SneferuSneferu (snfr-wj "He has perfected me", from Ḥr-nb-mꜣꜥt-snfr-wj "Horus, Lord of Maat, has perfected me", also read Snefru or Snofru), well known under his Hellenized name Soris (Σῶρις by Manetho), was the founding pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Estimates of his reign vary, with for instance The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt suggesting a reign from around 2613 to 2589 BC, a reign of 24 years, while Rolf Krauss suggests a 30-year reign, and Rainer Stadelmann a 48-year reign.
Pyramid TextsThe Pyramid Texts are the oldest ancient Egyptian funerary texts, dating to the late Old Kingdom. They are the earliest known corpus of ancient Egyptian religious texts. Written in Old Egyptian, the pyramid texts were carved onto the subterranean walls and sarcophagi of pyramids at Saqqara from the end of the Fifth Dynasty, and throughout the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, and into the Eighth Dynasty of the First Intermediate Period. The oldest of the texts have been dated to c. 2400–2300 BCE.
ImhotepImhotep (ɪmˈhəʊtɛp; ỉỉ-m-ḥtp "(the one who) comes in peace"; ) was an Egyptian chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser, possible architect of Djoser's step pyramid, and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis. Very little is known of Imhotep as a historical figure, but in the 3,000 years following his death, he was gradually glorified and deified. Traditions from long after Imhotep's death treated him as a great author of wisdom texts and especially as a physician.
First Intermediate Period of EgyptThe First Intermediate Period, described as a 'dark period' in ancient Egyptian history, spanned approximately 125 years, c. 2181–2055 BC, after the end of the Old Kingdom. It comprises the Seventh (although this is mostly considered spurious by Egyptologists), Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and part of the Eleventh Dynasties. The concept of a "First Intermediate Period" was coined in 1926 by Egyptologists Georg Steindorff and Henri Frankfort. Very little monumental evidence survives from this period, especially from the beginning of the era.
GizaGiza (ˈgiːzə; sometimes spelled Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza; al-Jīzah, æˈjiːzæ, الجيزة elˈgiːzæ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 4,872,448 in the 2017 census. It is located on the west bank of the Nile opposite central Cairo, and is a part of the Greater Cairo metropolis.
Siwa OasisThe Siwa Oasis (واحة سيوة Wāḥat Sīwah ˈwæːħet ˈsiːwæ) is an urban oasis in Egypt. It is situated between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert, east of the Egypt–Libya border and from the Egyptian capital city of Cairo. It is famed from its role in ancient Egypt as the home to an oracle of Amun, the ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction, giving it the ancient name Oasis of Amun-Ra, after the major Egyptian deity. The Siwa oasis is in a deep depression that reaches below sea level, to about .
DjoserInfobox pharaoh | name = Djoser | image = Djoser statue.jpg | caption = Limestone Ka statue of Djoser from his pyramid serdab | reign = 19 or 28 years ca. ca. 2686–2648 BC, 2687–2668 BC, 2668–2649 BC, 2667–2648 BC, or 2630–2611 BC | predecessor = Khasekhemwy (most likely) or Nebka | successor = Sekhemkhet (most likely) or Sanakhte | alt_name = Netjerikhet, Tosorthros, Sesorthos | prenomen = Nisut-Bity-Nebty-Netjerikhetnebu nsw.t-bty-nb.
Abu SimbelAbu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel (أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about southwest of Aswan (about by road). The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. Their huge external rock relief figures of Ramesses II have become iconic.
Scarab (artifact)Scarabs are beetle-shaped amulets and impression seals which were widely popular throughout ancient Egypt. They still survive in large numbers today. Through their inscriptions and typology, they prove to be an important source of information for archaeologists and historians of the ancient world, and represent a significant body of ancient Egyptian art. Likely due to their connections to the Egyptian god Khepri, amulets in the form of scarab beetles had become enormously popular in Ancient Egypt by the early Middle Kingdom (approx.
Pylon (architecture)A pylon is a monumental gate of an Egyptian temple (Egyptian: bxn.t in the Manuel de Codage transliteration). The word comes from the Greek term πυλών 'gate'. It consists of two pyramidal towers, each tapered and surmounted by a cornice, joined by a less elevated section enclosing the entrance between them. The gate was generally about half the height of the towers. Contemporary paintings of pylons show them with long poles flying banners.
