amulet
Good luck charms worn by ancient Egyptians to protect them against disease and evil. Amulets were also wrapped inside a mummy’s bandages to give good luck to the dead person as they travelled through the underworld.
Canopic chest
When the ancient Egyptians mummified bodies, they removed most of the insides (except for the heart). They put the insides in jars and they were in turn put in a chest. This chest, called a Canopic chest after a town called Canopus, was placed in the tomb with the coffin.
carnelian
A red stone used in jewellery.
cowry shell
An oval-shaped sea shell. The ancient Egyptians used them as good luck charms.
cubit
The cubit was the main measurement of distance in ancient Egypt. It was the average length of a man’s arm from his elbow to the tips of his fingers, 52.5 cm.
deben
A unit of weight somewhere between 90 and 100 grams.
Horus eye
Horus was the hawk-god of ancient Egypt. Horus lost an eye in a battle, but the goddess Hathor restored it. His eye became a symbol of healing and is used in many paintings and sculptures.
lapis lazuli
A dark blue semi-precious stone which the Egyptians considered to be more valuable than any other stone because it was the same colour as the heavens.
niche
A space or recess cut back into a wall, usually made to store something or to display a statue or a vase.
palm-width
The average width of the palm of an Egyptian man’s hand, 7.5 cm.
papyrus
A plant with tall, triangular-shaped stems that grows in marshy ground. Ancient Egyptians made a kind of paper from the dried stems of this plant.
sarcophagus
A large stone container, usually rectangular, made to house a coffin.
senet
A board game played by ancient Egyptians. It involved two players each with seven pieces and was played on a rectangular board divided into thirty squares. Archaeologists have found many senet boards in tombs, but haven’t been able to work out what the rules of the game were.
underworld, afterlife
The ancient Egyptians believed that the earth was a flat disc. Beneath the earth was the underworld, a dangerous place. Egyptians believed that after they died they had to first pass through the underworld before they could live forever in the afterlife.
vizier
A very important person. He was the pharaoh’s chief minister. He made sure that Egypt was run exactly the way the pharaoh wanted it.