The Heretic Queen

Alabaster: a hard marble like mineral from Alabastron, a village in Egypt

Amulet: a small object, either worn or carried, that was thought to ward off evil

Ankh: the Egyptian symbol of life; a cross with a loop at the top

Canopic jars: jars used to hold the internal organs of a body

Delta: a triangular piece of land where a river begins branching off from it's mouth

Embalm: to preserve a dead body by treating it with scented oils and spices

Engrave: to cut letters or figures into something hard, like rock

Hieroglyphs: Ancient Egyptian writing. At first picture signs were used to represent objects. Later, the signs came to represent sounds as well

Limestone: a light colored, easily cut rock, much used for building

Mortuary temple: a temple associated with the burial of the dead

Papyrus: a type of reed plentiful on the Nile Delta

Pylon: an Egyptian entrance gate

Ritual: used in a religious ceremony

Sanctuary: a special holy place in a temple

Sarcophagus : a stone tomb or coffin

Scribe: someone who writes and keeps record. In ancient Egypt, scribes collected taxes. Only men could be scribes.

Shrine: a cupboard like container in which the image of god is kept

Sphinx: a giant stone figure of an imaginary creature, with the head of a man or animal and the body of a lion.

Unguent: a liquid or cream that is put on sores or wounds

Valley of the Kings -- an area in western Thebes that holds the royal burial sites of the 18th and 19th dynasties.

Vizier: a ruler's chief minister