Ghurob See kom medinet ghurob.
Ghurob Shrine Papyrus A document containing details of a special shrine erected by tuthmosis iii (r. 1479-1425 B. C.E.) of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the shrine was a casket made of gilded wood. The papyrus commemorating the event, in a single roll, is now in London.
Gilukipa (fl. 14th century b. c.e.) Royal woman of the Eighteenth Dynasty
She was the daughter of King Shuttarna or Shutama of the MITANNIS, who arrived in thebes as part of an alliance between her father and amenhotep iii (r. 1391-1353 B. C.E.). When she entered Thebes in a wedding procession, Gilukipa had 317 serving women in her retinue. She entered Amenhotep Ill’s harem and resided at malkata, on the western shore of Thebes. SCARABS were produced and distributed throughout Egypt by the royal court to commemorate her arrival on the Nile in Amenhotep Ill’s 10th regnal year.
See also tadhukipa.
“Ginger” A mummified Egyptian now on display in the Egyptian Antiquities Department of the British Museum in London and dating to c. 3300 b. c.e. or earlier, the mummified remains were named “Ginger” because of the reddish brown color of his hair. “Ginger” was not embalmed but mummified by the hot sands of his original grave on the edge of the desert. His fingernails and toenails are perfectly preserved. He was buried lying on his left side, face down, with his hands positioned under his head. His remains were covered with sand and then with rocks.
Girdle of Isis An Egyptian amulet, called the thet and shaped in the form of an ankh, with drooping lateral arms, the Girdle of Isis was usually fashioned out of jasper, carnelian, or some other red material. The amulet was believed to confer strength upon the living and the dead. When used in funerary ceremonies, the Girdle of Isis was made of gold and was dipped in a bowl of flowers and water and then placed on the corpse.
Giza This is a plateau southwest of modern Cairo that served as a necropolis for the royal families of the Fourth Dynasty (2575-2465 b. c.e.). The Great pyramid, erected in the reign of khufu (Cheops; 2551-2528 b. c.e.), is the largest of the plateau monuments and the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World. There are other funerary monuments or relics that predate the Fourth Dynasty at Giza, and later pharaohs erected or converted existing ones. A mastaba at Giza dates to the reign of djet (c. 2850 B. C.E.) in the First Dynasty, surrounded by the graves of more than 50 servants, which denotes that the individual buried in the mastaba (as yet unidentified) was a person of considerable rank. jar sealings inscribed with the name of ninetjer (r. c. 2670 b. c.e.), a ruler of the Second Dynasty, were found in an area south of the main necropolis.
The Great Pyramid, called “the Horizon of Khufu,” originally stood 480 feet high on a 755-foot base. The pyramid was built using 3.2 million blocks of limestone, each weighing 2.5 tons. The pyramid was covered in Tureh limestone and capped with a gold pyramid-ion. Inside the structure, the King’s Chamber was designed to ease pressure from the slanted design. A Grand Gallery extends through the edifice, and there is a Queen’s Chamber and an Ascending Gallery. A descending corridor leads to a bedrock burial chamber, which appears to have been abandoned early in the construction. An enclosure wall was also provided for the pyramid, and a mortuary temple was erected on the eastern side of the pyramid. This temple is a rectangular building with a basalt pavement and an interior courtyard. A causeway originally 2,630 feet long extended from this temple, but it is now buried under the
Modern settlement of Nazlet el-Simman. The valley temple had a black-green basalt pavement, 180 feet long, and mud-brick walls 26 feet wide.
Subsidiary pyramids were placed near the Great Pyramid, one belonging to Queen hetepheres (1), the second to Queen MERITITES (1), and another belonging to Queen henutsen. This last pyramid was provided with a mortuary chapel on the eastern side. A fourth finished pyramid has not been identified, and there are two other such tombs, not completed. Another subsidiary pyramid was situated at the southeastern corner of the Great Pyramid. This was probably designed for Khufu’s KA or for his HEB-SED memorial, the commemoration of the decades of his reign.
Five boat pits have been discovered around the Great Pyramid, two of which contained Khufu’s barks. Seventy
Mastabas, containing Khufu’s servants, were situated nearby. There was also a harbor, linking the complex to the Nile. This harbor has now disappeared, but a halfmile wall remains to mark the perimeter. This border is called Heit el-Ghurab, the Wall of the Crow.
KHAFRE (Chephren; r. 2520-2494 b. c.e.) built the second massive pyramid that stands on the Giza plateau. The structure is smaller than Khufu’s, but it was erected on a rise and appears almost the same height. Khafre’s pyramid originally rose to a height of 471 feet, on a 705-foot base. There are two entrances, descending passages, an ascending corridor, and a burial chamber containing a red granite sarcophagus. One subsidiary pyramid rests beside Khafre’s monument, probably the tomb of an unidentified queen. Five boat pits were also installed on the site. Khafre’s mortuary temple was made of limestone and had a pillared hall, two chambers, and an open courtyard. Magazines and statuary niches completed the design. A causeway, some 1,600 feet in length, was attached to the mortuary temple. The valley temple was a square structure with two entrances. Magnificent statues of Khafre, protected by horus, were discovered there.
The third massive structure on the Giza plateau is the pyramid erected as the resting place of menkaure (Mycerinus; r. 2490-2472 b. c.e.). It is the smallest of the great pyramids of Giza and was unfinished when Menkaure died. This pyramid, however, was completed by Menkaure’s son and heir, shepseskhaf Originally 240 feet high, the pyramid was erected on a 357-foot base. An unusual feature of this monument is the use of reliefs depicting the palace walls of the period on interior walls. Mycerinus’s mortuary temple was made of mud bricks. The causeway that was attached to the temple was 1,995 feet in length, and another mud-brick valley temple contained fine triad statues. Three subsidiary pyramids were erected beside Menkaure’s main tomb. It is believed that Queen khamerernebty (2) was buried in one of these, but they were never finished.
The Great sphinx stands in front of Khafre’s pyramid, with that pharaoh’s features imposed upon its face. This is an image of a mythical beast with the body of a lion and the head of a man, wearing the nemes, the royal head covering. The statue was carved out of a knoll of poor-grade limestone and is 150 feet long and 75 feet high, from base to crown. The modern name is a Greek version of the Egyptian shesep-ankh, “the living image.” The Sphinx is believed to represent Khafre, as Horus of the Horizon. Originally the carving was faced with Tureh limestone, and a beard extended from the chin, almost to the center of the breast. A stela dating from the reign of tuthmosis iv (1401-1391 b. c.e.) rests between its paws.
The private necropolis of Giza lies east and west of the pyramids. Some later burials disrupt the orderly layout of the Fourth Dynasty complex. Of particular interest is the tomb of Queen merysankh (3), the consort of
The watcher on the horizon, the Great Sphinx, the mysterious monument at Giza. Courtesy Thierry Ailleret
Khafre and the daughter of Prince kewab and Queen het-EPHERES (2). Remarkable scenes and a row of statues of the royal family fill this vast burial site. The tomb was originally made for Queen Hetepheres (2), who gave it to Merysankh (3) when she died young. The plateau of Giza also contains the ruins of a temple honoring horus of the Horizon. This shrine was erected near the Great Sphinx by AMENHOTEP II (r. 1427-1401 b. c.e.) of the Eighteenth Dynasty A temple of ISIS was also formed in one of the subsidiary pyramids of Giza by a later dynasty.
A vast area containing the ruins of living quarters, clinics, bakeries, breweries, and other structures has been discovered at Giza in recent years. An ongoing excavation of the area is being conducted to uncover this workers’ village. The ruins confirm the fact that able-bodied Egyptians provided free labor throughout the building process of the Giza plateau complexes. The corvee system entitled the pharaohs to request such services from the people, especially during the time of the annual inundation. slaves were not used to build the pyramids, which were national projects, undertaken freely by the entire populace in service to the pharaoh and the gods.
Gods and goddesses The supernatural beings who constituted the great pantheon of deities in ancient Egypt, some surviving throughout the history of the nation. These deities served as the focal points for Egyptian cultic rites and personal spiritual aspirations. The deities associated with creation and cosmological roles were worshiped throughout the Nile valley, and others evolved from local fetish symbols and particular geographic traditions. Still others were associated with mortuary and funerary rites and were beloved throughout the land.
World History
