User Guide

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A Quick Guide to the History of Egypt
or on a construction project during the afterlife.
Shaduf:
a water lift used to fill irrigation canals. The shaduf had a bucket
on one end and a weight on the other. A peasant would push down on
the bucket end, and the counterbalancing weight would help him lift the
water out of the river. Some scholars believe that giant shadufs were used
to hoist pyramid blocks into place.
Shemu:
the Egyptian season of the harvest.
Sidelock of Youth:
the hair style that denoted childhood. The head would
be shaved except for a single lock of hair on the side of the head. Once a
child reached maturity, the lock was shaved off.
Stela:
a tablet inscribed with hieroglyphics or reliefs.
Wadi:
an Arabic word meaning dry river bed, wadis were often used as
roads and were the sites of rich mineral deposits.
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A Quick Guide to the History of Egypt
mastaba:
an arabic word for bench, mastabas are oblong-shaped tombs
used particularly during pre-Dynastic times and the Old Kingdom.
Pyramids are believed to have evolved from mastabas.
natron:
a type of salt found in the Nile Delta and used during the
embalming process to dry the corpse.
Nilometer:
a device, usually a pillar of stone or a staircase descending into
the river, used to measure the height of the Nile. Nilometers were used
to predict the height of the annual inundation.
Nine Bows:
a term used first in pre-Dynastic times to refer to conquered
enemies. The term was used throughout ancient Egyptian history to refer
to enemies of the nation. Traditionally, there were always nine enemies
of Egypt, although specific enemies changed over time.
Nome:
a province of Egypt led by a Nomarch.
Nubia:
the land just south of the first cataract, Nubia’s natural resources
were very rich. Egypt frequently invaded Nubia, and Nubians were valued
as soldiers and police.
Ostraca:
shards of stone or pottery that were used to write down notes.
Scribes learning their art usually practiced on ostraca.
Proyet:
the season of the Egyptian year in which crops were sown.
Pwenet (Punt):
a famed land, probably located on the coast of Somalia,
Pwenet (Punt) was revered for its fine incense and myrrh. The Egyptians
frequently sent trading expeditions there.
Sea People:
a group of different Aegean cultures, most likely the
Philistines and Minoans, that attacked Egypt during the New Kingdom.
Shabti:
a common grave good, shabtis were small statues that served as
substitutes in the event that the pharaohs were called to work in the fields