Anubis’ Form     © Parée – * Anubis on Egyptian Block * Anubis was either seen as a man with a jackal head or completely in the form of a jackal. In ancient Egypt, scavengers like jackals ruled the cemeteries. They dug up the freshly buried and tore at their flesh and ate it. Historians […]

Paper and Writing Hieroglyphics The ancient Egyptians were among the first groups of people to write and keep records of events that happened in their lives. The earliest form of writing was in the form of hieroglyphics, which, simply put, were drawings that portrayed a story. Hieroglyphics are some of the oldest artifacts in the world today, […]

Cult Worship of Amun was widespread and the pharaohs’ awarded the cult with land a percentage of the booty from conquests. One of the important positions in the cult was the “god’s wife of Amun” and the queen or queen-mother often fimagecentered this role. These women gained power and depictions show them making offerings to […]

Names and Titles Amun was given the title “King of the Gods” of Upper Egypt. Scholars discovered several different spellings of the name Amun in Egyptian literature. Some of the different spellings are Am, Amen, Amon, Amoun, Ammon and Hammon. Other countries equated Amun with their own deities: Egyptians equated him with the god Min. The […]

Interior Design, Symbolism, and Furnishings The interior of the Great Pyramid of Giza is more elaborate than most other pyramids and has three main chambers: a lower chamber which remains unfinished, a middle chamber called the Queen’s chamber, and an upper chamber called the King’s chamber. Above the King’s chamber are five smaller units called relieving […]

Fertility, Resurrection, and Everlasting Life It is said the dead kings of Egypt would rise with Osiris and inherit eternal life. By Egypt’s New Kingdom it was said not only would the dead kings rise from the dead with him, but any Egyptian that performed the appropriate rituals would also. This belief that Osiris is responsible […]

Who Was Osiris? © Jan – Statue of Osiris Osiris was the ancient Egyptian god of the dead, the underworld, and the afterlife. He is usually depicted as a man with green skin and a beard associated with the pharaoh, wearing a crown with two large ostrich feathers, and legs partially wrapped like a mummy. In […]

Architecture and Layout Without a doubt, the ancient Egyptian architects were far more advanced than anyone could have imagined. Using the natural caverns within the valley, ancient architects carved walls, chambers and intricate pathways without any modern tools with surprising precision. Egyptians tools such as picks, hammers, shovels and chisels were made of wood, stone, ivory, bone […]

History of the Valley of the Kings The earliest tombs located in the Valley of the Kings were opportunistically placed in naturally formed clefts, well-hidden in the crags of limestone bluffs or cliffs. In these clefts, the softer marl and worn or eroded limestone could easily be chipped off to create entryways for the bodies of […]

Climate The inhospitable climate of the area around the valley – blistering hot days, and freezing cold evenings, made it unsuitable for people to live and thrive. This prevented, in some measure, grave robbery which was common for the time. However, the harsh climate did little to deter the truly daring thieves to rob tombs that were in any […]