Authors: Scott Oden
Amphorae
(sing.
amphora.)
A large, two-handled pottery vessel used to store and transport liquids such as wine and olive oil, or dry goods like wheat. They were ubiquitous in the Greco-Egyptian world.
Anat
An Asiatic fertility goddess.
Anshan
A city in the province of Persis, near Shiraz in modern Iran. From Anshan, Cyrus led the Persians in the conquest of Media to the northeast, Lydia and the kingdoms of Asia Minor, and the failing juggernaut of Babylon in Mesopotamia. Though they ruled from the great cities to the east, the kings of Persia always honored Anshan as the heart of their empire.
Anubis
(Egyptian
Anpu.)
The jackal-headed Egyptian god of mortuary rituals. It was Anubis who guided the dead through the underworld to the
Halls of Judgement
(q.v.).
Apadana
A Persian audience hall, and often the focal point of court life at the palace of the King of Kings.
Apophis
A serpent of Egyptian myth, personifying the evil that lurked just outside the confines of well-ordered society. Apophis was the enemy of the sun god, Ra, who attacked the god’s solar barque every night as it traveled through the underworld to the Place of the Dawn. On days bereft of sun, either through storms or eclipse, the Egyptians believed Apophis had triumphed over Ra. The serpent’s victories, though, were always short-lived.
Aramaic
A Semitic language developed by the nomadic Aramaeans during the 11
th
through the 8
th
centuries BCE. Its use spread through Syria and Mesopotamia until it became the lingua franca of the Near East. So widespread was it that the Persians adopted Aramaic as the official language of their empire.
Arshtibara
A title (Persian “spear-bearer”) used to denote an individual who is in high regard, either through birth or deed, with the King. Scholars are unsure if the title meant literally that the recipient carried the King’s spear. I have adopted it here as an honorific indicative of high standing.
Ba’al
Chief god of the Phoenicians.
Bitter Lakes
Series of shallow, salty lakes on the eastern border of Egypt, following the general course of the modern Suez Canal. The area of the Bitter Lakes was a favorite entry point into Egypt for the Bedouin of Sinai; Egypt’s response was to build the fortress system known as the
Walls of the Ruler
(q.v.). Around 610 BCE, Pharaoh Nekau began construction of a canal that would link the Nile with the Red Sea via the Vale of
Tumilat
(q.v.) and the Bitter Lakes. The project remained unfinished. According to Herodotus, an oracle warned Pharaoh that his labor would be “to the foreigners advantage”. He ceased, turning his attentions to war, instead. Years later, the oracle’s predictions came true. King Darius of Persia finished the canal in a fraction of the time it would have normally taken.
Book of the Dead
A collection of spells and incantations designed to aid the deceased on how best to navigate the pitfalls of the afterlife. Once available only to aristocrats, inscribed on the walls of their tombs, by the Late Period copies of the
Book of the Dead
were universally available to rich and poor, alike. Scribes wrote them on papyrus, in
hieratic
(q.v.), including illustrations of the journey through the underworld, passwords to avoid the guardian creatures, protestations of innocence, and magical formulae to provide comfort and security in the afterlife.
Byblos
City on the Phoenician coast, at the foot of the Lebanon Mountains.
Calendar, Egyptian
The Egyptians divided their calendar into three seasons, each with four months of thirty days with five days added at the end of the year to commemorate the births of the gods. The seasons and their months were as follows:
Akhet
, the season of the
Inundation
(q.v.) of the Nile, heralded by the rising of the star the Egyptians called Sopdu (Sirius, the Dog Star), which corresponds to the middle of our July. The months of
Akhet
were Thoth (the first month of the Egyptian year), Paopi, Athyr, and Khoiak.
Peret
, the season of sowing, when the land emerged from the waters of the Inundation and crops were planted. The months of
Peret
were Tybi, Mekhir, Pnamenoth, and Pharmuthi.
Shemu
, the harvest season, corresponding to our own summer, was a time of great festivals and celebrations, provided the crops were bountiful. The months of
Shemu
were Pakhons, Paoni, Epep, and Mesore.
The Egyptians numbered their years from the beginning of each Pharaoh’s reign (our 526 BCE was the 44
th
year of Pharaoh Ahmose’s reign).
Canopic jars
Called
qabi en wet
in Egyptian (loosely translated, it means “jars of flesh”), Canopic jars are containers used in the mortuary rituals to hold the viscera of the deceased after embalming. The vessels were squat in design and made from a variety of materials: pottery,
faience
(q.v.), wood, or stone, depending on their owner’s wealth. A set contained four jars, each with a carved stopper representing one of the four Sons of
Horus
(q.v.) — human-headed Imsety, who presided over the liver; baboon-headed Hapy, who protected the lungs; jackal-headed Duamutef, guardian of the stomach; and hawk-headed Qebehsenuef, who ruled the intestines. The respective organs were removed during embalming, dried in natron (a natural dehydrating agent), wrapped, and placed in their jars to be entombed alongside the mummy.
Corinthian helmet
The standard helmet of the Greek
hoplite
(q.v.) from the early 7
th
century BCE onward. Beaten from a single sheet of bronze, this helmet covered the entire head, leaving only eye sockets and a narrow slit for breathing. One variation, called the Chalcidian helmet, included cutaways over the ears to facilitate better hearing on the battlefield. Both styles had a removable crest of colored horsehair. Against non-Greeks, the Corinthian helmet gave hoplites a serious psychological advantage: it rendered its wearer faceless; the expressionless bronze mask hid any fears or anxieties that might plague the man beneath.
Croesus
(Greek Kroisos.) Last king of Lydia, Croesus reigned from c. 560-546 BCE, and allied himself with Egypt, Babylon, and Sparta against the rising might of Persia. Even in the ancient world, the name of Croesus was synonymous with vast wealth. His went toward patronage of the arts, monumental building, and influencing lesser rulers on his borders. Stories of Croesus fired the imagination of Herodotus, who included the eastern despot in his
Histories
as an example of disastrous pride. One such story tells how Croesus consulted the oracle at
Delphi
(q.v.) and was advised that if he crossed the Halys River against Persia, he would destroy a mighty empire. Wrapped in the blanket of divine revelation, Croesus marched. The prophecy proved correct — his own empire fell to the Persians in 546 BCE.
Crook and Flail
The two most important insignias of the Pharaohs, said to have been given to them by the god
Osiris
(q.v.). The crook represented Pharaoh’s role as guardian of the people, their shepherd and protector; the flail symbolized his role as provider (flails were used to winnow grain).
Cyrus
(Persian Kurush; Greek Kuros.) Persian conqueror who ruled from 559-530 BCE. Cyrus turned the semi-nomadic people of the southwestern Iranian plateau into one of the four greatest nations of his day (Egypt, Babylon, and Lydia being the other three). With methodical sureness, he excised his enemies until only Persia remained as a power in the East. Despite his expansionist policies, Cyrus was a benevolent ruler, praised in the Old Testament book of Isaiah and by later Greek philosophers for his wisdom and foresight. Cyrus died in 530 BCE while campaigning against the Massagetae, a Scythian tribe living around the Caspian Sea. His eldest son, Cambyses, succeeded him.
Delphi
A famous sanctuary of Apollo in central Greece. Situated on a terraced spur of Mount Parnassus, the site was thought to be the center of the world and served as a neutral meeting place for the surrounding Greek city-states. It derived greater renown, though, from its oracle, the Pythia. Deep inside the temple of Apollo, this priestess would sit on a bronze tripod above a chasm in the rock that spewed a “prophetic” vapor. An attendant would whisper the petitioner’s written question to her, and she would go into a trance and provide the god’s answer through cryptic exclamations, which a board of priests then rendered into hexameter verse. The examples of Delphic responses that have survived to modern times are so vague and nonsensical that the whole enterprise smacks of fraud. Still, the oracle attracted a throng of pilgrims and seekers of wisdom from all over the known world. See
Croesus
.
Edom
North Arabian kingdom bordering the
Negev Desert
(q.v.) and tributary to
Kedar
(q.v.). Edom’s borders, at times, reached as far north as the shores of the Dead Sea. It encompassed parts of modern Jordan and Israel.
Elath
A trading city at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, between Sinai and Arabia. Elath was built on the site of biblical Ezion-geber, described in 1 Kings 9:26-28 as the place from whence King Solomon launched his fleets into the Red Sea.
Elysium
A place in the Greek afterlife where the gods allowed heroes to dwell. They envisioned it as a cool, well-watered garden full of pleasure and earthly delights, a sharp contrast to the grim moors of
Tartarus
(q.v.).
Faience
Called
tjehenet
by the Egyptians, faience was a ceramic substance made from powdered quartz with a vitreous, alkaline glaze (similar in composition to ancient glass). It was widely used in the production of jewelry, vessels, and figurines. By far the most common colors of faience were blue, blue-green, and green, though other shades were possible.
Fates
(Greek
Moirai
, sing.
Moira
.) Three goddesses of Greek myth who preordained the course of human life and events. They were regarded as women engaged in the act of spinning: Clotho drew out the stuff of life from thread of infinite variety. She passed it, then, to Lachesis who measured it however she saw fit. Last, Atropos cut the thread, handling her shears as deftly for a slave as for a king. Not even Zeus could change the course of fate once the
Moirai
had spun it.
First Servant of the God/Goddess
The title of the highest Egyptian priest attached to a particular deity, often translated as High Priest. Though technically only Pharaoh could offer sacrifices and liturgies to the gods, the First Servants were ‘deputized’ to act on Pharaoh’s behalf. This spiritual commission carried with it great temporal power, and offered endless opportunities for self-enrichment and corruption.
Furies
In Greek religion, the Furies (Greek
Erinyes)
were spirits of vengeance and retribution, horrible apparitions who tormented those who had broken the bonds of society, but especially those guilty of murdering a family member. The devout sought to placate the Furies by offering sacrifices to them under the euphemistic title of the
Eumenides
(Greek “kindly ones”).
Gardens of Amenti
The dwelling place of
Osiris
(q.v.), Lord of the Dead, in the far West. Once the deceased had proven himself by traversing the underworld to the
Halls of Judgement
(q.v.), and provided his heart could balance the
Scales of Justice
(q.v.), he was allowed entry into the Gardens of Amenti where he would experience eternal life, happiness, and plenty — an Egyptian’s ultimate spiritual aspiration.
Gold of Valor
An honor given by Pharaoh to soldiers who display courage and fortitude in battle.
Halls of Judgement
If the spirit of a deceased Egyptian survived the treacherous journey through the underworld, he or she would enter a great hall where
Osiris
(q.v.), flanked by
Isis
(q.v.) and Nephthys, sat in judgement. In a great flurry of spiritual activity, the deceased had to address a tribunal of forty-two minor gods by name and recite a list of crimes, declaring himself innocent of each. At the same time, Anubis weighed the deceased’s heart against the feather of
Ma’at
(q.v.). If the heart balanced, or was lighter than the feather, Osiris allowed the spirit entry into the afterlife. If the deceased’s heart proved heavier than the feather, though, it was thrown to Amemait, the Devourer, and utterly destroyed.
Hathor
An Egyptian goddess popular throughout the nation’s long history. Hathor was the protectress of women and the patron of love and joy, song and dance. When threatened, though, Hathor could be as ferocious as a lioness protecting her young. Artists depicted the goddess as a woman with cows’ ears or as a cow.
Hem-netjer
(Egyptian “god’s servant”.) Egyptian priests of the lower rank. The
hem-netjer
were allowed access to the inner sanctuary as part of their allotted duties.
Hieratic
(Greek
hieratikos
, “priestly”.) A cursive form of hieroglyphic Egyptian used in day-to-day writing. It was regularly employed for business documents, legal texts, letters, and records. Hieratic was written on papyrus with a reed brush.