WHAT IS THE DYNASTIC PERIOD ?

A period of ancient Egypt’s history tied to a framework of 30 dynasties (ruling houses) of kings, or pharaohs, who ruled from the time of the country’s unification into a single kingdom in c. 3100 bc until its conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 bc. The two Predynastic kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united by the legendary king Menes, possibly to be identified with the historical King Narmer. The Dynastic period was followed by a Greek period when the country was ruled by the Ptolemys, descendants of Alexander the Great’s general. The Ptolemaic period and Egypt’s independence were brought to an end in 30 bc when Queen Cleopatra VII died and the country was absorbed into the Roman Empire. The political history, largely derived from written sources, has a detailed and, for the most part, precise chronology. From the 21st dynasty onwards, Egypt’s cohesion broke, and from the 11th to 7th centuries bc Libyan, Asian, and Nubian contenders vied with Egyptians for control of the state. The divine ruler, the pharaoh, was ultimately responsible for the complex bureaucracy and was also the figurehead of the official religion, the personification of the sun god Ra, counterpart of Osiris, the god of the land of the dead. Because of their belief in the afterlife, the royal tombs of the pharaohs in particular reflect the great wealth and concentration of resources at the pharaoh’s disposal. Much of our information about ancient Egyptian history comes from the records that were carefully maintained by the Egyptians themselves, notably by the priests who were regarded as the guardians of the state’s accumulated wisdom.

WHAT IS THE DRYAS ?

A series of cold climatic phases in northwestern Europe, during a time when the North Atlantic was in almost full glacial condition. Dryas I was c. 16,000–14,000 bp, Dryas II (Older Dryas) was c. 12,300– 11,800 bp, and Dryas III (Younger Dryas) was c. 11,000–10,000 bp. It is named after a tundra plant. The increasing temperature after the late Dryas period during the Pre-Boreal and the Boreal (c. 8000– 5500 bc, according to radiocarbon dating) caused a remarkable change in late glacial flora and fauna.

WHAT IS THE DRAKENSTEIN URN ?

Type of Middle/Late Bronze Age ceramic vessel found in the Low Countries. The pots were barrel-shaped with impressed cordon decoration on the upper part of the body and occasionally with zigzag decoration. The shape and decoration of these vessels suggest some contact with the Deverel-Rimbury wares of southern England.

WHAT IS THE DOTAKU ?

A type of bronze bell made in the Yayoi period of Japan that was cast from melted bronzes, some heavily decorated. They may have been used in agricultural fertility rituals.

WHAT IS THE DOMESDAY BOOK ?

A survey of land ownership in England after the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes how in 1085 it was decided to make a record of the number of hides in land existing in each English shire and to establish the amount and value of acreage and livestock possessed by individual landowners. The idea was to create a new rating system which would protect and enlarge the king’s revenue. The resulting document – a two-volume survey of land ownership arranged under tenurial rather than territorial headings – is the great testament of feudal England. The Domesday Book is of fundamental importance to both historians and archaeologists of the late Saxon and early Norman periods, as it gives the names and sizes of villages, farms, manors, churches, and other properties that existed at the time as well as certain sales and transactions.