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Heka
Heka is the god of magic and medicine in ancient Egypt and is also the personification of magic itself. He is probably the most important god in Egyptian mythology but is often overlooked because his presence was so pervasive as to make him...
Definition
Faravahar
The faravahar is the best-known symbol from ancient Persia of the winged sun disk with a seated male figure in the center. It is thought to represent Ahura Mazda, the god of Zoroastrianism, but has also been interpreted to signify other concepts...
Definition
Ancient Egyptian Writing
Ancient Egyptian writing is known as hieroglyphics ('sacred carvings') and developed at some point prior to the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 -2613 BCE). According to some scholars, the concept of the written word was first developed in...
Definition
Achaemenid Empire
East of the Zagros Mountains, a high plateau stretches off towards India. While Egypt was rising up against the Hyksos, a wave of pastoral tribes from north of the Caspian Sea was drifting down into this area and across into India. By the...
Definition
Apophis
Apophis (also known as Apep) is the Great Serpent, enemy of the sun god Ra, in ancient Egyptian religion. The sun was Ra's great barge which sailed through the sky from dawn to dusk and then descended into the underworld. As it sailed through...
Definition
Seshat
Seshat (also given as Sefkhet-Abwy and Seshet) is the Egyptian goddess of the written word. Her name literally means "female scribe" and she is regularly depicted as a woman wearing a leopard skin draped over her robe with a headdress of...
Definition
Thebes (Egypt)
Thebes was the capital of Egypt during the period of the New Kingdom (c.1570-c.1069 BCE) and became an important center of worship of the god Amun (also known as Amon or Amen, a combination of the earlier gods Atum and Ra). Its sacred name...
Definition
God's Wife of Amun
The position of God's Wife of Amun was one of the most politically powerful and spiritually significant in later Egyptian history. Elevated from a figurehead in the New Kingdom (c.1570-1069 BCE), the God's Wife of Amun would hold power equal...
Definition
Djed
The djed is an ancient Egyptian symbol for stability which features prominently in Egyptian art and architecture throughout the country's history. `Stability' should be understood to mean not only a firm footing but immutability and permanance...
Definition
Symposium
The symposium (or symposion) was an important part of ancient Greek culture from the 7th century BCE and was a party held in a private home where Greek males gathered to drink, eat and sing together. Various topics were also discussed such...