The Heretic Queen

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Cartouche: A circular symbol with a horizontal bar at the bottom in which a royal name was written.

Crook and flail: Pharaoh held these implements as a symbol of royalty, and to remind the people of his role as shepherd (crook) and provider (flail, used for threshing grain).

Cuneiform: A pictographic language inscribed on clay tablets. First used by the Sumerians, it was later adopted by the Hittites.

Deben: Rings of gold, silver, or copper that had fixed weights and were used as units of currency.

Des: An ancient Egyptian measure of volume that is roughly equivalent to 1 pint or 0.5 liters.

Deshret crown: A red crown symbolizing Lower Egypt. The tall, white crown that symbolized Upper Egypt was the hedjet.

Duat: The Underworld where the sun god Ra travels every night in order to do battle with the snake Apep. Ra’s victory and subsequent return to the skies each morning brings about the return of daylight.

Faience: A glazed blue or green ceramic used in small beads or amulets.

Feast of Wag: On the eighteenth day of Thoth, it was believed that a person’s ancestors returned in spirit form to their mortuary temples on earth. This day was used to honor one’s ancestors by bringing them food and incense.

Habiru: A little-known tribe living in the Fertile Crescent, whose existence was recorded by Egyptians, Hittites, and Sumerians.

Hammurabi’s Code: One of the earliest known examples of written laws, dating back to 1750 BC. They were written in cuneiform on a stele that depicted the Babylonian sun god Shamash. The stele was discovered in 1901 and can now be viewed in the Louvre Museum. Hammurabi, a Babylonian king, believed that the gods had chosen him to deliver these laws to his people.

Hathor: The goddess of joy, motherhood, and love. She was often depicted as a cow.

Horus: The falcon-headed god of the sun and sky.

Ibis: A wading bird with a long, curved bill.

Isis: The goddess of beauty and magic, she was also revered as a wife and mother.

Ka: A person’s spirit or soul, which was created at the time of one’s birth.

Khepresh crown: A blue ceremonial crown of war.

Khnum: A god who was often depicted as a ram-headed man sitting at a potter’s wheel. It was believed that Khnum would take his clay creations and place them in a mother’s womb, thereby creating life.

Kohl: A mascara and eye shadow made from mixing soot and oil.

Ma’at: The goddess of justice and truth, Ma’at was often depicted as a woman with wings (or a woman wearing a crown with one feather). During the Afterlife, a person’s heart would be weighed against one of her feathers to determine whether they were worthy of passing into the Blessed Land. The word Ma’at came to stand for the principles of justice, order, and propriety that every Egyptian was responsible for upholding.

Mawat: Mother.

Menat: A necklace associated with the goddess Hathor. The menat consisted of a beaded string to which a small pectoral was attached. This pectoral was worn on the chest, while a decorative counterweight dangled on the wearer’s back.

Min: The god of fertility and harvest thought to be responsible for the flooding of the Nile. Depicted as a man holding an erect phallus in one hand and a flail in the other, his black skin was supposed to reflect the dark sediment common during the Nile’s inundation.

Miw: Cat.

Montu: The hawk-headed god of war.

Mortuary temple: A temple that was often separate from the tomb of the deceased and built to commemorate a person’s life.

Mut: The goddess of motherhood and female partner of Amun. She was often depicted with the head of a cat.

Naos: An ancient Greek term used by Egyptologists when referring to a type of shrine containing the image of a god or goddess.

Ne’arin: A tribe whose existence was recorded by the Egyptians and who were given credit for helping Ramesses during the Battle of Kadesh.

Nemes crown: A royal crown made of a headcloth that was striped blue and gold. It is the crown depicted on Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus.

Opet Festival: The largest festival in Thebes. During this celebration, a statue of Amun was carried by boat from the Temple of Amun in Karnak to the Temple of Amun in Luxor.

Osiris: The husband of the goddess Isis and the judge of the dead. He was murdered by his brother, Set, who scattered pieces of his body across Egypt. When Isis gathered his body parts together, she resurrected him, and he became the symbol of eternal life. Osiris was often depicted as a bearded man dressed in mummy wrappings.

Papyrus: A type of reed plentiful on the Nile that could be dried and smoothed, then used for writing.

Per Medjat: Library.

Pschent crown: The red and white double crown symbolizing both Upper and Lower Egypt.

Ptah: The god of builders and artists.

Pylon: A stone gate or entryway often accompanied by statues on either side.

Ra: The god of the sun, often depicted as a hawk.

Renpet: An entire year, according to the Egyptian calendar, which comprised 365 days (twelve months of thirty days each, with an extra five days added to the end).

Sarcophagus: A stone tomb or coffin, often covered in gold.

Sekhmet: The lion-headed goddess of war and destruction.

Senet: Considered to be the world’s first board game, Senet later became a religious symbol and was often depicted in tombs.

Senit: Little girl.

Seshed: A circlet crown with a single uraeus.

Set: The god of storms, chaos, and evil who killed his brother Osiris. When he was not depicted with the head of an unknown animal, he was depicted as having red hair.

Shamash: The Babylonian and Assyrian sun god.

Shasu: Nomads who appeared in Egypt as early as 1400 BC.

Shedeh: A favorite Egyptian drink made from either pomegranates or grapes.

Shen: A symbol of eternity in the form of a looped rope. The cartouche is an elongated version of a shen ring.

Sistrum: A small bronze (or brass) instrument made from a handle and a U-shaped frame on which small discs were placed. When shaken, the instrument made a loud, tinny noise.

Tawaret: The goddess of childbirth, who was often depicted as a hippopotamus.

Thoth: The god of scribes and the author of the famous Book of the Dead. He was credited with inventing both writing and speech and was often depicted as an ibis-headed god.

Uraeus: The cobra crown that symbolized kingship. The cobra was depicted with its hood