Egypt Vocabulary
Empire – larger than a kingdom – several nations under 1 rule
Dynasty – 1 family rules for generations
Pharaoh – Egyptian god – king; means “great house of King”
Monotheism – belief in 1 god
Polytheism – belief in more than 1 god
Hieroglyphics – Egyptian writing
Embalming – treatment done to preserve a corpse (dead body)
Preserve – to keep from decay
Sarcophagus – coffin or container for coffin
Inundation – annual flooding of the Nile (synonym for flooding)
Shadoof – tool used to help farmers irrigate fields
Papyrus – plant used for paper, baskets, sandals, rope, matting
Quarry – place where stone is mined
Obelisk – 4 sided, tall, skinny, stone monument with many carvings
(Washington Monument is a modern example)
Shabtis – human formed figure; believed to perform hard work for dead
Canopic jar – used to store embalmed internal organs following
mummification
Amulets – charms (like jewelry) worn by people and buried with mummies
Book of the Dead – chants and spells to get the dead through the underworld
Natron – salt used to dry body in mummifications
Pyramid – tomb for pharaoh
Tomb – a chamber for keeping the dead
Sphinx – statue with body of lion and head of king; Riddle of the Sphinx:
What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the afternoon, and 3 legs in
the evening? Man (4 legs as a baby, 2 when we walk, 3 when we use a cane
as we get older)
Vizier – king’s highest official, “right hand man”
Rosetta Stone- answer key to hieroglyphics
Hall of 2 Truths – underworld test of good vs evil (heart weighed against a
feather)
Devourer of Souls – attacks the dead who fail the Hall of Truths
“Gift of the Nile” – annual flooding gives good soil, river gives fish, wildlife
for food