WHAT IS THE MUMMIFICATION?

WHAT IS THE LAPIS LAZULI?

A semiprecious stone of an intense blue color, very popular in the ancient Near East for decorative inlays, beads, seals, etc. It is a metamorphosed form of limestone, rich in the blue mineral lazurite, which is dark blue in color and often flecked with impurities of calcite, iron pyrites, or gold. Its main source was Badakhshan, northern Afghanistan, and Iran, from which it was traded as far as Egypt. The Egyptians considered that its appearance imitated that of the heavens, therefore they considered it to be superior to all materials other than gold and silver. They used it extensively in jewelry until the Late Period (664–332 bc), when it was particularly popular for amulets. One of the richest collections of lapis lazuli objects was found in the burials at Tepe Gawra. It has also been found at Ovalle, Chile.

WHAT IS THE KHEKER FRIEZE?

Name of a decorative motif common in ancient Egyptian architecture from at least as early as the 3rd dynasty (2686–2613 bc). The motif consists of rows of knots in decorative carved or painted friezes around the upper edges of buildings.

WHAT IS THE FUNERARY CONE?

Egyptian solid pottery cones, 10–30 cm (4–12 inches) in length, which were placed at the entrances to tombs, often with the name and titles of the deceased on the flat, circular end. Found mainly in the Theban area of Middle Kingdom to Late Period dates (2125–332 bc), these cones were originally inserted in the brick-built tomb facade or tomb pyramid to form horizontal rows. Most belong to the New Kingdom and the bulk of them to the 18th dynasty (1550– 1295 bc).

WHAT IS THE FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD ?

Chronological phase (c. 2130–1938 bc) between the Old Kingdom (2575–2130 bc) and the Middle Kingdom (1938–1600 bc), which appears to have been a time of relative political disunity and instability. The period includes the 9th dynasty (c. 2130–2080 bc), 10th dynasty (c. 2080–1970 bc), and 11th dynasty (c. 2081–1938 bc). (The period corresponds to Manetho’s 7th to 10th dynasties and the early part of the 11th dynasty.) After the end of the 8th dynasty, the throne passed to kings from Heracleopolis, who made their native city the capital. Major themes of inscriptions of the period are the provision of food supplies for people in times of famine and the promotion of irrigation works. In the 10th dynasty, a period of generalized conflict focused on twin dynasties at Thebes and Heracleopolis. The 11th dynasty made Thebes its capital. In the First Intermediate Period, monuments were erected by a larger section of the population and, in the absence of central control, internal dissent and conflicts of authority became visible in public records. Non-royal individuals took over some of the privileges of royalty, notably identification with Osiris in the hereafter and the use of the Pyramid Texts. These were incorporated into a more extensive corpus inscribed on coffins – the Coffin Texts – and continued to be inscribed during the Middle Kingdom.

WHAT IS THE FECUNDITY FIGURE ?

A type of offering bearer depicted on Egyptian temple walls which is mostly seen as a personification of geographic areas, the inundation, or abstract concepts. The male figures have heavy pendulous breasts and bulging stomachs, their fatness symbolizing the abundance they bring with them.

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 DJED PILLAR ?

In Egypt, a widely found amulet of roughly cruciform style with at least three crossbars. It seems to have been a fetish from prehistoric times and came to represent the abstract concept of stability. Like the ankh, it was commonly used in friezes and painted inside the base of coffins.

WHAT IS THE CORN MUMMY ?

CORN MUMMY: A type of anthropomorphic funerary object made of soil mixed with grains of corn, which was usually wrapped up in linen bandages and had a face mask.

WHAT IS THE COMB ?

COMB: A toothed object of wood, bone, horn, metal, etc. with a number of uses – for hair dressing, carding wool, currying horses, compacting the weft in weaving, for decorating pottery, or as an ornament to keep the hair in place. As used for combing the hair, but not wearing, combs were found in Pompeian and Egyptian tombs and in early British, Roman, and Saxon barrows.

WHAT IS THE COLOSSUS ?

The colossus of Rameses II

COLOSSUS: A gigantic statue or image of the human form, usually of a king but also of private individuals and gods. They are typically set up outside the gates or pylons of temples. The term was originally applied by Herodotus to those of Egypt. The most famous is the bronze statue of Apollo at Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the world, reputed to have stood at the entrance to the harbor and claimed by Pliny to have been 27 m (90 feet) tall. [colossi, colossuses (pl.)]

WHAT IS THE CHAFING DISH ?

CHAFING DISH: A cooking pot with an outer pan of hot water, used for keeping food warm.

WHAT IS THE CARTOUCHE ?

CARTOUCHE: name given to the oval or oblong figures in Egyptian hieroglyphics that enclosed characters representing royal or divine names or titles. The term is also used for the amulets of similar design worn in ancient Egypt as a protection against the loss of one’s name (i.e., one’s identity). In architecture, the term refers to the ornamentation in scroll form, applied especially to elaborate frames around tablets or coats of arms. By extension, the word is applied to any oval shape or even to a decorative shield, whether scrolled or not. Detailed examples of cartouches show that the sign represents a length of knotted rope, looped so that it is never-ending; it thus symbolizes cyclical return. The French word cartouche, meaning “gun cartridge,” was originally given to the royal frame by Napoleon’s soldiers, because of its cartridge-like shape. [shenu]

WHAT IS THE CARTONNAGE ?

CARTONNAGE: An Egyptian mummy case made of layers of papyrus or linen soaked in gesso plaster and shaped around an embalmed body, much like papier mâché, and then decorated with paint or gilding when dry. The term also refers to the material thus used and for mummy masks, anthropoid coffins, and other funerary items made in the same manner. [cartonage]

WHAT IS THE CANOPİC JAR ?

CANOPİC JAR: An ancient Egyptian funerary ritual in which four covered vessels of wood, stone, pottery, or faience were used to hold the organs removed during mummification. The embalmed liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines were placed in separate canopic jars. The jars or urns were then placed beside the mummy in the tomb, to be reunited in spirit, subject to the appropriate spells and rituals having been performed. The earliest canopic jars came into use during the Old Kingdom (c. 2575–2130 bc) and had plain lids. During the Middle Kingdom (c. 1938–1600 bc) the jars were decorated with sculpted human heads, probably depicting the deceased. Then, from the 19th dynasty until the end of the New Kingdom (1539–1075 bc), the heads represented the four sons of the god Horus (Duamutef, Qebehsenuf, Imset, Hapy). In the 20th dynasty (1190–1075 bc) the practice began

of returning the embalmed viscera to the body. The term appears to refer to a Greek demigod, Canopus, venerated in the form of a jar with a human head. [canopea, canopic vase, canopic vessel]

WHAT IS THE BLOCK STATUE ?

BLOCK STATUE: A type of sculpture introduced in the Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 bc), that represents the subject squatting on the ground with knees drawn up close to the body, under the chin. The arms and legs may be wholly contained within the simple cubic form, with the hands and feet protruding discretely. The 12th dynasty block statue of Sihathor in the British Museum is the earliest dated example. The block statue of Queen Hetepheres, in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, is also one of the earliest examples of this type.

WHAT IS THE BENTY GRANGE HELMET ?

BENTY GRANGE HELMET: An Anglo-Saxon ceremonial helmet found in 1848 at a burial site in Benty Grange. Unlike the Sutton Hoo helmet, which has similarities to Swedish helmets, the Benty Grange example was undoubtedly of native workmanship. It is an elaborate object combining the pagan boar symbol with Christian crosses on the nail heads.

Reconstruction

WHAT IS THE BENBEN STONE ?

BENBEN STONE: A cult object made of stone, found at sites such as the one for the sun god Re at Heliopolis. The sacred stone symbolized the Primeval Mound and perhaps also the petrified semen of the deity. It served as the earliest prototype for the obelisk and possibly even the pyramid. It was probably constructed in the early Old Kingdom, c. 2600 bc.

WHAT IS THE BAS-RELIEF ?

BAS-RELIEF: low-relief technique of sculpture or carved work in which the figures project less than half of their true proportions from the surface on which they are carved. The term also describes sculptures or carvings in low relief. Mezzo-relievo means projecting exactly half; alto-relievo more than half. [basso-relievo, low relief, low-relief]

WHAT IS THE BARBOTINE ?

BARBOTINE: A technique of decorating pottery by adding thick slip to the surface of a pot before firing. The term also refers to the creamy mixture of kaolin clay itself, for pottery ornamented with barbotine, and the technique of applying an incrustation of this mixture to a ceramic surface for decorative effect. The slip was not applied evenly, but in order to form a thick incrustation in patches or trails. On certain types of pottery, such as the Nene Valley ware, the barbotine decoration may form a picture or a pattern. Sometimes the result is simply a roughened surface, rather like icing upon a cake. The method was particularly popular in Roman Gaul and Britain. [barbotine decoration]