Egyptology Glossary for Travelers
Quick answer
About fifty Egyptology terms, from pylon and hypostyle hall to mastaba, cartouche, and ushabti, explained in plain English and grouped by where you will hear them.
You do not need an archaeology degree to enjoy Egypt, but about fifty recurring terms make temple and tomb visits much easier to follow. This glossary translates the words Egyptologists use into plain English, grouped by where you will hear them: in temples, in tombs, in front of inscriptions, and in museums.
Licensed guides in Egypt are usually trained in Egyptology, and many of them speak in the vocabulary of their field. When yours says that a relief in the hypostyle hall shows the king offering Maat to Amun, or that a tomb's false door faces west, every one of those words carries meaning. Read this page once before you travel, then come back to the relevant section the night before you visit Karnak, Saqqara, or the Valley of the Kings. The goal is not to memorize vocabulary; it is to understand what you are looking at.
Temple architecture
Egyptian temples follow a remarkably consistent plan, from the New Kingdom temples of Luxor to the Ptolemaic temples of Edfu and Philae. Once you know the parts, every temple reads like a variation on the same idea: a journey from the bright, public outside to the dark, sacred inside.
| Term | Plain-English meaning |
|---|---|
| Pylon | Massive twin-towered gateway at the front of a temple, often carved with the king smiting enemies |
| Forecourt | Open courtyard behind the pylon, usually lined with columns |
| Hypostyle hall | Roofed hall filled with rows of columns, symbolizing the marsh of creation |
| Sanctuary | Innermost room that held the god's cult statue or sacred boat |
| Processional axis | Straight line running from the pylon to the sanctuary, along which festivals moved |
| Obelisk | Tall, tapering single stone with a pyramid-shaped tip, usually set in pairs before a pylon |
| Sacred lake | Stone-lined pool inside the temple enclosure, used by priests for purification |
| Mammisi | Birth house beside later temples, celebrating the divine birth of the god's child |
| Nilometer | Staircase or shaft used to measure the height of the Nile flood |
| Kiosk | Light, open pavilion, such as Trajan's Kiosk at Philae |
Notice how floors rise and ceilings drop as you walk toward the sanctuary. Light fades, rooms narrow, and the sense of approaching the god grows. This happens at Karnak, Luxor, Edfu, and Dendera alike.
Tombs and burial
Tomb vocabulary changes with period. Old Kingdom officials at Saqqara and Giza built mastabas above ground; New Kingdom kings cut their tombs deep into the rock of the Valley of the Kings. Knowing the terms helps explain why the two look so different.
| Term | Plain-English meaning |
|---|---|
| Mastaba | Rectangular, flat-roofed tomb with sloping sides, from the Arabic word for a bench |
| Step pyramid | Pyramid built of stacked layers, like Djoser's at Saqqara |
| Causeway | Raised walkway linking a pyramid's valley temple to its mortuary temple |
| Valley temple | Temple at the lower end of a pyramid complex, near the edge of the cultivation |
| Mortuary temple | Temple for the cult of a dead king, such as Hatshepsut's at Deir el-Bahari |
| Serdab | Sealed room holding a statue of the deceased, sometimes with eye holes to the chapel |
| False door | Carved doorway through which the spirit could receive offerings |
| Burial chamber | Room holding the sarcophagus, usually the deepest part of the tomb |
| Sarcophagus | Stone outer coffin |
| Canopic jars | Four containers for organs removed during mummification |
| Shabti or ushabti | Small figure meant to do work for the deceased in the afterlife |
| KV | Short for "Kings' Valley"; tombs are numbered broadly in order of discovery, so Tutankhamun's is KV62 |
Religion and the afterlife
Egyptian religion had a rich set of ideas about the soul and the gods, and guides use these terms constantly in tombs and temples.
| Term | Plain-English meaning |
|---|---|
| Ka | Life force, born with a person and needing food offerings after death |
| Ba | Personality, shown as a bird with a human head, able to travel between the tomb and the world |
| Akh | The transfigured, effective spirit of the blessed dead |
| Maat | Truth, justice, and cosmic order, shown as a goddess with a feather |
| Weighing of the heart | Judgment scene where the heart is balanced against Maat's feather |
| Book of the Dead | Collection of spells written on papyrus to help the deceased in the afterlife |
| Amduat | Royal funerary text describing the sun's journey through the night, painted in royal tombs |
| Triad | A divine family of three, such as Amun, Mut, and Khonsu at Thebes |
| Cult statue | Statue of a god housed in the sanctuary, cared for daily by priests |
| Sun barque | Sacred boat carrying the sun god or a cult statue |
Writing and kingship
Inscriptions are everywhere in Egypt, and even a few terms help you find your way in them.
| Term | Plain-English meaning |
|---|---|
| Hieroglyphs | Formal picture-based script, used mainly on monuments |
| Hieratic | Faster, cursive script for everyday writing on papyrus |
| Demotic | Later cursive script, one of the three on the Rosetta Stone |
| Cartouche | Oval loop around a royal name |
| Uraeus | Rearing cobra worn on the king's forehead |
| Nemes | Striped royal headcloth, as on the Sphinx and Tutankhamun's mask |
| Double crown | Combined red and white crowns, symbolizing rule over Upper and Lower Egypt |
| Dynasty | Modern grouping of rulers; not always a single family |
| Upper and Lower Egypt | South (upriver) and north (the Delta); confusingly, Upper is south |
| Nome and nomarch | A province of ancient Egypt and its governor |
A practical tip: hieroglyphs can be read left to right, right to left, or top to bottom. People and animals face the start of the line, so read toward their faces.
Art and objects in museums
These terms come up most often at the Grand Egyptian Museum, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir and NMEC.
| Term | Plain-English meaning |
|---|---|
| Relief | Carved scene: raised relief stands out from the surface, sunk relief is cut into it |
| Stela | Upright stone slab with an inscription or scene |
| Scarab | Beetle amulet, symbol of the rising sun and renewal |
| Ankh | Sign of life, shaped like a cross with a loop |
| Djed pillar | Symbol of stability, associated with Osiris's backbone |
| Pectoral | Decorative chest ornament worn as jewelry |
| Faience | Glazed ceramic material, often bright blue or green |
| Sphinx | Lion body with a human or animal head, often a royal image |
| Palette | Flat stone plate, originally for grinding cosmetics, later carved for ceremony |
| Ptolemaic | Belonging to the Greek-speaking dynasty founded by Ptolemy I, a general of Alexander, which ended with Cleopatra VII |
How to use this glossary on the ground
Before the trip, skim each table once. On the evening before a big site, reread the relevant section: temple architecture before Karnak or Edfu, tombs and burial before Saqqara or the Valley of the Kings, writing and objects before a museum day.
On site, try a simple routine. When you enter a temple, name the parts as you pass them: pylon, forecourt, hypostyle hall, sanctuary. In a tomb, look for the false door or the burial chamber and ask your guide which text is painted on the walls. In a museum, check whether a relief is raised or sunk; sunk relief was often used outdoors, where strong sunlight made the deep shadows easier to read.
Do not worry about pronouncing anything correctly. Egyptologists themselves disagree about how ancient words sounded, because hieroglyphs did not write vowels. Most modern pronunciations are conventions.
Frequently asked questions
What is a hypostyle hall?
A roofed hall supported by many columns, usually placed between a temple's open courtyard and its sanctuary. Karnak's Great Hypostyle Hall is a famous example. The columns were often carved to resemble papyrus plants.
What is a pylon?
The monumental gateway formed by two tapering towers at the entrance to an Egyptian temple. Its outer faces usually show the king defeating enemies. Flagpoles once stood in the vertical grooves you can still see on many pylons.
What is a cartouche?
An oval loop enclosing a royal name written in hieroglyphs. Kings usually had two names in cartouches, a throne name and a birth name. Spotting cartouches is a quick way to know which ruler built or decorated a wall.
What is a mastaba?
A rectangular, flat-roofed tomb with sloping sides, used especially in the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom. The burial lay in a shaft beneath it, while the chapel above received offerings. Saqqara has well-decorated examples.
What is the difference between ka and ba?
The ka was a person's life force, which needed offerings of food and drink after death. The ba was closer to personality and was shown as a bird with a human head that could leave the tomb. Both needed the preserved body to return to.
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