The Lost Army of Cambyses (70 page)

Djoser (ruled
c.
2630–2611 BC). Worshipped as a

god after his death. His tomb has never been

found.

'Imma
Turban.

Isis
Ancient Egyptian goddess. Wife of Osiris and

mother of Horus. Protector of the dead.

Iteru
Ancient Egyptian name for the Nile. Also an ancient unit of measurement, equivalent to

approximately 2 km.

John Soane Museum
Small museum in central

London in the house of architect Sir John Soane

(1753–1837). Diverse collection of objects includ-

ing the coffin of Nineteenth Dynasty pharaoh

Seti I.

Ka'ba
A cube-shaped shrine in Mecca, the holiest

site in the Moslem world. It contains a stone

believed to have been given by the angel Gabriel

to Abraham. All Moslems turn towards it when

praying.

Karkaday
An infusion of hibiscus flowers,

popular throughout Egypt.

Karnak
A vast temple complex just to the north of

Luxor, with buildings spanning almost 2000 years

of Egyptian history.

Khamsin
A strong desert wind.

Khan-al-Khalili
A large bazaar in Cairo, selling

everything from jewellery to
shisha
pipes.

Khutbar
Sermon.

Kufr
Name given to those who do not follow

Islam. Unbelievers.

KV39
Tomb just outside the Valley of the Kings.

Considered by some Egyptologists to be the tomb

of early Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep

583

I (ruled
c.
1525–1504 BC).

KV55
Mysterious tomb in the Valley of the Kings,

discovered in 1907. Considerable controversy

over who was actually buried there, with some

scholars suggesting Akhenaten, others Smenkhkare.

Late Period
Period of ancient Egyptian history

lasting from 712 BC to 332 BC, when the country

was conquered by Alexander the Great.

Lepsius, Karl Richard
(1810–84). German

Egyptologist. Director of Berlin Museum.

Published a seminal twelve-volume study of the

monuments of Egypt.

Linear A
As yet undeciphered script used in

ancient Crete.

Lydia
Ancient Near Eastern kingdom. In modern

Turkey.

Machimos
Warrior.

Malqata
Site of former palace of Amenhotep
III

on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor.

Mariette, Auguste Ferdinand
(1821–81). French

Egyptologist. Founder of Egyptian Department of

Antiquities and National Museum.

Mastaba
Oblong tomb, made of stone or mud

bricks. From the Arabic word for bench.

Medinet Habu
Village on the west bank of the

Nile at Luxor, and site of the mortuary temple of

Ramesses
III.

Memphis
Capital of the Old Kingdom, an impor-

tant administrative centre throughout ancient

Egyptian history.

Midan Tahrir
The hub of modern Cairo. The

name means 'Liberation Square'.

Mihrab
Niche in a mosque indicating the

direction of Mecca.

584

Minoan
Ancient Bronze Age culture based on

island of Crete.

Mizmar
Musical wind instrument, akin to the

oboe.

Molochia
An Egyptian dish made from stewed

mallow leaves. Rather like spinach.

Mortuary temple
Temple where prayers were

recited and sacrifices offered for the well-being of

the deceased, usually a king.

Moulid
Popular festival or fair, usually in honour of a local saint or holy person.

Muezzin
Mosque official who summons the faith-

ful to prayer five times each day.

Munshid
A devotional singer or chanter.

Necropolis
Literally 'city of the dead'. A burial

ground.

Nefertiti
Great Royal Wife of the pharaoh

Akhenaten. Some scholars believe that on

Akhenaten's death she took the name

Smenkhkare and ruled as a pharaoh in her own

right. Immortalized in the famous 'Nefertiti Bust'

in the Berlin Museum.

Old Kingdom
Ancient Egyptian history is divided

into three Kingdoms – Old, Middle and New –

with Intermediate Periods between them. The Old

Kingdom lasted from
c.
2575 to 2134 BC.

Osiris
Ancient Egyptian god of the underworld.

Ostrakon
Piece of pottery or limestone bearing an

image or text. Effectively the ancient equivalent of

the modern-day doodling pad.

Pectoral
Jewel, usually pylon-shaped, worn on the

chest or breast.

Pendlebury, John Devitt Stringfellow
(1904–41).

Egyptologist. Excavated at Amarna. Shot by

585

Germans on Crete during the Second World War.

Peret One of three seasons into which the ancient

Egyptian year was divided (the others were Akhet

and Shemu). Peret was the season of planting and

growth, and lasted roughly from October to

February.

Persepolis Former capital of ancient Persia. In

modern-day Iran.

Petosiris
The name of a noble family buried at

Tuna el-Gebel. Their tomb is unique in its use of

both Egyptian and Greek styles to portray daily

life in ancient Egypt.

Petrie, William Matthew Flinders
(1853–1942).

Archaeologist and Egyptologist. Worked exten-

sively in Egypt and Palestine.

Pylon
Massive entrance or gateway standing in

front of a temple.

Qurn
High, pyramid-shaped peak overlooking

the Valley of the Kings. Means 'the horn' in

Arabic. Called Dehenet by the ancient Egyptians.

Rais
Foreman or overseer of works.

Ramesses I
First pharaoh of the Nineteenth

Dynasty (although some consider Horemheb to

have been the first). Ruled
c.
1307–1306 BC.

Ramesses II
Third pharaoh of the Nineteenth

Dynasty. Ruled
c.
1290–1224 BC. One of ancient

Egypt's greatest pharaohs.

Ramesses III
Twentieth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled

c.
1194–1163 BC. His mortuary temple at Medinet

Habu is one of the most beautiful monuments in

Egypt.

Ramesses
VIII
Twentieth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled

c.
1136–1131 BC.

Ramesseum Mortuary temple of Ramesses II, on

586

the west bank of the Nile at Luxor.

Ramessid
Umbrella title given to the period of the

Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties.

Ra
(or
Re)
Ancient Egyptian sun god.

Re-Harakhty
Ancient Egyptian god combining

the attributes of Ra and Horus. State god of the

New Kingdom. Usually depicted as a man with

the head of a falcon.

Rek'ah
Prayer cycle.

Rekhmire
Vizier of Tuthmosis III (ruled
c.

1479–1425 BC) and Amenhotep
II
(ruled

c.
1427–1401 BC).

Rohlfs, Gerhard
(1831–96). German explorer.

Travelled extensively in the western desert,

making a landmark crossing of the Great Sand

Sea in 1874.

Rosellini, Niccolo Francesco Ippolito Baldessare

(1800–43). Italian Egyptologist. Founder of

Egyptology in Italy.

Saidee
Native of Upper Egypt.

Saqqara
Necropolis of the ancient Egyptian

capital at Memphis. A vast desert burial ground

covering almost seven square kilometres, and

including the Step Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt's first

true pyramid.

Scarab
A dung beetle. Considered sacred in

ancient Egypt.

Serapeum
A series of vast underground galleries

at Saqqara where the Apis Bull – a sacred cult

animal of the ancient Egyptians – was buried.

Seth
Egyptian deity, brother and murderer of

Osiris, associated with deserts, war and chaos.

Represented by an unidentified animal.

Seti I
Nineteenth Dynasty pharaoh, father of

587

Ramesses II. Ruled
c.
1306–1290 BC.

Shabti
Small mummiform figure, usually of wood

or faience, placed in a tomb in order to perform

tasks for the deceased in the afterlife.

Sharia
Islamic law.

Shepseskaf
Final pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty.

Ruled
c.
2472–2467 BC.

Shisha
pipe
A water pipe. Found in cafes and private homes throughout Egypt.

Siga
A board game, also known as Tab-es-Siga.

Similar to draughts. Thought to derive from the

ancient Egyptian board game Senet.

Smenkhkare
Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh, ruled

c.
1335–1333 BC. Some scholars have suggested

that Smenkhkare was actually Nefertiti, who

ruled as a pharaoh in her own right following the

death of her husband Akhenaten.

Snofru
First king of the Fourth Dynasty. Ruled
c.

2575–2551 BC.

Stele
Upright block of stone or wood carrying

images and inscriptions.

Sura
A chapter of the Koran, the holy book of

Islam. Each of the 114
suras
is divided into a

number of
ayat,
or sections.

Susa
Former capital of the Persian empire. In

modern Iran.

Teftish
Office.

Termous
Type of bean.

Thebes
Name given by the Greeks to ancient

Waset, modern Luxor.

Thoth
Ancient Egyptian god of writing and

counting. Usually depicted with a human body

and the head of an ibis.

Touria
Hoe.

588

Tuna el-Gebel
Ancient site in Middle Egypt, near

the town of Mallawi.

Tuthmosis II
Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled

c.
1492–1479 BC.

Ummah
The Moslem community.

Waset
Ancient Egyptian name for modern Luxor.

Yuya and Tjuyu
A noble couple, lived in the four-

teenth century BC. Great-grandparents of

Tutankhamun. Their tomb in the Valley of the

Kings – KV46 – was found in 1905. Until the dis-

covery of Tutankhamun in 1922, it was

considered one of the greatest finds in the history

of Egyptian archaeology.

Zamalek
District of Cairo. Occupies the northern

part of Gezira Island.

Zikr
A group of devout Moslems, usually belong-

ing to one of the mystic Sufi brotherhoods, who

perform a trance-inducing devotional dance.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Numerous people helped in the writing of this

book, which would never have made it out of my

head, let alone into the bookshops, without their

advice, assistance and support.

Special thanks to my wonderful agent, Laura

Susijn, who believed in me when many others

didn't, and to my editor, Simon Taylor, a master of

the art of painless revision.

Nicholas Reeves, Ian Shaw and Stephen Quirke

provided crucial advice on aspects of ancient

Egyptian history and language, and I owe them a

huge debt of gratitude, as well as an apology for

the many liberties I have taken with the inform-

ation they provided.

Stephen Ulph and James Freeman filled in the

numerous gaps in my knowledge of, respectively,

modern Arabic and ancient Greek. Thanks to

them, and also to Andrew 'Splodge' Rogerson and

Tom Blackmore for their invaluable comments on

the manuscript.

591

Of all the many friends who buoyed me up with

words of encouragement, four in particular

deserve mention: John Bannon, Nigel Topping,

Xan Brooks and Bromley Roberts.

Finally, two special acknowledgements. First, to

my aunt Joan, who first planted a love of ancient

Egypt in my mind, and subsequently nurtured it

through many joyous afternoons in the British

Museum.

Secondly, and most importantly, to all my many

friends in the Arab Republic of Egypt, who have

shown me such unfailing warmth, kindness and

generosity.