EGYPTIAN TERMINOLOGIES

ALABASTER - A very fine stone through which light can be seen.

BA - A person's soul which was believed to live on earth after death, resting
within the body at night.

BONING RODS - A set of three wooden rods, two of which are connected by a
string from the tops. The rods are placed vertically on opposite sides of the area
of the stone which is to be cut and the string pulled taut. The third rod is slid
vertically under or next to the string, rising above it when part of the stone is
higher than the rest. That area can then be chiseled down.

CANOPIC JAR - The container in which one of the organs from the corpse was
placed after being embalmed.

 CAPITALS - The ornate top most part of columns on which the roof beams rest.
CAPSTONE - The pyramid-shaped stone on the top of the pyramid.

CASING BLOCKS - The outermost stones of the pyramid, which were highly
polished.

CAUSEWAY - The covered passage which connects the Valley Temple to the
Mortuary Temple.

 DOLERITE - A very hard stone used for pounding through granite and limestone.

EMBALMING - The treating of a corpse with preservatives to prevent or slow

down the deterioration process.

FUNERARY COMPLEX - A group of related tombs and temples constructed on

the west bank of the Nile for the burial and worship of the dead.

 INUNDATION - The time between July and November when every year the Nile
flooded the farmland along its banks.

KA - The spiritual duplicate of a person which, after death, traveled back and
forth between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

MERKHET - An instrument consisting of a wooden rod with a V-shaped notch

that made it possible to sight an object.

 MORTAR - A mixture of sand, lime, and water used mostly as a lubricant on

which heavy blocks of stone could be more easily moved.

MUMMIFICATION - The process of embalming and preserving a dead body and

its vital organs.

PACKING BLOCKS - Blocks placed on the steps of the core on which the casing
stones are then placed.
PLUMBLINE - A weighted string which, because of gravity, will always hang
perfectly vertical.
PORTCULLISES - the granite slabs that were lowered between two grooves to
seal the entrance to the tomb after the pharaoh's burial.

 RESIN - A substance obtained from plants and used to coat the corpse to
prevent decomposition.
ROCKER - A wooden frame on which a block of stone was placed before being
finished so that it could be more easily moved around.
TEMENOS WALL - The 30 ft. high wall built around the base of the pyramid.
These walls were originally built around entire funeral complexes.

VALLEY TEMPLE - The temple on the banks of the Nile to which the body of the
pharaoh was first brought.