Lesson 2 for 29-31 aug.

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Papyrus - A plant native to Egypt and adjacent lands used to make paperlike writing material; also, the material or any writing on it.

Ka - In ancient Egypt, the immortal human life force.

Hieroglyph - A symbol or picture used to confer meaning in hieroglyphic writing.

Nun - In ancient Egypt, the primeval waters from which the creator god emerged.

ben-ben - A pyramidal stone; an emblem of the Egyptian god Re.

wedjat - The eye of the Egyptian falcon-god Horus, a powerful amulet.

demotic - Late Egyptian writing. 

palette - A thin board with a thumb hole at one end on which an artist lays and mixes colors; any surface so used. Also, the colors or kinds of colors are characteristically used by an artist. In ancient Egypt, a slate slab was used for preparing makeup.

Mummification - A technique used by ancient Egyptians to preserve human bodies so that they may serve as the eternal home of the immortal ka.

amulet - An object worn to ward off evil or to aid the wearer.

scarabs - An Egyptian gem in the shape of a beetle.

canopic jars - Definition: In ancient Egypt, the four jars containing the lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines of the deceased were removed during mummification.

serdab - A small concealed chamber in an Egyptian mastaba for the statue of the deceased.

ushabtis - In ancient Egypt, a figurine was placed in a tomb to act as a servant to the deceased in the afterlife.

mastaba - Arabic, “bench.” An ancient Egyptian rectangular brick or stone structure with sloping sides was erected over a subterranean tomb chamber connected with the outside by a shaft.

necropolis - Greek, “city of the dead.” A large burial area or cemetery.

capitals - The uppermost member of a column, serving as a transition from the shaft to the lintel. In classical architecture, the form of the capital varies with the order.

causeway - A raised roadway. 

engaged column - A half-round column attached to a wall. See also pilaster.

mortuary temple - In Egyptian architecture, a temple is erected for the worship of a deceased pharaoh.

dressed masonry - Stone blocks shaped to the exact dimensions required, with smooth faces for a perfect fit.

valley temple - The temple closest to the Nile River, associated with each of the Old Kingdom pyramids at Gizeh in ancient Egypt.

ashlar masonry - Carefully cut and regularly shaped blocks of stone used in construction, fitted together without mortar.

nemes - In ancient Egypt, the linen headdress was worn by the pharaoh, with the uraeus cobra of kingship on the front.

uraeus - An Egyptian cobra; one of the emblems of pharaonic kingship.

sphinx - A mythical Egyptian beast with the body of a lion and the head of a human.

bilaterally symmetrical - Having the same forms on either side of a central axis.

abrasion - The rubbing or grinding of stone or another material to produce a smooth finish.

flutes - Vertical channeling, roughly semicircular in cross-section and used principally on columns and pilasters.

colonnades - A series or row of columns, usually spanned by lintels.

Pharoah - An ancient Egyptian king. 

obelisks - A tall four-sided monolithic pillar with a pyramidal top—symbolic of the Egyptian sun god Re.

monolithic - A stone column shaft that is all in one piece (not composed of drums); a large, single block or piece of stone used in megalithic structures. Also, a colossal statue is carved from a single piece of stone.

pillars - Usually a weight-carrying member, such as a pier or a column; sometimes an isolated, freestanding structure used for commemorative purposes. 

pylon temple - An Egyptian temple entered through a monumental pylon, typical of the New Kingdom.

pylons - The wide entrance gateway of an Egyptian temple, characterized by its sloping walls.

hypostyle hall - A hall with a roof supported by columns.

Block statues - In ancient Egyptian sculpture, a cubic stone image with simplified body parts.

ankh - The Egyptian sign of life. 

moldings - In architecture, a continuous, narrow surface (projecting or recessed, plain or ornamented) is designed to break up a surface, accent, or decorate.

Judgment of Hunefer - detail of an illustrated Book of the Dead, from the tomb of Hunefer, Thebes, Egypt. 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290–1275 BCE — Painted papyrus scroll. "Judgment scene from the Book of the Dead. In the three scenes from the Book of the Dead (version from ~1275 BCE), the dead man (Hunefer) is taken into the judgment hall by the jackal-headed Anubis. The next scene is the weighing of his heart, with Ammut awaiting the result and Thoth recording. Next, the triumphant Hunefer, having passed the test, is presented by the falcon-headed Horus to Osiris, seated in his shrine with Isis and Nephthys" (British Museum).

For thousands of years, the Great Pyramids and ancient Egyptian culture amazed the Greeks and Romans and continue to dazzle contemporary scholars and tourists today. Egypt sustained productive dynasties where agriculture centered around twice-yearly flooding of the Nile, creating long-term stability where religion flourished. Egypt is a culture connected to its land and water, a natural protection from foreign invasion. The long-term insulation from invaders is unusual—much of world history is tied to porous trade routes and unpredictable people.  

If there were a monument representing Egyptian culture, it would surely be the Great Pyramids of Giza. The oldest of the great architectural wonders of the ancient world, the pyramids are not only a great representation of the advances of civilization, but they also speak to qualities inherent within Egyptian culture. Discoveries in ancient tombs are where most of our knowledge of ancient Egypt derives. Their most extraordinary art and monuments were connected to their religious obsession with death and preserving the spirit or Ka in the afterworld. The Ka occupies a preserved body even after death. Egyptians took great care and effort to properly mummify and bury the body with the requisite possessions to enjoy life for eternity. With this impetus, the Pharaohs, Menkaure, Khafre, Khufu, Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus in Greek, constructed the Great Pyramids to house their Ka and the requisite images and objects needed in the afterworld. 

The design of the pyramids derives from the mastaba plan, a common tomb type before the pyramids. The mastaba has sloping walls that move inward and upward, marking the tomb underneath that housed the Ka. When the first known architect, Imhotep, constructed the step pyramid for King Djoser, he seemed to have stacked a series of smaller mastabas on each other, resulting in a stepped pyramid. He also set a new standard for monumental funerary complexes that undoubtedly influenced the building of the Great Pyramids, which adapted this design on a more grandiose scale a century later. The Pharaohs thought of themselves as Sons of Ra, the Sun God; initially, the pyramids were smooth with a white limestone veneer. The gleaning sun shining down on these pyramids as they thrust upward toward the sky must have been brilliant, literally bridging the sun and earth. Over decades, the colossal size and complex construction testify to the wealth and power of Egypt and the Pharaohs. Notably, it is funerary monuments that survive Egypt. Any palaces or military fortresses have disappeared. 

Egypt survived within a riparian and geographic bubble. With the twice-yearly flooding of the Nile and the natural geographic boundaries on all sides, environmental stability allowed for such monumental expression. Limestone and stone were quarried and moved from a great distance, cut to the proper shape, and placed into successive rows perfectly to preserve symmetry and structural integrity. Khufu is the oldest and largest Great Pyramid, covering 13 acres of land and stacked with 2.3 million stone blocks, weighing a colossal 2.5 tons each. Many debated theories exist regarding their construction result. We think of a complex system of ropes and levers with modified and portable ramps, either zigzagging up the side or spiraling around the perimeter. It is easy to take for granted thousands of Egyptian workers lacked modern tools for getting all the stones in place and their use of math and geometry to situate the rocks at almost perfect angles. It is a powerful testament to the height of this civilization that had such a sophisticated level of knowledge to work out the labor, engineering, and mathematical challenges. Impressive enough is putting the blocks into place on such a grand scale, yet the pyramids also concealed interior spaces and a king and queen's gallery for the tomb. 

The reigning Pharaoh began construction while they were alive, understood that other tombs had been robbed and desecrated, and wanted to take no chances with his own. Solving blocks above the hollow chambers to prevent their collapse by the weight above is yet another architectural and engineering phenomenon. When archeologists excavated the pyramids and tombs in the 19th century, they had been plundered, most likely not too long after their construction. It would seem that erecting an enormous grave marker acted as a beacon for tomb robbers, a fact that would lead to more discreet and hidden tombs in later dynasties.