Authors: Scott Oden
Hieroglyphs
(Greek
hieros gluphe
, “sacred carvings”.) The pictorial writing of the ancient Egyptians that was as much an artistic medium as it was a way of imparting knowledge. Though developed sometime before 3100 BCE, the hieroglyphic symbols and signs remained comparatively unchanged for three and a half millennia. Ancient Egyptian was based on a consonantal alphabet of twenty-four characters (vowels were never written), bearing more than a passing similarity to such Semitic language alphabets as Arabic. Hieroglyphic writing combined signs that represented an object or concept (called an ideogram) with signs that represented alphabetic sounds (called a phonogram); single signs could combine as many as two, three or four consonants, and there were signs called determinatives that hinted at the meaning of a word. Still, despite their apparent chaos, hieroglyphs were concise and strictly regulated as to grammar and syntax. They could be written in rows and read from either direction or in columns and read from top to bottom. The symbols representing human or animal figures normally faced toward the beginning of an inscription. Hieroglyphs, as their name infers, were reserved for religious texts, monumental inscriptions, or as part of the decorative scheme for a tomb. See
hieratic
.
Hoplites
The heavy infantrymen of the Greek world, hoplites began their history as part-time citizen-soldiers; men up to middle age who could afford the cost of arms and armor were required to serve as a condition of citizenship in many city-states. They trained in early spring for the summer campaign season, then disbanded and returned home for the harvest and winter. Hoplites derived their name from
hopla
, a Greek word for their heavy offensive and defensive equipment: a circular oak-and-bronze shield — called an
aspis
(pl.
aspides)
— weighing close to twenty pounds, a bronze breastplate, greaves,
Corinthian helmet
(q.v.), a stout eight-foot spear, and an iron sword. All told, the
hopla
weighed in at sixty to seventy pounds. Nothing quite like it existed anywhere else in the Mediterranean, and foreign rulers were quick to capitalize on that fact by hiring Greek mercenaries to fight their wars. The hoplites serving in Egypt, the Men of Bronze, were drawn mainly from the Aegean islands and the coast of Asia Minor (Ionia and Caria). See
panoplia
and
phalanx
.
Horus
The falcon-headed son of Isis and Osiris who personified the might and majesty of Pharaoh. Horus battled
Seth
(q.v.) for the right to rule the world of the living, and their ceaseless enmity epitomized the struggle between light and dark, good and evil. Despite losing an eye in combat, Horus proved ultimately victorious and became
Horu-Sema-Tawy
to the Egyptians — Horus, Uniter of the Two Lands. See
uadjet
.
House of Life
(Egyptian
Per-Ankh
.) An institution in Egyptian society that is poorly understood by modern scholars. On the surface, the House of Life served as a scriptorium, a training ground for scribes, and a depository for religious and secular texts. But it was also a place where leading priests and scholars conducted research — astronomical, medical, and magical — and a focal point for higher learning. Little is known of its organization or bureaucracy; even its associations with the temples is vague, but it is possible that one existed in every town of any size. In
Men of Bronze
, I have assigned an additional task to the House of Life by making it the administrative nerve center of Pharaoh’s army, a rally point for the scribes, physicians, and priests of the battle train.
Hypostyle hall
Greek term for a room containing numerous pillars. In Egyptian architecture, it is applied to the forest of stone columns between the open courts and the inner sanctum of a temple. In most eras, the columns were carved and painted to resemble lotus or papyrus stalks, symbolizing the vegetation that grew around the primordial Mound of Creation, which was itself represented by the inner sanctuary.
Ineb-hedj
“The White Walls.” Egyptian name for the fortress at Memphis.
Inundation
The annual flooding of the Nile caused by rains in the highlands of tropical Africa. Upriver, at Aswan, the flood began in late June; it reached Memphis by the end of September, crested, and receded by the following April. The floods brought rich black silt to the fields, renewing their ability to produce crops. The Inundation varied from year to year; too low a flood meant famine, too high brought devastation and loss of life to the villages along the riverbank. A whole corps of priests were devoted to keeping meticulous watch on water levels, offering sacrifices to Hapi, patron god of the Nile, and praying for a perfect Inundation.
Isis
(Egyptian
Eset.)
The most beloved goddess of the ancient Egyptian pantheon, whose cult survived into Greek and Roman times. Isis was the archetypical wife and mother, a healer and nurturer who also possessed formidable powers of magic, which she used in the service of mankind. She was depicted in temple reliefs as a woman wearing either a throne on her head (the spelling of her name in Egyptian), or a sun disk set between the horns of a cow.
Iunu
(Egyptian “Pillar”.) An Egyptian city northeast of Memphis, the cult center for the worship of
Ra
(q.v.). The Greeks knew it as Heliopolis. It is located in a suburb of modern Cairo.
Ka
An individual’s spirit or life force that left the body at the moment of death and made the journey through the underworld to the
Halls of Judgement
(q.v.), seeking immortality. Once the
ka
achieved entry into the
Gardens of Amenti
(q.v.), it still maintained a vital link to its preserved body. It could return to the tomb and partake of the offerings of family and loved ones, the gifts of food and drink, the adornments and pleasure items; or, the
ka
could activate the
ushabti
(q.v.) figures to comply with whatever demands the gods might make on the deceased.
Kedar
The ancient name of the north Arabian desert, as far south as Yathrib (modern Medina). The rulers of Kedar grew wealthy off the incense trade with south Arabia. At the time of
Men of Bronze
, Kedar was nominally under Egyptian suzerainty, though in reality it operated as an independent principality. The story of their pact with Persia is given in Herodotus, III 7-9.
Khnum
(Egyptian “Moulder”.) The ram-headed god of the island of
Yeb
(q.v.), near Egypt’s border with Nubia. It was Khnum, according to myth, who shaped humanity from clay on his potter’s wheel. Artists depicted Khnum as a ram-headed man with corkscrew horns, wearing plumes, the solar disk and
uraeus
(q.v.).
Krypteia
A Spartan institution, the
krypteia
functioned as a kind of secret police, ritualistically terrorizing the vast number of slaves (“helots”) that comprised the Spartan state. Their murders were condoned each year in a formal declaration of war against the helots.
Lake Serbonis
A lagoon east of the Nile delta whose waters are foul and salty. According to Herodotus, Lake Serbonis was home to the serpent-headed giant, Typhon.
Ma’at
An Egyptian goddess who personified truth, justice, and cosmic order. In the mortuary rituals, Anubis weighed the spirit of the deceased against a feather belonging to Ma’at. Tomb and temple scenes depicted her as a winged woman wearing an ostrich-feather headdress.
Ma’at
The ethical and moral cornerstone of Egyptian society. The philosophy of
ma’at
evolved from the worship of the goddess of the same name, and it embodied the idea that for an Egyptian to become part of the cosmic order after death, he or she had to take responsibility for acting with reasonable behavior, according to the laws of the cosmos, while alive. That meant quietude, piety, cooperation, and duty to the gods, to Pharaoh, and to their fellow man.
Ma ‘at
gave Egyptians a sense of security in an often chaotic world.
Machimoi
The Greek name for the native Egyptian warrior class. Only about ten thousand, known as the Veterans, formed the standing army; the rest were militia, men who could be called upon to meet the needs of a specific campaign. Even when not under arms, the
machimoi
were a potent political force, capable of disrupting royal authority. The mercenaries, specifically the Greek Men of Bronze, often acted on Pharaoh’s behalf to counter the power of the
machimoi
.
Mansion of the Spirit of Ptah
(Egyptian
Hiku-Ptah
.) The sprawling temple of
Ptah
(q.v.), chief deity of Memphis, that the Greeks likened to their own Hephaestus. Pharaohs of all dynasties, even during times of foreign rule, added their mark to the temple by refurbishing or adding anew to an already dizzying array of monumental pylons, obelisks, minor temples, chapels, and statues. Unfortunately, very little remains of this great structure, or of the city around it. What the Nile did not erode away, the builders of Cairo’s palaces and mosques scavenged. By all accounts, though, the Mansion of the Spirit of Ptah rivaled in size the temple of Amon at
Thebes
(q.v.).
Men of Bronze
A phrase used by the Egyptians to denote their mercenary soldiers, particularly the Greek heavy infantry. It originated during the reign of Wahibre Psammetichus (Greek: Psammis), first Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664-525 BCE). According to Herodotus, Wahibre Psammetichus sent to the oracle at Buto for advice on how best to unite Egypt under his aegis and was told in reply that aid would come from the sea, whence men of bronze would appear. He considered this unlikely, but not long after a contingent of raiders from Ionia and Caria landed on Egypt’s coast, victims of bad weather. In their bronze armor, Wahibre Psammetichus saw the oracle fulfilled. He befriended the Greeks and took them into his service, where they proved invaluable allies in the reunification of Egypt.
Mt. Casius
A promontory between
Lake Serbonis
(q.v.) and the Mediterranean; more of a hill than a mountain.
Nabonidus
(Chaldean Nabu-na’id.) The last king of Babylon, who ruled from 555-538 BCE. Nabonidus was a general in the army of the late king Nebuchadnezzar, a respected statesman and antiquarian, who assumed the throne after a year of rebellion and misrule. His own reign was anything but smooth. He forsook Babylon and, for reasons unknown, spent ten years building a new capital at the oasis of Taima, in northwest Arabia. The Dead Sea Scrolls describe Nabonidus’ sojourn in the desert as an illness caused by divine wrath, but whatever the cause, its effect was disastrous. Persia’s power grew unchecked, Lydia fell, and
Cyrus
(q.v.) set his sights on Babylon, herself. Nabonidus, now likely well into his seventh decade, returned to Babylon in 538 BCE, in time to watch it fall uncontested into Persian hands. Cyrus’ followers captured and killed the aging Chaldean king.
Negev Desert
An inhospitable region of hills, plateaus and desert stretching from the
Shara Mountains
(q.v.) in the west to
Sinai
(q.v.) and the borders of Egypt. It was considered inaccessible by all save the nomadic Bedouin, whose
shaykhs
(q.v.) gained a sense of power and prestige from control of the caravan routes linking the Mediterranean with the incense fields of south Arabia. To pass, merchants had to pay homage to a collection of self-styled kings who operated as little more than robber-barons. By the 6
th
century BCE, however, much of the Negev lay under the thumb of the Arabian kings of
Kedar
(q.v.).
Neith
(Egyptian
Nit.)
The patron goddess of Sais, in the Nile Delta, and protectress of the kings of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664-525 BCE). Neith’s cult dated to the predynastic era, and over the centuries her roles have changed to fit the times — from mother of Sobek and a goddess of nurturing to the patroness of weavers to a goddess of the hunt and of warfare. In all her guises, though, Neith’s dominance in the Saite region remained unquestioned.
Nekhebet
The vulture-goddess, patroness and guardian of Upper Egypt and protector of the king. The image of a vulture’s head was often worn with the
uraeus
(q.v.), signifying Pharaoh’s lordship over Upper and Lower Egypt.
Nemes
The striped cloth headdress of the Egyptian pharaohs; it is worn with the
uraeus
(q.v.).
Nesaean stallion
A breed of horse from Media favored by Persian kings and noblemen. They were the consummate war horses, bred for strength and stamina as well as sheer equestrian beauty.
Nilometer
A device used to gauge the height of the Nile’s flood each year. The rate of rise enabled area officials to predict periods of scarcity or of plenty, and gave them the ability to assess taxes on crops well in advance of harvest. Nilometers could take the form of a marked pillar driven into the river bed or a flight of steps cut into the bank (sometimes both).
Obelisk
(From Greek
obelos
, “spit;” Egyptian
tekhenu
.) A large four-sided pillar tapering toward its top, which was carved into a small pyramid. Obelisks were staples of temple architecture and considered sacred to the solar deities of Egypt. Their surfaces were adorned with hieroglyphs, their pyramid tips sheathed in gold.