Fellowship of the Secret Word/Glossary

A

• Aah, Iah - Moon sacred to Osiris, Djehuty (Thoth) and Khonsu
• Akh (Ax) - at times translated as 'soul', cf. Body and Soul
• Akhu, akhet (Ax.t): The blessed dead, ancestors
• Amen, Ammon, Amon, Amun, Amoun, Amun-Re or Amen-Re - Main God during the New Kingdom, identified with Zeus by the Greeks
• Amenirdis - Wife of the God (High priestess of Amen)
• Amenti - Realm of the Dead, cf Duat
• Ammit, Ammut - Chimaera, destroyer of the hearts of dead who were not justified
• Amulet - charm or talisman
• Anch, ankh (anx) - Symbol of enduring life
• Anubis, Anpu, Khenty-Imentiu, Hermanubis - God, conductor of souls
• Apis, Serapis, Osiris-Apis - Bull symbolizing fertility venerated at Memphis
• Apophis, Apopis, Apep - The serpent of Chaos, sometimes equated with Seth
• Apotropaic (from Greek) - Having the power to avert evil
• Atef - Crown worn by Osiris
• Aten, Aton - The sun disk, unique god of Akhenaten

B

• Ba (bA)

   The "soul"
   Spiritual force such as an anonymous divinity
   Manifestation of a god
   The king's power to rule
   The eternal forces of a human, depicted in tombs as a bird with a human head.

• Ba'ah, Seba-djai - The planet Venus
• Bast, Bastet, Ubasti, Pasht - Goddess of the home, Artemis to the Greeks. Her cultural centre was at Bubastis
• Bat - Goddess with the form of a cow, from the Middle Kingdom on merged with Hathor
• Bau - Messenger or appearance of a deity
• Benben

   1) The first land to rise from the primordial waters. 
   2) Pyramid shaped sacred stone at Heliopolis 

• Bes, Bisu - Dwarf god
• Book of the Dead - Better The Book of Going Forth by Day. A collection of magical writings placed in tombs since the New Kingdom with the intention of helping the deceased in the after-life.
• Canopic jars (from Latin, Greek) - Vessels containing the inner organs of the deceased, generally four, in the form of the sons of Horus (from Canopus, see above)
• Cartonnage (French) - Expression used by Egyptologists for the masks and coffins made of cardboard like materials.
• Cartouche (French) - The name of a pharaoh in hieroglyphs surrounded by an oval band denoting eternity

D

• Decans (from Latin decem, ten) - 36 star constellations, each rising above the horizon at sunrise during ten days every year, used by the ancient Egyptian calendar
• Djehuti, Thoth - God of knowledge and wisdom, moon god, identified with Hermes Trismegistus by the Greeks;
• Djet (Dt) - Eternity, continuous and linear as opposed to neheh
• Duat (dwA.t)

   Originally the starry sky.

E

   The Realm of the Dead, populated by the deceased who have become stars. Often somewhat misleadingly referred to as Underworld or Netherworld.

• Ennead (from Greek enneas, nine)

   A group of nine deities, such as the Ennead of Heliopolis
   All the gods of a locality

F

• False door - symbolic door for the ka, painted or carved on a tomb wall