Through the Eras

\GLOSSARYAbacus: Square, flat upper part of a column that connectsthe capital of the column to the architrave.Afnet: A cloth head covering.Akh: The glorified spirit of a deceased person entitled toofferings from his family members.Amarna: City on the east bank of the Nile midway betweenThebes and Memphis built circa 1353–1336 B.C.E.Called Akhetaten, “Horizon of the Aten,” it was thecapital of Egypt during the reign of Akhenaten.Amarna Period: The reign of Akhenaten (1353–1336 B.C.E.)centered at the capital city of Amarna.Amun: God of the air, “the hidden one.”Amun-Re: Chief state god of the New Kingdom and later.Ankh: Hieroglyphic sign that means “life.”Anubis: God of the cemetery, represented by a jackal or aman with the head of a jackal.Architrave: Horizontal structural member that connects thecolumns and door frames to one another. Also carriesroof.Aten: A deity represented by the disc of the sun; also thecult promoted by Akhenaten (1353–1336 B.C.E.).Atum: The creator god who sat on the “first” hill and createdthe world. This hill is often represented in Egyptianbuildings by a mound of sand or sand foundations.Ba: Soul of the deceased that was the manifestation of theperson that could travel between the afterlife and themummy. It took the form of a bird.Barque: A small ship propelled either with oars or sails.Batter: A receding upward slope of the outer face of astructure.Battered walls: Walls with a slope at the edges.Bench marks: Surveyor’s levels marked on the ground.Cataracts: The six rapids in the Nile River between Aswanand Khartoum.Cavetto cornice: Concave Egyptian cornice.Chantress: A woman responsible for the music used in therituals at the major temples. She usually earned a salaryindependent of her husband or father.Clerestory: An outside wall of a room or building that risesabove an adjoining roof and contains windows.Coptic: An Egyptian alphabetic script based on the Greekalphabet, with additional letters derived from Demoticsigns.Corbelled blocks: Stones arranged so that each projectsbeyond the front face of the stone below, reducing thespan over a room.Cornice: Molded projection on the top of a building façade,usually hollow in Egypt.Cramp: Dovetail-shaped clamp that connects two stones.311