Glossary of ancient Egypt artifacts

Glossary of ancient Egyptian artifacts and materials

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• Amulet An amulet is an object that is typically worn on one's person, that some people believe has the magical or miraculous power to protect its holder.
• Ankh symbol of life held by Ra
• Benben stone—(also known as a pyramidion) the top stone of the Egyptian pyramid
• Canopic jar—Vessel containing internal body organs removed during mummification
• Canopic chest—The common chest contained the four Canopic jars
• Cartonnage—Papyrus or linen soaked in plaster, shaped around a body and used for mummy masks and coffins
• Cenotaph—an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere
• Crook—Symbol of pharaonic power. Symbol of the god Osiris
• Faience—Glasswork articles, amulets, etc.
• False door—an artistic representation of a door, a common architectural element in the tombs
• Flail—Symbol of pharaonic power. Symbol of the god Osiris
• Flint knife— prestige funerary good, from the Naqada period until the end of the Early Dynastic Period
• Funerary cone—small cones made from clay that were placed over the entrance of the chapel of a tomb, used almost exclusively in the Theban necropolis (Mesopotamia had clay nails)
• Headrest—Found in tombs, etc. Typically personal, or a memorial headrest
• Imiut fetish—A religious object used in funerary rites; a stuffed, headless animal skin, often of a feline or bull, tied by the tail to a pole, terminating in a lotus bud and inserted into a stand
• Microlith—Ancient Egyptian stone flakes
• Menat—An amulet worn round the neck. Also a musical instrument, a metal rattle (see also: sistrum)
• Menhed—A scribe's pallet
• Mummy—Body after mummification
• Naos—Religious shrine; portable shrine for carrying a god
• Ostracon—Pottery sherd, limestone Sherd, used as writing material
• Cosmetic palette—Slab of stone, sometimes decorated, used for preparing cosmetics. See: Narmer Palette; and: Category:Archaeological palettes.
• Papyrus—Material made from papyrus reeds, used as writing and painting material
• Pectoral (Ancient Egypt)—many forms. (Up to 13 additional Gardiner-unlisted determinative hieroglyphs for the "pectoral"; See Gardiner's sign list.)
• Saqqara Bird—Wooden bird model
• Sarcophagus—a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone
• Scarab: amulet or seal in the form of an abstract dung beetle
• Senet—A board game
• Shabti—Figurines placed in the tomb as substitutes for the tomb owner in the next world
• Sphinx
• Pyramid— A monumental structure with a square or triangular base and sloping sides that meet in a point at the top, especially one built of stone as a royal tomb in ancient Egypt
  • Statuary—Pharaonic and non-pharaonic. (Range of sizes.)
  • Amulets—numerous, (and predynastic).
• Stele
  • Boundary Stele—Placed at boundaries.
  • Memorial Stele—Pharaonic or non-pharaonic.
  • Monumental Stele—Offered to gods, special individuals.
  • Votive Stele—private, dedication.
  • Victory Stele—Pharaonic.
• Talatat—limestone wall blocks, at times painted.
• Ushabti— shabtis from the 21st Dynasty and later.

See also

• Grave goods
• Votive deposit

References

• Reeves, Nicholas. Ancient Egypt, The Great Discoveries, a Year-by-Year Chronicle,
• Nicholas Reeves, (Thames and Hudson Ltd. London), c.2000. Glossary: p. 242