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Obelisks
An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' rotisserie, spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called Obelisk (hieroglyph), ''tekhenu'', the Ancient Greece, Greeks used the Greek term to describe them, and this word passed into Latin and ultimately English language, English. Though William Thomas used the term correctly in his ''Historie of Italie'' of 1549, by the late sixteenth century (after reduced contact with Italy following the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth), Shakespeare failed to distinguish between pyramids and obelisks in his plays and sonnets. Ancient obelisks are Monolithic column, monolithic and consist of a single stone; most modern obelisks are made of several stones. Ancient obelisks Egyptian Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, and played a vital role in their religion placing them in pairs at the entra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyramid
A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as triangular or quadrilateral, and its surface-lines either filled or stepped. A pyramid has the majority of its mass closer to the ground with less mass towards the pyramidion at the apex. This is due to the gradual decrease in the cross-sectional area along the vertical axis with increasing elevation. This offers a weight distribution that allowed early civilizations to create monumental structures.Ancient civilizations in many parts of the world pioneered the building of pyramids. The largest pyramid by volume is the Mesoamerican Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla. For millennia, the largest structures on Earth were pyramids—first the Red Pyramid in the Dashur Necropolis and then the Great Pyramid of Khufu, bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unfinished Obelisk
The unfinished obelisk is the largest known ancient obelisk and is located in the northern region of the stone quarries of ancient Egypt in Aswan, Egypt. It was studied in detail by Reginald Engelbach in 1922. Reginald Engelbach, 1922The Aswân Obelisk, with some remarks on ancient engineering/ref> The obelisk and wider quarry were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 along with other examples of Upper Egyptian architecture, as part of the " Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae" (despite the quarry site being neither Nubian, nor between Abu Simbel and Philae). History of the obelisk Its creation was possibly ordered by Hatshepsut (1508–1458 BC), possibly to complement what would later be known as the Lateran Obelisk (which was originally at Karnak, and was later brought to the Lateran Palace in Rome). The unfinished obelisk is nearly one-third larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected. If finished it would have measured around and woul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths
Ancient Egyptian creation myths are the ancient Egyptian accounts of the creation of the world. The Pyramid Texts, tomb wall decorations, and writings, dating back to the Old Kingdom (c. 2700–2200 BC) have provided the majority of information regarding ancient Egyptian creation myths. These myths also form the earliest recorded religious compilations in the world. The ancient Egyptians had many creator gods and associated legends. Thus, the world or more specifically Egypt was created in diverse ways according to different parts of ancient Egypt. Some versions of the myth indicate spitting, others masturbation, as the act of creation. The earliest god, Ra and/or Atum (both being creator/ sun gods), emerged from a chaotic state of the world and gave rise to Shu ( air) and Tefnut (moisture), from whose union came Geb (earth) and Nut (sky), who in turn created Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. An extension to this basic framework was the Osiris myth involving Osiris, hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atum
Atum (, Egyptian: ''jtm(w)'' or ''tm(w)'', ''reconstructed'' ; Coptic ''Atoum''), sometimes rendered as Atem, Temu, or Tem, is the primordial God in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose. He created himself and is the father of Shu and Tefnut, the divine couple, who are the ancestors of the other Egyptian deities. Atum is also closely associated with the evening sun. As a primordial god and as the evening sun, Atum has chthonic and underworld connections. Atum was relevant to the ancient Egyptians throughout most of Egypt's history. He is believed to have been present in ideology as early as predynastic times, becoming even more prevalent during the Old Kingdom and continuing to be worshiped through the Middle and New Kingdom, though he becomes overshadowed by Ra around this time. Name Atum's name is thought to be derived from the verb ''tm'' which means 'to complete' or 'to finish'. Thus, he has been interpreted as being the "complete one" and also the finisher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naunet
Nu ("Watery One") or Nun ("The Inert One") (Ancient Egyptian: ; Coptic: ), in ancient Egyptian religion, is the personification of the primordial watery abyss which existed at the time of creation and from which the creator sun god Ra arose. Nu is one of the eight deities of the Ogdoad representing ancient Egyptian primordial Chaos from which the primordial mound arose. Nun can be seen as the first of all the gods and the creator of reality and personification of the cosmos. Nun is also considered the god that will destroy existence and return everything to the Nun whence it came. No cult was addressed to Nun. Nun's consort (or his female aspect) was the goddess Nunut or Naunet (Ancient Egyptian: ). Name The name on Nu is paralleled with "inactivity" in a play of words in, "I raised them up from out of the watery mass [], out of inactivity []". The name has also been compared to the Coptic ''noun'' "abyss; deep". Origin myth The ancient Egyptians envisaged the oc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benben
In the Ancient Egyptian creation myths, creation myth of the Heliopolis (ancient Egypt), Heliopolitan form of ancient Egyptian religion, Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial waters Nu (mythology), Nu upon which the creator deity Atum settled. The Benben stone is associated with the top stone of a pyramid, which is called a pyramid's pyramidion (or ''benbenet''). It is also related to the obelisk. Primeval mound In the Pyramid Texts, e.g. Utterances 587 and 600, Atum himself is at times referred to as "mound". It was said to have turned into a small pyramid, located in Heliopolis (Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''Annu'' or ''Iunu''), within which Atum was said to dwell. Other cities developed their own myths of the primeval mound. At Memphis, Egypt, Memphis, the god Tatenen, an earth god and the origin of "all things in the shape of food and viands, divine offers, all good things", was the personification of the primeval mound. Benben stone The Benben stone, named af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aten
Aten, also Aton, Atonu, or Itn (, reconstructed ) was the focus of Atenism, the religious system formally established in ancient Egypt by the late Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten. Exact dating for the Eighteenth Dynasty is contested, though a general date range places the dynasty in the years 1550 to 1292 BCE. The worship of Aten and the coinciding rule of Akhenaten are major identifying characteristics of a period within the Eighteenth Dynasty referred to as the Amarna Period (1336 BCE). Atenism and the worship of the Aten as the sole god of ancient Egypt state worship did not persist beyond Akhenaten's death. Not long after his death, one of Akhenaten's Eighteenth Dynasty successors, Tutankhamun, reopened the state temples to other Egyptian gods and re-positioned Amun as the pre-eminent solar deity. Aten is depicted as a solar disc emitting rays terminating in human hands. Etymology The word ''Aten'' appears in the Old Kingdom as a noun meaning "disc" w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akhenaten
Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep IV (, meaning "Amun is satisfied", Hellenized as ''Amenophis IV''). As a pharaoh, Akhenaten is noted for abandoning traditional ancient Egyptian religion of polytheism and introducing Atenism, or worship centered around Aten. The views of Egyptologists differ as to whether the religious policy was absolutely monotheism, monotheistic, or whether it was monolatristic, religious syncretism, syncretistic, or henotheistic. This culture shift away from traditional religion was reversed after his death. Akhenaten's monuments were dismantled and hidden, his statues were destroyed, and his name Damnatio memoriae, excluded from regnal list, lists of rulers compiled by lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egyptian Mythology
Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian pantheon, Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient Egyptian religion. Myths appear frequently in Egyptian Ancient Egyptian literature, writings and Art of ancient Egypt, art, particularly in short stories and in religious material such as hymns, ritual texts, Ancient Egyptian funerary texts, funerary texts, and Egyptian temple, temple decoration. These sources rarely contain a complete account of a myth and often describe only brief fragments. Inspired by the cycles of nature, the Egyptians saw time in the present as a series of recurring patterns, whereas the earliest periods of time were linear. Myths are set in these earliest times, and myth sets the pattern for the cycles of the present. Present events repeat the events of myth, and in doing so renew ''maat'', the fundament ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heliopolis (Cairo Suburb)
Heliopolis (, ', , "New Egypt") was an early 20th century suburb outside Cairo, Egypt, which has since merged with Cairo and is administratively divided into the districts of Masr El Gedida and El Nozha in the Eastern Area. Named after the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis (ancient Egypt), Heliopolis, whose ruins have been found in nearby Ain Shams, modern Heliopolis was established in 1905 by the Cairo Electric Railways & Heliopolis Oases Company, Heliopolis Oasis Company headed by the Belgian industrialist Édouard Empain and by Boghos Nubar, son of the Egyptian Prime Minister Nubar Pasha. The population in January 2022 of Masr El Gedida was estimated to be 142,017 and in El-Nozha was 244,869 people. History Édouard Empain, Édouard Louis Joseph, 1st Baron Empain visited Egypt in January 1904 to rescue one of the projects of his company Chemins de fer de la Basse-Egypte, ''S.A. des Chemins de Fer de la Basse-Egypte''; the construction of a railway line ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
El Matareya, Cairo
El Matareya ( ) is a district in the Eastern Area of Cairo, Egypt. The district is unrelated to the coastal town in the Dakahlia Governorate, that is also named El Matareya, Dakahlia, El Matareya. The district holds the ruins of the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt), Heliopolis, one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt. Name The name, El Matareya, is thought to come from the Latin word '':wikt:mater#Latin, Mater'' which means 'mother', and is from the presence of the 'tree of the Virgin Mary' in this district. History El Matareya, with the nearby Ain Shams district, had a notable history during Egypt's Ancient Egypt, Pharaonic period as a part of ancient Heliopolis. The district has archaeological sites of the period, some only recently discovered, beneath its current structures. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
