The Mummy: The Tomb Robbers' Secret

Glossary

I'm throwing this in for fun. Some of you will already know the terms (or maybe looked them up?), but if you need clarification, here goes. Some of these may appear in my story, but others were thrown in on a whim. I may add terms from time to time, or maybe not. I may have had too much fun doing this.

Akhenaton: Called the heretic, his name was deleted from the "King's List" found in the temple of Seti I at Abydos. He was the founder of the city of Akhetaten, "The Horizon of Aten",  incorrectly called "Amarna" for the location where it was found. He established the religion that honored the Aten as the one "true" god and closed and forbid worship of the other gods. His religion died with him.

Ba: The spirit attached to the mummy, represented by a bird. The ba was released from the body at the time of death but could return to the mummy where it would perch.

Bas-relief: A type of decoration seen frequently in pharaoh's tombs. The drawing was made then the stone was chipped away so that the image on the wall was raised. Sometimes inscriptions were carved into the wall, but the bas-relief was a common feature in tombs.

Ka: What we refer to as the soul. It was a double of the person created at the time of birth. During life it was free to leave the body and roam. (which could have dire consequences) In the Egyptian religion if the body was destroyed, so was the "ka". That is why tomb robbers so often destroyed the bodies of those whose tombs they robbed, they were afraid the spirit of the ka would come after them if they didn't.

Felucca:  A type of boat whose design is thousands of years old. Their outstanding feature is a large, triangular sail. Still popular with natives and tourists.

Pharaoh: The literal translation is "house". The pharaoh in essence was Egypt, the country's well-being was his well-being. Eventually the pharaohs were deified and worshipped as god kings.

Sarcophagus: Sometimes the term is used interchangedly with coffins. Think of the sarcophagus as the coffin that held the coffin. Could be made of stone, wood, or cartonnage.

Cartonnage:  An ancient kind of paper mache. Strips of papyrus were employed or sometimes linen. Often any papyrus would be used, fragments of the poetry of Sappho had been found on strips of papyrus used to make a cartonnage coffin or box.

Gold: Well, we all know what this is. In Egyptian theology, the gods' skins were made of gold. The use of gold was strictly limited to royalty. Egyptians made liberal use of gold, as was seen in the tomb of Tutankhamon.

Howard Carter: The archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamon's tomb. He dug in the valley for seven years before he found it. Not an easy man to get along with, very stubborn and caused trouble for himself, but he made the greatest discovery in archaeology and it was due to his talent and hard work.

Lord Carnarvon: Carter's friend and sponsor. His death due to a septic mosquito bite was the beginning of the Curse of the Pharaohs. 

Curse of the Pharaohs: The curse that never was but sold a lot of newspapers. Following the excavation of Tutankhamon's tomb, several people died. Not immediately but because they were associated with the opening of the tomb, either directly or indirectly, the name stuck. Curses might be put in tombs to scare off would-be tomb robbers, but it obviously didn't do much good. As I said, the "curse" helped sell newspapers and that was most likely the origin.

Theban Triad: Amun, who had become the major god; Mut, his consort; Khonsu (or Khons) their son, were known as the Theban triad, the major gods of Thebes. They were celebrated during the "Beautiful Feast of the Valley" which was a celebration of the dead, much like the Mexican festival, The Day of the Dead.

Ramesses III: The last pharaoh to rule over a united Egypt. After him Egypt slowly shrank in size and was conquered by the Kushites, Assyrians, the Persians, Alexander, and the Romans. A successful general and more or less well-liked, by the time he was assassinated his popularity had waned somewhat. Recent discoveries have shown that when his throat was slit it was slit almost to the bone--a very vicious killing.

Seti I:  He was not the richest of all the pharaohs, but he was the father of Ramesses II, known as Ramesses the Great. Seti died fairly young, his mummy is known for being in the best condition, his face close to what it might have been like in life.

Pentaweret:  We now know that the infamous "screaming mummy" belonged to him. DNA tests were done and he was directly related to Ramesses III. His mummy did not have the viscera removed and was wrapped in a sheepskin which was considered unclean. He was allowed to commit suicide as opposed to being executed, no doubt due to being the pharaoh's son.

Turin Papyrus: Contains the story of the infamous "Harem Conspiracy". Unfortunately, the fate of the women involved is unknown, but it would not have been pleasant or easy. The fate of Tiye, who was the motivating factor behind it, is not known, women were not considered important enough to record their fates.

Tutankhamon: The son of Akhenaten and the only pharaoh to be discovered in a tomb with a large part of the grave goods intact. He was only a minor pharaoh, think what the tombs of the likes of Ramesses II, or Seti I must have been like.

The Med-jay or Med-jai (there are a lot of variations for spelling of Egyptian names):  These were not "Pharaoh's sacred body guards", but guarded the Valley of the Kings and the workers' village of Deir el-Medina. One of their duties was to shake down the village inhabitants when they came or left to make sure they were not stealing treasures that belonged to the pharaohs.

Harem Conspiracy: Tiye, a lesser queen of Ramesses III was the instigator. Her aim was to have the pharaoh assassinated and her son put on the throne. She was sure that supporters would flock to her and her son and have him crowned. Her plans went badly and that is all we know of her.

The Valley of the Kings: Established during the "New Kingdom" by the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. Contains the tombs of pharaohs, but not exclusively. Valley of the Queens contains not just burials of queens of Egypt but also children of the pharaoh and nobles. Valley of the Nobles is the source of the tombs of many officials. The excavations of all three locations have been ongoing. The tombs of Ramesses III and Seti I are considered the most beautiful in the Valley of the Kings.

And lastly...

Imhotep--the real one:  He was the architect of the first pyramid in Egypt--the Step Pyramid of the Pharaoh Djoser (the grandfather of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza). He was also a healer and a magician/high priest. His tomb has not been located but he was revered in ancient Egypt. He was not a bad guy, or the guardian of the Dead, and he did not live in Thebes but in Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt.

Hamunaptra: Did not exist, nor was there ever a place like it. (Sorry, I had to throw that in)

If you're curious, read Kent Weeks book about the Theban Mapping Project which provides a pretty thorough list of the tombs in the Valley. His excavations have revealed the secrets of KV 5 which was originally intended to be the resting place for the sons of Ramesses II. If you want to know about any other books, ask me.