“First Under the King” This was an Egyptian court title, denoting a particular rank and the right to rule a certain district in the ruler’s name. In Upper Egypt the senior officials were also called magnates of the southern ten. This affirmed their hereditary or acquired rights as an elite group of governors and judges. Most areas of Egypt had courts of law, treasuries, and land offices for settling boundary disputes after the inundations, conservation bureaus for irrigation and dike control, scribes, militias, and storage facilities for harvest. Tax assessors were normally attached to the storage offices, which were temple-operated in many provinces. The governors of the NOMES and the judges of these regional courts bore the titles of privilege and rank and reported directly to the VIZIER and to the royal treasurer in the capital. In some periods there were viziers for both the Upper and Lower Kingdoms as well as Kush, or nubia (modern Sudan).
Flagstaffs The symbolic poles used in the front of the PYLONS (entrance gates) at all major temples and shrines. Originally the cult centers had two insignias of the god visible in the court of the shrine. Called senut, the flagstaffs in their original form were adorned with religious symbols and perhaps even with clan and NOME totems. When the rulers began their massive building programs along the Nile, they copied the original cultic design pioneered in temples and in the first capital of MEMPHIS and erected tall poles upon which the particular pendant of the temple or the god could be displayed. The poles were made of pine or cedar and tipped with elec-trum caps.
Flail A royal symbol of Egypt, used with the crook to represent the majesty of the rulers of the Two Lands, the flail, carried originally by the god osiris, is normally displayed in the hands of deceased rulers. It was once described as a whip but now is believed to represent the labdanisterion, the instrument used by early goatherds in the Near East. Such a symbol, dating back to ancient times, would have had magical connotations. Agricultural workers used the flail to gather labdanum, an aromatic shrub that yielded gum and resin. The crook and the flail were both identified with the god osiRis’s patronage of vegetation and eternal life. it associated each new ruler with the past traditions and with Osiris, thus providing the people with a clear image of an unbroken line of divinely inspired pharaohs.
Flies of Valor An Egyptian military decoration composed of golden fly forms attached to a chain, the decoration was given to Queen ah’hotep (1) by her son ’ahmose (r. 1550-1525 b. c.e.) during the struggle with the HYKSOS (c. 1555-1532 b. c.e.). Queen Ah’hotep provided strong leadership as regent during ’Ahmose’s first decade and made vital resources available throughout Egypt’s rebellion against Hyksos domination. The actual reason for choosing the fly as a symbol of bravery is no longer understood.
“Fluid of Life” See daily royal rites; sa-ankh.
Followers of Horus These were three distinct groups of ancient Egyptians, each with a unique role in the life of the nation. The first group, the supernatural, hence magical company bearing this name, were creatures who supposedly followed the god horus, the son of ISIS and OSIRIS, in his predynastic battles at edfu and in the Delta. Such companions were called heru-shemsu and were honored in all Horus temples. They are depicted in the tomb of KHERUEF, an official in the reign of amenhotep iii (1391-1353 B. C.E.). These Followers of Horus were portrayed as bearing clubs and other weapons. They served as veteran forces in the predynastic wars, especially at Edfu. In the mortuary texts, the Followers assume even more dramatic roles. They purify the deceased on their journeys and are described in some documents as predynastic rulers who welcome the dead into their domains of eternal bliss.
The second group of Followers is associated with the SOULS OF PE and the souls of nekhen, the legendary godlike kings before the Early Dynastic Period (2920-2575 B. C.E.). At the various Osirian and Horus festivals, a third group called the Followers of Horus conducted mock battles with others called the followers of set. The Horus Companions always won those “wars.”
The Followers of Horus, deemed both mythical companions and predynastic rulers of legend, may have been the confederation of nome warriors who followed the Thinite ruler narmer north in his quest to overcome the Delta and unify Egypt. They may also have been members of the ruler’s retinue, accompanying him when he conducted his biennial tours of inspections along the NILE. The mock battles, in which the Followers of Horus always proved victorious, commemorated the traditions and religious commitments of earlier eras and concretized the Horus cult.
Followers of Set A group of Egyptians who participated in staged mock battles in the ceremonies honoring OSIRIS and horus, the Followers of Set were always overcome by the opposing members of the followers of HORUS in these mock struggles because the Horus associates represented good. They were called mesu-betesht, or desheru, the red ones, and they were believed to be troublemakers who followed “the Bringer of Chaos,” the god Set. They were called “the red ones” because they supposedly had red faces and red hair. The Followers of Set appeared prominently in the later part of the Nineteenth Dynasty (1307-1196 b. c.e.). They were recorded as drunkards, womanizers, and rebels who threatened the spirit of MA’at on the Nile. Such evildoers were cursed as ones who could not reach paradise in the West (amenti) but would rot in the desert wastes as food for the birds and rodents.
Foods The dietary products of the Egyptians were among the most diverse and plentiful in ancient times. Egypt was always called “the breadbasket of the world” by contemporary nations, and the rich annual agricultural harvests in the Nile Valley were envied by the rulers of other lands. The Romans, especially, recognized the value of Egypt, and after the suicide of cleopatra vii in 30 B. C.E. they guarded the land as a unique provider of the empire.
Barley and emmer were the earliest cereal crops harvested in Egypt. Emmer was used to make bread, and barley was the basis for the extensive brewing of beer. In the Ptolemaic Period (304-30 b. c.e.) wheat was introduced to the Nile fields and prospered. These fields also provided chickpeas, lentils, garlic, squashes, leeks, beans, lettuce, radishes, cabbages, cucumbers, onions, and other vegetables. Other farm products included cinnamon, carob, olives, melons, dates, figs, raisins, dom nuts, cactus figs, seneb berries, pomegranates, apples, grapes, and palm tree materials for eating and weaving.
Because of the herding techniques used, the Egyptians of various classes feasted on beef often or occasionally and used milk products to make cheeses and yogurts. They also ate sheep and goats and hunted for other meats. A type of oryx was prized, as were gazelles, although they were cherished as pets. Hyenas were used as hunting animals, and the deceased received their meat as offerings. When eating oxen or bulls, the Egyptians preferred the loins. Meat was grilled or stewed. Swine were regarded as contaminants in many ages and forbidden as food. They were, however, raised as food or as temple offerings in abydos and elsewhere.
The Nile offered more than 50 varieties of fish in its waters, and the shore marshlands provided a vast quantity of fowls. Partridges, quails, pigeons, cranes, herons, storks, ducks, geese, and doves were served as food. chickens were introduced into the land in a later era, possibly as late as the fourth century b. c.e. The Egyptians prized eggs of other birds also. Oils were also essential ingredients, and the Egyptians used the oils from olives, sesame, and safflowers, as well as a type of butter fat. All of these foods were enjoyed in elaborate home feasts or
A relief of workers caging wild geese from the Nile marshes, a constant food supply for the Egyptians. Hulton Archive on picnics during certain Nile festivals. Such picnics included 30 types of bread, some used as desserts. honey sweetened cakes and bread, and fruits accompanied indoor and outdoor meals. The wines served, as well as the beers, were flavored and graded according to strength, flavor, and quality.
Fortresses A series of remarkable military installations known as mennu was designed to provide garrisons for troops and defensive measures on frontiers or in occupied territories. Egypt maintained such garrisons on the eastern and western territories of the Delta and in nubia (modern Sudan). Other fortresses were built and subsidized throughout the empire period of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 b. c.e.) and then were abandoned to other political powers along the Mediterranean Sea. Traces of fortifications at abydos and hierakonpolis indicate the use of such defensive installations within the Nile Valley as well, especially in the predynastic periods (before 3000 b. c.e.) or in times of civil unrest.
The WALL OF THE PRINCE, a series of fortresses and garrisons on the eastern and western boundaries of Egypt, dates to the reign of amenemhet i (1991-1962 b. c.e.), although he may have strengthened older military structures to form the defense system. Such fortresses, especially in Nubia, were directly connected to Egypt’s pursuit of natural resources in mines and quarries and the regulation of the active trade routes. The fortresses built in conquered lands were defensive structures that stabilized entire regions during the imperial era. The collapse of these encampments in the Levant and in other Near East regions was reported in letters from the ’amarna period (1353-1335 b. c.e.), and their loss was viewed as catastrophic by allied rulers of the various territories involved.
The Nubian fortresses, the ones documented and studied in recent times, provide the modern information about Egyptian military prowess because they are still available, in ruined form, for study Erected on rocky pinnacles overlooking the Nile and stretching south from below the first cataract, these structures date to the Twelfth Dynasty (1991-1783 b. c.e.) or possibly earlier in primitive forms, and they guarded the Nile between the ELEPHANTINE at ASWAN and the second cataract. A cluster of such fortresses protected Egypt’s southern border.
Among them was the famed fortress at buhen, originally an Old Kingdom (2575-2134 b. c.e.) settlement, located on the western shore of the Nile opposite wadi HALFA. This defense worked in conjunction with Gebel Turob, a hill where Egyptians kept watch on all native movements. During the Twelfth Dynasty (1991-1783 b. c.e.) the Nubians were not allowed to move northward without permission, and the sentries on Gebel Turob were stationed in strategic positions to enforce this royal policy. Watchers ran down the hill to the fortress the instant they saw large groups of Nubians in the vicinity The watchers were provided shelters, and several men remained on duty at all times. They were required to send detailed reports on the day’s activities to the buhen commander and to the commander of the fort at semna. A similar sentry operation was undertaken at Gebel Sheikh suleiman, also beside Buhen.
Buhen fortress itself was fashioned out of the rocky point on which it was located and was surrounded by temples and administrative offices, a pattern used for most forts in Nubia. It was constructed of large sun-dried bricks, laced with granite gravel for support. A wall with external buttresses followed the contours of the ledge and then swept downward to the river. This main wall was protected by other walls and by a ditch carved out of rock and sloped with smooth sides to protect against enemy footholds. The fortress also held a garrison and storage area. Towns sometimes grew inside these garrisons.
Such fortresses were built southward into Nubia when the Egyptians expanded both their territories and their interests in the region’s natural resources. The garrison outposts as erected by the ancient Egyptians included walls and towers and were positioned in strategic locations so that southern forts could signal the ones to the north in times of emergency. It is estimated that these fortresses each contained from 200 to 300 men and their families. Most of these troops were veteran units with conscripts.
Another important Middle Kingdom fort was at Semna, designated as the Middle Kingdom southern border. SENWOSRET I (r. 1971-1926 b. c.e.) started the garrison at Semna, and it was completed by senwosret iii (r. 1878-1841 b. c.e.). a fortress at Kumma was constructed in the normal rectangular pattern. Just below that another fortress was at uronarti, triangular in shape. At Shalfak, on the western bank opposite the town of Sarras, another garrison was erected, and at mirgissa a fort built in the style of Buhen was put up to command a strategic position.
At Dabnati a fortress dominated an island, complete with towers and ramparts. Another garrison was located at the second cataract, opposite the island of Mayanarti. Buhen was at Wadi Halfa, and two more compounds were erected between that site and aniba, where a vast garrison was manned year round. At Kubban, Ikkur, and biga there were fortresses that guarded the last approach to the interior of Egypt.
The following fortresses are among the documented outposts active during the Middle Kingdom and later periods.
Between the Elephantine and the second cataract Ikkur Amada
Sabaqura Qasr Ibrim
Kuban Armanna
Korosko
Between the second cataract and Semna Buhen Sarras
Mayanarti Uronarti
Dorgaynarti Semna el-Sharq
Matuka Semna el-Gharb
Dabnarti (Tabai) Semna el-Ganuub
Kumma
“Forty Day Route” A trail used by the Egyptian trade caravans from the earliest periods, the route went from the KHARGA OASIS to the south, using Selima as a destination, or left from Kharga and arrived in the dakhla Oasis. Such caravans brought vital minerals and luxury items, such as furs, ivory, and gems, into Egypt. When the New Kingdom ended in 1070 b. c.e., the caravans were exposed to dangers on the way The Ptolemaic Period (304-30 b. c.e.) reopened the “Forty Day Route.”
Forty-Two Judges Divine beings who greeted deceased Egyptians in the judgment halls of osiris. There the dead were called upon to give an account of their lives upon earth and to receive judgments of their worthiness to take part in eternal bliss. Each of the judges sat in council with the god osiris to evaluate the mortals in their presence. The Forty-Two Judges were awesome creatures, some bearing titles indicating their ferocity and purpose, such as “Long of Stride,” “Eater of Shades,” “Stinking Face,” “Crusher of Bones,” “Eater of Entrails,” and “Double Lion.” Some of the judges assumed other roles in the mortuary mythology, such as Hraf-hef, “he-who-looks-behind-himself” This creature was the ancient, cranky ferryman who had to be placated by the deceased in order for him to row them to the sites of eternal bliss across the spiritual Nile.
Foundation Deposits Collections of significant spiritual symbols that were buried during the construction of a monument or royal tomb, these objects were placed into the ground on a corner of a site or in another area deemed appropriate as the base blocks were installed. The tools bearing the names of the era’s rulers were often included in the deposits.
Fraser Tombs The modern designation given to the tombs found at Achoris in the central valley of the Nile that date to the Fifth Dynasty (2465-2323 b. c.e.). The name refers to the individual who discovered these sites.
“Friend of the King” This rank was popular in the Old Kingdom (2575-2134 b. c.e.) and conferred throughout all historical periods. An honorary position, the title was used to distinguish officials who had access to the ruler as a counselor or attendant. courtiers could also be styled as “Well-Beloved Friends” or “Nearest
To the King,” as in the reign of pepi ii (2246-2152 b. c.e.) of the Sixth Dynasty. These titles gave the bearer prestige in the court and were often inscribed on mortuary stelae in the tomb complexes of the deceased honorees.
Frog A symbol of generation, rebirth, and fertility in ancient Egyptian lore, the frog goddess was heket, depicted as a creature or as frog-headed woman. The four male gods of the ogdoad of hermopolis were also frogheaded, a symbol of their role in the rejuvenation and fertilization of Egypt at the creation and at the annual inundation periods. Frog amulets were used to ensure rebirth for the deceased in the tomb.
Funerals See mortuary rituals.
Funerary cones These were small monuments fashioned out of clay and placed at the entrance of tombs, particularly in the necropolis areas of thebes. Most popular in the Eighteenth Dynasty (1550-1307 b. c.e.) these cones were used from the Middle Kingdom (2040-1640 b. c.e.) to the Late Period (712-332 b. c.e.). The cones were stamped with the name of the deceased tomb owner. These hieroglyphic inscriptions sometimes included biographical details as well. Some 300 were placed in various tombs in the Theban necropolises, set in plaster. They possibly symbolized the sun and rebirth.
World History
