The Labyrinth of Osiris (77 page)

Hawaga
     
(f.
hawagaya
)
Egyptian term for a foreigner.

Herodotus
     Ancient Greek historian, known as ‘the father of history’. Lived
c
.485–
425BC
.

Hijab
      headscarf worn by observant Muslim women.

Horemheb
     Last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Ruled
c
.1319–1307.

Huppah
     he ceremonial canopy beneath which a Jewish marriage takes place.

IDF
     Israel Defence Force: the Israeli army.

Imbaba riots
     An outbreak of murderous sectarian violence in the Imbaba district of Cairo in 2011, sparked when Muslims attacked a Coptic Christian church.

Imma
     
(pl.
immam
)
Headscarf or turban. Worn by men throughout Egypt.

Ingileezi
     
(f.
ingileezaya
)
English man/woman.

Inshallah
     iterally, ‘God willing’.

Irgun
     Full name Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization). Zionist right-wing paramilitary group operating in Mandate-era Palestine.

Jabotinsky, Ze’ev (Vladimir)
     Right-wing Zionist leader and thinker. Lived 1880–1940.

Justine
     Famous Cairo restaurant.

Kaddish
      prayer recited by Jewish mourners.

Kadima
     A centrist Israeli political party, established in 2005 by Ariel Sharon. Literally, ‘Forward’.

Kahane, Meir
     Brooklyn-born Jewish extremist. Advocated forcible removal of all Arabs from the biblical land of Israel. Born 1932. Assassinated 1990.

Karkady
     A drink made from an infusion of hibiscus petals, popular throughout Egypt.

Ken
     #x2018;Yes’ in Hebrew.

Kharga
     A large oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert.

Kingdom
     The history of ancient Egypt covers almost 3,000 years, during which time there were three extended periods of national unity and powerful central government: the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.

Kom Lolah
     A village on the West Bank of the Nile at Luxor, near the temple of Medinet Habu.

Knesset
     Literally, ‘assembly’. The Israeli parliament.

Krav Maga
     An aggressive self-defence system developed in Israel by former boxer and wrestler Imi Lichtenfeld. Widely used by the Israeli security services.

Kubbeh
     n Armenian dish: a deep-fried, sausage-shaped croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb.

Kufr
     ame given to those who do not follow Islam; ‘unbelievers’.

Labor
     Centre-left, social democratic Israeli political party.

Late Period
     Final period of ancient Egyptian history in which the country was governed by native rulers. Comprised Dynasties 25 to 30. Lasted 712–
332BC
, when Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great.

Latke
     otato pancake/patty.

Lazeez
     #x2018;Delicious’ in Arabic.

Lider, Ivri
     Gay Israeli pop singer.

Lieberman, Avigdor
     Right-wing, nationalist Israeli politician. Founder of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party.

Likud
     Literally, ‘Consolidation’. Centre-right Israeli political party; founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin.

Livni, Tzipi
     Israeli (female) politician. Former leader of the Kadima Party. Born 1958.

Lo
     ebrew for ‘no’.

Lucas, Alfred
     English Egyptologist and conservator, member of the team responsible for the clearing of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Lived 1867–1945.

Maasiyahu
     Prison in Ramle, central Israel.

Mabruk
     rabic for ‘Congratulations’.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv
     Hugely successful Israeli basketball and football club.

Mahata
     rabic for ‘maze’.

Mahmoud, Karem
     Popular Egyptian singer. Known as the ‘Melodious Knight’. Lived 1922–1965.

Mallory, George
     English explorer and mountaineer who disappeared in 1924 while climbing Mount Everest. His body was discovered on the mountain in 1999.

Mandate era
     Period from the end of World War One to 1948 when Palestine was governed by the British under a mandate from the League of Nations.

Maniak
     ebrew for ‘arsehole’.

Magen David
     iterally, ‘Shield of David’. A six-pointed star, one of the most recognizable symbols of Jewish identity.

Mahane Yehuda
     Neighbourhood of Jerusalem with a famous covered market.

Malqata
     Archaeological site on the West Bank of the Nile at Luxor. Formerly the palace of Eighteenth-Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III.

Manjet
     
Barque
     Also known as the ‘Barque of Millions of Years’. The boat in which the sun god Ra crossed the sky once a day.

Matkot
     opular ball game played in Israel, similar to beach tennis, in which two people hit a ball using wooden paddles. The word means ‘rackets’.

Mauristan
     An area in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Mazel tov
     ebrew for ‘good luck’. Used to express congratulations.

Mea Sharim
     Neighbourhood in central Jerusalem. Home to a large ultra-Orthodox
Haredi
(
qv
) community.

Medinet Habu
     Village on the West Bank of the Nile at Luxor. Site of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III.

Meir, Golda
     Israeli politician and stateswoman. Served as Prime Minister 1969–1974. Lived 1898–1978.

Menatel
     Egyptian telecommunications company.

Menorah
     A seven-branched lamp used in the ancient temple of Jerusalem. One of the defining symbols of Judaism.

Merenptah
     Nineteenth-Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled 1224–
1214BC
. Son of Ramesses II.

Meretz
     Israeli left-wing political party.

Meshugganah
     iddish for ‘crazy’, ‘mad’.

Mezuzah
     iterally, ‘doorpost’. A small case containing verses from the biblical book of Deuteronomy. Attached to the doorways of Jewish homes.

Middle Kingdom
     One of the three great Kingdoms of ancient Egypt. Comprising Dynasties 11 to 14, it lasted
c
.2040–
1640BC
.

Mishteret
     ebrew for ‘police’.

Misr
     rabic for Egypt. The full name is Junhuriyah Misr al-Arabiyah – the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Molocchia
     reen leafy plant similar to spinach.

Moshav
     n Israeli cooperative farm or agricultural community. Similar to a kibbutz.

Mossad
     Also known as the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations; Israel’s national intelligence agency. Renowned for its skill and ruthlessness.

Moulid
     iterally, ‘birthday’. A traditional Egyptian festival celebrating the birth and life of a holy person.

Mounir, Mohammed
     Egyptian singer and actor. Born 1954.

Mr Zol
     Israeli supermarket.

Mubarak, Hosni
     Former President of Egypt (1981–2011). Resigned following the Revolution of January 2011. Born 1928.

Muslim Brotherhood
     Egyptian Islamist movement founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna. Its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, became the dominant force in Egyptian politics after winning 47 per cent of the seats in the Parliamentary elections of January 2012.

Nectanebo I
     Thirtieth-Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled
c
.380–
362BC
.

Naqba
     rabic for ‘disaster’, ‘catastrophe’. The word used by Palestinians to describe the impact of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

Netanyahu, Benjamin (‘Bibi’)
     Right-wing Israeli politician. Prime Minister since 2009 (he served an earlier term 1996–99).

Newberry, Percy Edward
     English Egyptologist. Part of the team responsible for the clearance of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Lived 1869–1949.

New Kingdom
     The last of the three great Kingdoms of ancient Egypt. Comprising the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties, it lasted
c.
1550–
1070BC
, and included some of the most famous pharaohs of Egyptian history, such as Tutankhamun and Ramesses II.

Noshech kariot
     iterally, ‘pillow biter’. Derogatory Hebrew term for a gay man.

Nu be’emet
     ebrew for ‘Come on!’, as in, ‘Come on, you can’t be serious!’

Opet Festival
     Ancient Egyptian religious festival in which statues of Amun, Mut and Khonsu, the three patron deities of Thebes, were ceremonially paraded in a boat from Karnak to Luxor Temple.

Oslo Accords
     Set of peace proposals between Israelis and Palestinians, negotiated in secret in Oslo and signed in Washington in 1993.

Park Heights
     Upmarket district of Tel-Aviv.

Pendlebury, John Devitt Stringfellow
     British Egyptologist and archaeologist. He excavated at Amarna. Shot by the Germans on Crete during World War Two.

Pe’ot
     idelocks worn by ultra-Orthodox Jewish men.

Peres, Shimon
     Israeli politician and statesman. Has twice served as Prime Minister of Israel (1984–1986 and 1995–1996) and in 2007 was elected President.

Petrie, William Matthew Flinders
     Influential British Egyptologist and archaeologist. Established many of the basic ground rules of modern archaeology. Nicknamed ‘the father of pots’. Lived 1853–1942.

Petrie Museum
     Attached to University College London. Contains some 80,000 objects from Egypt and the Sudan, one of the most important collections of such material in the world. Named after Egyptologist Flinders Petrie.

Pylon
     Massive entrance or gateway standing in front of a temple.

Qa’ba
     Cube-shaped shrine in Mecca, the holiest site in the Muslim world. It contains a stone believed to have been given by the Angel Gabriel to Abraham. All Muslims turn towards it when praying.

Qurnawis
     nhabitants of the village of Shaykh Abd al-Qurna on the West Bank of the Nile at Luxor.

Qurn
     Literally, ‘the horn’. Pyramid-shaped peak overlooking the Valley of the Kings.

Ramadan War
     Arab name for the Yom Kippur war of 1973.

Ramesses I
     First pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty. Ruled
c
.1307–
1306BC
.

Ramesses II
     Nineteenth-Dynasty pharaoh. One of the greatest of all Egyptian rulers. Ruled
c
.1290–
1224BC
.

Ramesses III
     Twentieth-Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled
c
.1194–
1163BC
. His mortuary temple at Medinet Habu is one of the most beautiful monuments in Egypt.

Ramesses VII
     Twentieth-Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled
c
.1143–
1136BC
.

Ramesses IX
     Twentieth-Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled
c
.1112–
1100BC
.

Rehaviya
     Upmarket neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

River Oaks
     Upmarket suburb of Houston.

Romema
     A neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

Rosetta Stone
     An ancient Egyptian stone stele inscribed with the same text in three different scripts: hieroglyphs, demotic (a cursive form of hieroglyphs) and Greek. Discovered near the town of Rosetta (Al-Rashid) in 1799, it provided the key to the deciphering of hieroglyphs. It has been on display in the British Museum since 1802.

Sabah el-khir
     rabic for ‘Good morning’.

Sabra
     ickname for a native Israeli. The
sabra
is a cactus plant and, like the cactus, Israelis are supposed to be prickly on the outside with a soft centre.

Safra Square
     A square in central Jerusalem. Home to Jerusalem’s City Hall.

Saheb/Sahebi
     rabic for ‘friend’/‘my friend’.

Saidee
     A native of Upper (or southern) Egypt. Saidees tend to be darker-skinned than those from Lower (northern) Egypt.

Salafists
     Ultra-conservative Islamic movement.

Salat
     slamic daily prayers.

Salat al-Janazah
     n Islamic funeral prayer.

Schwartze
     iddish word for a black person.

Seer limoon
     #x2018;Lemonade’.

Seminary
     A religious school or college.