. His mastaba in Gizah yielded a list of pharaohs under whom he served, from Djedefra down to Sahure, Ptahshepses I, great priest of Ptah. An inscription on his false door stele details his biography and he relates that he was educated at court with Shepseskaf who later promoted him to the office of first priest of Ptah and gave him his daughter Khamaat for wedding. Kaunisut, an official, cites Shepseskaf in his mastaba at Gizah. Other than these scanty references to Shepseskafs reign, the only known today that is firmly datable to that period was uncovered in Menkaures pyramid complex
Shepseskaf
–
Shepseskaf's cartouche on the Abydos king list.
Shepseskaf
–
Mastaba of Shepseskaf,
Saqqara.
Shepseskaf
–
Isometric image of the mastaba of Shepseskaf taken from a 3d image
19.
Pepi II
–
Pepi II was a pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty in Egypts Old Kingdom who reigned from c.2278 BC. His throne name, Neferkare, means Beautiful is the Ka of Re and he succeeded to the throne at age six, after the death of Merenre I. He was traditionally thought to be the son of Pepi I and Queen Ankhesenpepi II but the South Saqqara Stone annals record that Merenre had a minimum reign of 11 years. Inscriptions on these blocks give Ankhesenpepi II the royal titles of, Kings Wife of the Pyramid of Pepy I, Kings Wife of the Pyramid of Merenre. Therefore, today, many Egyptologists believe that Pepi II was likely Merenres own son, Pepi II would, therefore, be Pepi Is grandson while Merenre was, most likely, Pepi IIs father since he is known to have married Pepi IIs known mother, Queen Ankhesenpepi II. Pepi IIs reign marked a decline of the Old Kingdom. As the power of the nomarchs grew, the power of the pharaoh declined, with no dominant central power, local nobles began raiding each others territories and the Old Kingdom came to an end within mere decades after the close of Pepi IIs reign. His mother Ankhesenpepi II most likely ruled as regent in the years of his reign. An alabaster statuette in the Brooklyn Museum depicts a young Pepi II, in full kingly regalia, despite his long reign, this piece is one of only three known sculptural representations in existence of this particular king. She may have helped in turn by her brother Djau. Some scholars have taken the relative paucity of royal statuary to suggest that the court was losing the ability to retain skilled artisans. A glimpse of the personality of the pharaoh while he was still a child can be found in a letter he wrote to Harkhuf, a governor of Aswan, sent to trade and collect ivory, ebony, and other precious items, he captured a pygmy. She may be a daughter of Ankhesenpepi I and hence also Pepi IIs cousin, Iput II – A half-sister of Pepi II. Ankhesenpepi III She was the daughter of Merenre Nemtyemsaf I and hence a granddaughter of Pepi I, Ankhesenpepi IV – The mother of King Neferkare according to texts in her tomb. It is not known which Neferkare as there are several kings with that name during the First Intermediate Period and his name may be Neferkare Nebi. Udjebten She was also a daughter of Pepi I, of these queens, Neith, Iput, and Udjebten each had their own minor pyramids and mortuary temples as part of the kings own pyramid complex in Saqqara. Queen Ankhesenpepi III was buried in a pyramid near the pyramid of Pepi I Meryre, two more sons of Pepi II are known, Nebkauhor-Idu and Ptashepses. Pepi II seems to have carried on foreign policy in ways similar to that of his predecessors, copper and turquoise were mined at Wadi Maghareh in the Sinai, and alabaster was quarried from Hatnub
Pepi II
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Base of a headrest inscribed with Pepi II's titulary.
Musée du Louvre.
Pepi II
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Alabaster statue of
Ankhesenmeryre II and her son Pepi II.
Pepi II
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A plate mentioning Pepi II's first heb sed jubilee.
Pepi II
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Ruins of the pyramid complex of Pepi II
20.
Limestone
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
Limestone
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Limestone outcrop in the
Torcal de Antequera nature reserve of
Málaga, Spain
Limestone
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Limestone quarry at
Cedar Creek, Virginia, USA
Limestone
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Cutting the limestone blocks at a quarry in
Gozo,
Malta
Limestone
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Limestone as building material
21.
Pyramid Texts
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The Pyramid Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian religious texts from the time of the Old Kingdom. Written in Old Egyptian, the texts were carved on the walls. The oldest of the texts have been dated to between ca, unlike the later Coffin Texts and Book of the Dead, the pyramid texts were reserved only for the pharaoh and were not illustrated. The spells delineate all of the ways the pharaoh could travel, including the use of ramps, stairs, ladders, the spells could also be used to call the gods to help, even threatening them if they did not comply. The texts were first discovered in 1881 by Gaston Maspero, and translations were made by Kurt Heinrich Sethe, Louis Speleers, Raymond O. Faulkner, Samuel A. B. The oldest version consists of 228 spells and comes from the Pyramid of Unas, Pyramid Texts were also discovered on fragments of wood within in the tomb of queen Meretites II. Kurt Sethes first edition of the texts contained 714 distinct spells. No single collection uses all recorded spells, after death, the king must first rise from his tomb. Take your head, collect your bones, Gather your limbs, take your bread that rots not, your beer that sours not, Stand at the gates that bar the common people. The gatekeeper comes out to you, he grasps your hand, Takes you into heaven and he rejoices at your coming, gives you his hands, Kisses you, caresses you, Sets you before the spirits, the imperishable stars. The texts then describe several ways for the pharaoh to reach the heavens, in utterance 304 the king says, Hail, daughter of Anubis, above the hatches of heaven, Comrade of Thoth, above the ladders rails, Open Unass path, let Unas pass. If the boatman refuses to him, the king has other plans, If you fail to ferry Unas, He will leap and sit on the wing of Thoth. Apart from the burial of Unas, only the Pyramid of Teti displays the Cannibal Hymn, a god who lives on his fathers, who feeds on his mothers. Unas is the bull of heaven Who rages in his heart, Who lives on the being of every god, Who eats their entrails When they come, the cannibal hymn later reappeared in the Coffin Texts as Spell 573. It was dropped by the time the Book of the Dead was being copied, in the first scene of Philip Glasss opera Akhnaten, the phrase Open are the double doors of the horizon is a quotation from the Pyramid Texts. More specifically, it seems to come from Utterance 220, the American death metal band Nile made a song, Unas Slayer of the Gods which contains many references to the Pyramid Texts, including the Cannibal Hymn. In the 2001 action-adventure movie, The Mummy Returns, when Imhotep gets a jar full of dust and blows it, he part of the Utterance 373. In neuer deutscher Uebersetzung, vollständig bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Wolfgang Kosack Christoph Brunner, Berlin 2012, a New Concordance of the Pyramid Texts
Pyramid Texts
–
Pyramid texts from
Teti I's pyramid.
22.
Tura, Egypt
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Tora was a site in ancient Egypt, located about halfway between modern Cairo and Helwan. It was Egypts primary quarry for limestone, Tora was known to the ancient Egyptians as Troyu or Royu. This name was misinterpreted by Strabo to mean that it was inhabited by Trojans and this site was located at 30°00′N 31°16′E, and its site is occupied by the modern town of Tora in the Cairo Governorate. The Tura limestone was deep underground and instead of open-pit mining, the caves were adapted by British forces during World War II to store ammunition, aircraft bombs, and other explosives. These tunnels were surveyed in 1941, and in quarry 35, workmen found many loose quires from books by Origen and Didymus the Blind, two Alexandrian Church Fathers. The workers who found them stole them, and although some were seized by the authorities, most are still missing and it is believed that some of the original books could have been up to 480 pages. Tora is notorious for hosting the large Tora Prison, which has held many high-profile inmates, including former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak
Tura, Egypt
–
Tura. Quarry for
limestone.
23.
False door
–
A false door is an artistic representation of a door which does not function like a real door. They can be carved in a wall or painted on it and they are a common architectural element in the tombs of Ancient Egypt and Pre-Nuragic Sardinia. Later they also occur in Etruscan tombs and in the time of Ancient Rome they were used in the interiors of houses and tombs. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the door was a threshold between the worlds of the living and the dead and through which a deity or the spirit of the deceased could enter. The false door was usually the focus of an offering chapel. Most false doors are found on the west wall of a chapel or offering chamber because the Ancient Egyptians associated the west with the land of the dead. In many mastabas, both husband and wife buried within have their own false door, a false door usually is carved from a single block of stone or plank of wood, and it was not meant to function as a normal door. Located in the center of the door is a panel, or niche, around which several pairs of door jambs are arranged—some convey the illusion of depth and a series of frames. A semi-cylindrical drum, carved directly above the panel, was used in imitation of the reed-mat that was used to close real doors. The door is framed with a series of moldings and lintels as well, sometimes, the owners of the tomb had statues carved in their image placed into the central niche of the false door. The side panels usually are covered in inscriptions naming the deceased along with their titles, and these texts extol the virtues of the deceased and express positive wishes for the afterlife. For example, the door of Ankhires reads, The scribe of the house of the gods documents. The lintel reads, His eldest son it was, the lector priest Medunefer, the left and right outer jambs read, An offering which the king and which Anubis, who dwells in the divine tent-shrine, give for burial in the west, having grown old most perfectly. His eldest son it was, the lector priest Medunefer, who acted on his behalf when he was buried in the necropolis, the scribe of the house of the gods documents, Ankhires. The false door was used first in the mastabas of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, after the First Intermediate Period, the popularity of the false doors diminished, being replaced by stelae as the primary surfaces for writing funerary inscriptions. In Domus de Janas, chamber tombs of the pre-Nuragic Ozieri culture, there are false doors carved in the walls. In Etruscan tombs the false door has a Doric design and is always depicted closed, most often it is painted, but on some occasions it is carved in relief, like in the Tomb of the Charontes at Tarquinia. Unlike the false door in ancient Egyptian tombs, the Etruscan false door has given rise to a diversity of interpretations and it might have been the door the underworld, similar to its use of the ancient Egypt
False door
–
A typical false door to an Egyptian tomb - the deceased is shown above the central niche in front of a table of offerings, and inscriptions listing offerings for the deceased are carved along the side panels.
False door
–
A false door from the
First Intermediate Period
False door
–
The mortuary complex of
Djoser at
Saqqara shows the palace façade motif from which the false door motif is derived.
False door
–
Fresco of a false door in the Roman
Villa Poppaea
24.
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
Sarcophagus
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Stone sarcophagus of
Pharaoh Merenptah.
Sarcophagus
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Constantinople Christian sarcophagus with
XI monogram, circa AD 400
Sarcophagus
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Roman-era sarcophagi at
Worms, Germany.
Sarcophagus
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The limestone relief on this
Roman sarcophagus, c. AD 190, depicts the Triumph of
Dionysus.
Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore, Maryland.
25.
Alabaster
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Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft and often used for carving, as well as being processed for plaster powder. The term is used in different ways by archaeologists and the processing industry on the one hand. The first use is in a meaning, covering varieties of two different minerals, the fine-grained massive type of gypsum, as well as the fine-grained banded type of calcite. Geologists only define the gypsum variety as alabaster, chemically, gypsum is a hydrous sulfate of calcium, while calcite is a carbonate of calcium. Both types of alabaster have broadly similar properties and they are usually light-coloured, translucent and soft stones that have been used throughout human history mainly for carving decorative artifacts. Onyx-marble must be understood as a traditional, but geologically inaccurate term, in general, ancient alabaster is calcite in the wider Middle East, including Egypt and Mesopotamia, while it is gypsum in medieval Europe. Modern alabaster is calcite, but may be either. Both are easy to work and slightly water-soluble and they have been used for making a variety of indoor artworks and carvings, as they will not survive long outdoors. Moreover, calcite alabaster, being a carbonate, effervesces when treated with hydrochloric acid, the origin of the word alabaster is in Middle English through Old French alabastre, in turn derived from the Latin alabaster, and that from Greek ἀλάβαστρος or ἀλάβαστος. The Greek words were used to identify a vase made of alabaster and this name may be derived further from the Ancient Egyptian word a-labaste, which refers to vessels of the Egyptian goddess Bast. She was represented as a lioness and frequently depicted as such in figures placed atop these alabaster vessels, other suggestions include derivation from the town of Alabastron in Egypt, described in sometimes contradictory manner by Roman-era authors Pliny and Ptolemy and whose location is not yet known. The purest alabaster is a material of fine uniform grain, but it often is associated with an oxide of iron. The coarser varieties of gypsum alabaster are converted by calcination into plaster of Paris, the softness of alabaster enables it to be carved readily into elaborate forms, but its solubility in water renders it unsuitable for outdoor work. If alabaster with a smooth, polished surface is washed with dishwashing liquid, it will become rough, dull and whiter, losing most of its translucency and lustre. The finer kinds of alabaster are employed largely as a stone, especially for ecclesiastical decoration and for the rails of staircases. Alabaster is mined and then sold in blocks to alabaster workshops, the effect of heating appears to be a partial dehydration of the gypsum. If properly treated, it closely resembles true marble and is known as marmo di Castellina. Alabaster is a stone and can be dyed into any colour or shade
Alabaster
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Three Maries, alabaster sculpture by Master of the Rimini Crucifixion (c. 1430),
National Museum,
Warsaw.
Alabaster
–
Alabaster
kohl pot from
Ancient Egypt
Alabaster
–
Statue made of alabaster,
Yemen
Alabaster
–
Alabaster tomb monument to Sir
Nicholas Fitzherbert
26.
List of Egyptian pyramids
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This list presents the vital statistics of the pyramids listed in chronological order, when available. Lepsius list of pyramids List of the oldest buildings in the world Dunn, lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt, Advanced Engineering in the Temples of the Pharaohs. The complete pyramids, solving the ancient mysteries
List of Egyptian pyramids
–
Djoser
List of Egyptian pyramids
–
Sekhemkhet
List of Egyptian pyramids
–
Khaba (uncertain)
List of Egyptian pyramids
–
Sneferu
27.
List of megalithic sites
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This is a list of monoliths organized according to the size of the largest block of stone on the site. A monolith is a stone which has been used to build a structure or monument. In this list at least one colossal stone over ten tons has been moved to create the structure or monument, in most cases the ancient civilizations had little, if any, advanced technology that would help the moving of these monoliths. The most notable exception is that of the ancient Greeks and Romans who had cranes, documented in recent times, there is a list of efforts to move colossal stones that used technology that wasnt more advanced than the technology the ancient civilizations used. Most of these weights are based on estimates by published scholars, however, to help recognize exaggerations, an introductory description shows how to calculate the weight of colossal stones by calculating volume and density. In the cases of the smaller monoliths it may be possible to weigh them, however, in most cases the monoliths were too large or they may have been part of an ancient structure so this method could not be used. The weight of a stone can be calculated by multiplying its volume, the density of most stones is between two and three tons per cubic meter. Basalt weighs about 2.8 to 3.0 tons per meter, granite averages about 2.75 metric tons per cubic meter, limestone,2.7 metric tons per cubic meter. Some softer stones may be lighter than 2 tons per meter, like volcanic tuff. Since the density of most of these stones fluctuates it is necessary to know the source for the stone, the discussion above is accurate as far as it goes, which is only to the first significant figure. To go any further one needs to be relatively sophisticated about surveying the monolith, finally and crucially the rock density needs to be measured with appropriate precision. At the crudest, a device and a bucket can obtain two significant figures for a density value. This list includes only quarried, but not moved monoliths and this list includes only quarried and moved monoliths. Cueva de Menga, in Antequera, Spain, Dolmen made of megaliths, weighing up to 180 tons, built in 2500 BC. Colossal statue of Tlaloc, in Coatlinchan, made of basalt, weighing 168 tons. Pyramid of Khendjer at Saqqara, Egypt, several ashlars,100 to 130 tons, were transported 6 miles. Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae, Greece, the Pyramid of Amenemhet III, at Hawara, Egypt. 110-ton, one piece quartzite burial chamber, the largest colossal statue of Ramses, well over 100 tons
List of megalithic sites
–
People on
Nias Island in
Indonesia move
monoliths to a construction site, circa 1915
List of megalithic sites
–
Monolith with
bull,
fox, and
crane in
low relief,
Gobekli Tepe
List of megalithic sites
–
The
Unfinished obelisk of Aswan
List of megalithic sites
–
The 1,250 t heavy
Thunder Stone in Saint Petersburg. On top an equestrian statue of
Peter the Great
28.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
Wayback Machine
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Wayback Machine
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