Vocabulary notes:
to be elevated to the role of -
tutelary divinity
two long plumes
to preside over -
to be precisely codified
to become widespread
to counter the authority of the priesthood
to be suppressed
the primordial solar divinity
the incarnation of the quintessence of femininity
to be widely worshipped
a falcon-headed man
to be depicted as
to wear an ostrich feather
to remake the dismembered body
since the remotest antiquity
Amun, Amun-Ra. He was the principal ancient Egypt god of Thebes; he became increasingly important during the New Kingdom, and was eventually elevated to the role of a tutelary divinity in various parts of Egypt. He is represented wearing a crown with two long plumes.
Anubis. He was a male divinity with the head of a jackal; he presided over the funerary cult and was believed to have invented the technique of mummification. He accompanied the dead person to the hereafter and was therefore identified with Mercury during the Roman period.
Aten. He was the solar disc, and the source of life and heat. He was first mentioned as a divinity under Amenhotep III. However, it was during the reign of Amenhotep IV Akhenaten that his cult, mainly instituted to counter the authority of the priesthood of Amun, was precisely codified and started to become widespread in Egypt. When Akhenaten died the worship of Aten was suppressed.
Atum. He was the primordial solar divinity and the patron of Heliopolis. He was symbolized by the setting sun and was represented as a man wearing a double crown to symbolize his rule over the whole of Egypt.
Hathor. She was the incarnation of the quintessence of femininity, and was widely worshipped in many areas of Egypt. She is represented as a cow, or a woman with cow's ears.
Horus. He was the son of Osiris and Isis. He is often represented as a falcon or a falcon-headed man. He was worshipped in various parts of Egypt and the reigning king was identified with this ancient Egypt god.
Isis. She was the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She was widely worshipped throughout the Mediterranean in Roman times. During the pharaonic period she was depicted as a woman with a throne or a solar disc and two cow's horns on her head.
Maat. She was the ancient egypt goddess of justice and the daughter of Ra. She is shown as a woman wearing an ostrich feather on her head. She represents the principal of order, which inspires the king as he governs the ostrich feather. She also appears as a counterweight to the dead person's heart on Anubis's weighing scale when the dead are judged.
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Nephthys. She was the sister and the wife of Seth. She was involved with her sister Isis in seeking and remaking the dismembered body of Osiris. She is represented as a woman with her own name in hieroglyphs on her head.
Osiris. This ancient Egypt god was the brother and husband of Isis. He was born of the union between the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. He became the king of Egypt and was then killed by his brother Seth. He was worshipped as the king of the dead and represented as a mummy with a white crown with two ostrich plumes.
Ra. He was the sun god and was mainly worshipped at Heliopolis. He is shown as a man with the head of a falcon crowned with the solar discs.
Selqet. She was a scorpion goddess, and the protector of the king and the boat of the sun since the remotest antiquity. She is shown as a woman with a scorpion on her head.
Seth. He was the ancient Egypt god of darkness, death, the desert and chaos. He killed his brother Osiris.
1.7 Read the text and answer the questions:
Kings of the Dead
Ancient Egyptians believed that when the pharaoh died, he became Osiris, king of the dead. The new pharaoh became Horus, god of the heavens and protector of the sun god. This cycle was symbolized by the rising and setting of the sun.
Some part of a dead pharaoh's spirit, called his ka, was believed to remain with his body. And it was thought that if the corpse did not have proper care, the former pharaoh would not be able to carry out his new duties as king of the dead. If this happened, the cycle would be broken and disaster would befall Egypt.
To prevent such a catastrophe, each dead pharaoh was mummified, which preserved his body. Everything the king would need in his afterlife was provided in his grave vessels made of clay, stone, and gold, furniture, food, even doll-like representations of servants, known as ushabti. His body would continue to receive food offerings long after his death.
Questions:
1. What did Ancient Egyptians believe in when the pharaoh died?
2. What did the cycle mean? How could it be broken?
3. What were they doing to prevent such a catastrophe?
1.8 Read and retell the text using the vocabulary notes:
Egyptian pyramids
Vocabulary notes:
current archaeological consensus
quarrying
to superimpose upon
the natural hillock
satellite pyramid
a better state of preservation
satellite edifices
polished limestone
elevated location
steeper angle of inclination
to be attributed to -
four-year tenure
premature
truncation
vibrant economy
predecessor
loose masonry
substantial monumental structure
inaccessible
to create a pyramid with smooth sides
a significant proportion
luminous appearance ,
relative obscurity
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to construct the pyramids out of mudbrick
obscure structures
subsidiary pyramids
in the vicinity
a mountain of rubble from the collapsed outer casing
pharaoh's predecessor
to suffer a catastrophic collapse
the small mountain of debris
to reduce the amount
Abu Rawash
Abu Rawash is the site of Egypt's most northerly pyramid the mostly ruined Pyramid of Djedefre, son and successor of Khufu. Originally it was thought that this pyramid had never been completed, but the current archaeological consensus is that not only was it completed, but that it was originally about the same size as the Pyramid of Menkaure, which would have made it among the half-dozen or so largest pyramids in Egypt.
Its location adjacent to a major crossroad made it an easy source of stone. Quarrying which began in Roman times has left little apart from a few courses of stone superimposed upon the natural hillock that formed part of the pyramid's core. A small adjacent satellite pyramid is in a better state of preservation.
Giza
Giza is the location of the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the "Great Pyramid"); the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Kephren); the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinus), along with a number of smaller satellite edifices known as "Queen's pyramids"; and the Great Sphinx.
Of the three, only Khafre's pyramid retains part of its original polished limestone casing, near its apex. This pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu pyramid by virtue of its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of its construction it is, in fact, smaller in both height and volume.
The Giza Necropolis has been a popular tourist destination since antiquity, and was popularized in Hellenistic times when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it is the only one of those wonders still in existence.
Zawyet el-Aryan
This site, halfway between Giza and Abu Sir, is the location for two unfinished Old Kingdom pyramids. The northern structure's owner is believed to be the Pharaoh Nebka, whilst the southern structure is attributed to the Third Dynasty Pharaoh Khaba, also known as Hudjefa, successor to Sekhemkhet.
Khaba's four-year tenure as pharaoh more than likely explains the similar premature truncation of his step pyramid. Today it is approximately twenty meters in height.
Abu Sir
There are a total of seven pyramids at this site, which served as the main royal necropolis during the Fifth Dynasty. The quality of construction of the Abu Sir pyramids is inferior to those of the Fourth Dynasty perhaps signaling a decrease in royal power or a less vibrant economy. They are smaller than their predecessors, and are built of low-quality local limestone.
The three major pyramids are those of Niuserre (which is also the most intact), Neferirkare Kakai and Sahure. The site is also home to the incomplete Pyramid of Neferefre. All of the major pyramids at Abu Sir were built as step pyramids, although the largest of them the Pyramid of Neferirkare Kakai is believed to have originally been built as a step pyramid some 70 metres in height and then later transformed into a "true" pyramid by having its steps filled in with loose masonry.
Saqqara
Major pyramids located here include the Step Pyramid of Djozer generally identified as the world's oldest substantial monumental structure to be built of finished stone the Pyramid of Merykare, the Pyramid of Userkaf and the Pyramid of Teti. Also at Saqqara there is the Pyramid of Unas, which retains a pyramid causeway that is one of the best-preserved in Egypt. This pyramid was also the subject of one of the earliest known restoration attempts, conducted by a son of Ramesses II. Saqqara is also the location of the incomplete step pyramid of Djozer's successor Sekhemkhet, known as the Buried Pyramid. Archaeologists believe that if this pyramid had been completed it would have been larger than Djozer's.
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Dahshur
Red Pyramid
This area is arguably the most important pyramid field in Egypt outside Giza and Saqqara, although until 1996 the site was inaccessible due to its location within a military base, and hence was virtually unknown outside archaeological circles.
The southern Pyramid of Sneferu, commonly known as the Bent Pyramid is believed to be the first (or by some accounts, second) attempt at creating a pyramid with smooth sides. In this it was only a partial but nonetheless visually arresting success; it remains the only Egyptian pyramid to retain a significant proportion of its original limestone casing, and serves as the best example of the luminous appearance common to all pyramids in their original state. The northern, or Red Pyramid built at the same location by Sneferu was later successfully completed as the world's first true smooth-sided pyramid. Despite its relative obscurity, the Red Pyramid is actually the third largest pyramid in Egypt after the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre at Giza. Also at Dahshur is the pyramid known as the Black Pyramid of Amenemhet III.
Mazghuna
Located to the south of Dahshur, this area was used in the First Intermediate Period by several kings who constructed their pyramids out of mudbrick. Today these structures are obscure and unimpressive.
Lisht
The ruined Pyramid of Amenemhet I at Lisht
Two major pyramids are known to have been built at Lisht those of Amenemhet I and his son, Senusret I. The latter is surrounded by the ruins of ten smaller subsidiary pyramids. One of these subsidiary pyramids is known to be that of Amenemhet's cousin, Khaba II. The site which is in the vicinity of the oasis of Faiyum, midway between Dahshur and Meidum, and about 100 kilometres south of Cairo, is believed to be in the vicinity of the ancient city of Itjtawy (the precise location of which remains unknown), which served as the capital of Egypt during the 12th Dynasty.
Meidum
Sneferu's Pyramid at Meidum; the central core structure remains surrounded by a mountain of rubble from the collapsed outer casing.
The pyramid at Meidum is one of three constructed during the reign of Sneferu, and is believed by some to have been started by that pharaoh's father and predecessor, Huni. However, this is not very likely, as his name does not appear on the site. Some archaeologists also suggest that the Meidum pyramid may have been the first unsuccessful attempt at the construction of a "true" or smooth-sided pyramid.
The pyramid suffered a catastrophic collapse in antiquity, and today only the central parts of its stepped inner core remain standing, giving it an odd tower-like appearance that is unique among Egyptian pyramids. The hill that the pyramid sits atop is not a natural landscape feature it is the small mountain of debris created when the lower courses and outer casing of the pyramid gave way.
Hawara
