Useful Links

Ancient Egypt magazine
The History, People and Culture of the Nile Valley

Valley of the Kings Foundation
Home of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project

Egypt for All
Specialized traveling program for people with disabilities

Egyptology Resources
A resource for Egyptological information

WorldAtlas.com
for a variety of maps of Egypt

Theban Mapping Project
Articles on the Valley of the Kings, richly illustrated with photographs, maps and drawings. Comprehensive database on the Valley of the Kings. Exhaustive archeological and image databases to find different architectural features, decorations, and learn the condition of each tomb. Comprehensive glossary, bibliography, timeline and other material to further your knowledge of Egyptology.

The Africa Guide
Visitor information, accommodation, car hire, tours, safaris, leisure, sport, photographs, books, maps, music, forum

Tutankhamun Exhibition at the Millennium Dome in London

The British Museum Company
Shopping at the British Museum Company

Hilton Worldwide Resorts
Thirteen resorts across Egypt, located on the Nile, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea

GroovyTravel.Net
Egypt discount hotel and motel online reservations

Gate 54
Hotels & Travel

Yahoo! Travel
Find cheap airline tickets, hotels & car rentals

Yahoo! Finance Currency converter

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Reading List

• Romer's Egypt
  John Romer
  publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd
• Chronicle of the Pharaohs
  Peter A Clayton
  publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
  Richard H Wilkinson
  publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
  ISBN 0-500-05120-8
• The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt
  Richard H Wilkinson
  publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
  ISBN 0-500-05100-3
• The Complete Valley of the Kings
  Nicholas Reeves and Richard H Wilkinson
  publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• The Complete Pyramids
  Mark Lehner
  publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
  ISBN 0-500-05084-8
• The Mummy in Ancient Egypt
  Salima Ikram and Aidan Dodson
  publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• The Lost Tomb (the search for KV5)
  Kent Weeks
  publisher: George Weidenfield and Nicolson Ltd
• The Private Lives of the Pharaohs
  Joyce Tyldesley
  publisher: Macmillan Publishers Ltd
  ISBN 0-7522-1903-0
• Ancient Lives – the story of the Pharaoh’s Tomb-makers
  John Romer
  publisher: George Weidenfield and Nicolson Ltd
• Egypt – Gods, Myths and Religion
  Lucia Gahlin
  publisher: Lorenz Books
  ISBN 0-7546-0565-4
• Philip’s Egypt
  Peter Stocks (photography: David Couling)
  publisher: George Philip
  ISBN 0540-01264-5
• The Complete Tutankhamun
  Nicholas Reeves
  publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
  ISBN 0-500-05058-9
• The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun
  Howard Carter and Arthur Mace
  publisher: Dover Publications
  ISBN 0-486-23500-9

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Key Egyptian Words

• Amulet
  Decorative object believed to bestow the magical powers of protection on its wearer. Amongst the most popular were the ankh and the wedjet.
• Ankh
  Protective amulet signifying eternal life; also said to symbolise the Nile, the East and West banks and the Delta. Popular design for mirrors.
• Ba
  One of the representations of the human spirit. Portrayed as a human-headed bird.
• Book of the Dead
  Collection of hymns and magic spells intended to help the deceased on their journey through the Underworld.
• Canopic jars
  Set of four jars each containing embalmed internal organs: intestines, stomach, liver and lungs.
• Cartonnage
  Material comprising linen and plaster or papyrus and plaster used mainly in the manufacture of mummy masks.
• Cartouche
  Oval shape – usually found in pairs – containing the name of the king. The magical rope protected the king from harm.
• Colossus
  Giant statue of the king usually erected in front of a pylon at the entrance to a temple.
• Coptic
  The language of the Copts
  The Christian inhabitants of Egypt
  The last stage of the Ancient Egyptian language
  The script consists of the Greek alphabet supplemented by seven Demotic characters.
• Dynasty
  Line of hereditary rulers.
• Ennead
  Group of nine gods, the most important being the Heliopolis ennead: Osiris, Isis, Seth, Nephthys, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Shu, Re-Atum.

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• Faience
  Blue glazed stone, commonly used for beads and amulets.
• False door
  Located in a tomb chapel through which the tomb owners spirit could pass to partake of funerary offerings.
• >Heb-Sed
  Festival of royal rejuvenation celebrated after 30 years of the king’s reign and every three years thereafter.
• Hieratic
  Cursive form of the hieroglyphic script, mostly used on papyrus and ostraca.
• Hieroglyphic
  Script in pictorial form almost exclusively used in religious texts. This was the earliest stage in Egyptian writing and developed around 3100 BC.
• Hypostyle
  Hall with roof supported by stone columns which formed a major part of all Egyptian temples.
• Ka
  A persons spiritual ‘double’ which lived on after death.
• Mastaba
  Arabic word for ‘bench’, applied to the rectangular flat roofed tombs characteristic of the early dynastic period and the Old Kingdom.
• Mummy
  Embalmed corpse. The word derives from ‘mummiya’ meaning bitumen or pitch.
• Natron
  Naturally occurring salt compound used in the process of drying out the corpse during mummification. Compound of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate.
• Naos
  Shrine designed to contain the statue of a god.
• Necropolis
  A cemetery or burial ground.
• Nilometer
  A type of stone ‘staircase’ descending to the Nile in regular measures designed to monitor the rise of the river and record flood levels.
• Nome
  Administrative district or province.
• Obelisk
  Tall, stone structure tapering from the base and shaped like a pyramid at the apex. Carved with hieroglyphs and often tipped with electrum.

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• Ogdoad
  Group of eight deities associated with Ashmunein, Amun, Amaunet, Kuk, Kauket, Hub, Hauket, Nun, Naunet. They symbolised the state of chaos before creation.
• Ostracon
  Fragment of pottery or stone used for writing on (plural:ostraca).
• Papyrus
  Strong writing material made from the stem of the papyrus plant.
• Pharaoh
  Meaning ‘palace’ or ‘great house’ but from the period of the New Kingdom the name referred to the ruler himself.
• Pylon
  Monumental gateway or entrance walls of a temple.
• Pyramid
  Monument with a square base and sides sloping in to a point at the summit. Usually a burial site for the pharaoh particularly in the Old and Middle Kingdoms.
• Sarcophagus
  Stone coffin enclosing a nest of other coffins.
• Scarab
  Amulet representing the sacred dung beetle, Khepri, god of the morning sun.
• Serdab
  (Arabic word for cellar). Hidden room in a tomb chapel containing a life sized statue of the deceased.<.
• Shabti
  Small, carved mummiform figure placed in the deceased person’s tomb to act as a servant in the afterlife.
• Sistrum
  A magical rattle; a musical instrument sacred to Hathor, goddess of music and dancing.
• Sphinx
  (Greek: ‘two combined’) A statue with the head of a man (signifying intelligence) and a body of a lion (signifying strength).
• Stele (or stela)
  Piece of stone bearing scenes or writing of a commemorative or funerary nature usually set up in tombs or temples.
• Uraeus
  Hooded cobra usually worn on the forehead; symbol of royal power.

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