Saqqara, also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English, is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world-famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of mastabas. Located some 30 km (19 mi) south of modern-day Cairo, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 by 1.5 km.
A stele, or occasionally stela, when derived from Latin, is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in the ancient world as a monument. Grave stelae were often used for funerary or commemorative purposes. Stelae as slabs of stone would also be used as ancient Greek and Roman government notices or as boundary markers to mark borders or property lines.
The tyet, sometimes called the knot of Isis or girdle of Isis, is an ancient Egyptian symbol that came to be connected with the goddess Isis. Its hieroglyphic depiction is catalogued as V39 in Gardiner's sign list.
Umm El Qaʻāb is a necropolis of the Early Dynastic Period kings at Abydos, Egypt. Its modern name means "Mother of Pots" as the whole area is littered with the broken pot shards of offerings made in earlier times. The cultic ancient name of the area was (w-)pkr or (rꜣ-)pkr "District of the pkr[-tree]" or "Opening of the pkr[-tree]", belonging to tꜣ-dsr "the secluded/cleared land" (necropolis) or crk-hh "Binding of Eternity".
KV20 is a tomb in the Valley of the Kings (Egypt). It was probably the first royal tomb to be constructed in the valley. KV20 was the original burial place of Thutmose I and later was adapted by his daughter Hatshepsut to accommodate both her and her father. The tomb was known to the Napoleonic Expedition in 1799, but a full clearance of the tomb only was undertaken by Howard Carter in 1903, although it had been visited by several explorers between 1799 and 1903. KV20 is distinguished from other tombs in the valley, both in its general layout and because of the atypical clockwise curvature of its corridors.
Ka, also (alternatively) Sekhen, was a Predynastic pharaoh of Upper Egypt belonging to Dynasty 0. He probably reigned during the first half of the 32nd century BC. The length of his reign is unknown.
The pyramid complex of Userkaf was built c. 2490 BC for the pharaoh Userkaf, founder of the 5th dynasty of Egypt. It is located in the pyramid field at Saqqara, on the north-east of the step pyramid of Djoser. Constructed in dressed stone with a core of rubble, the pyramid is now ruined and resembles a conical hill in the sands of Saqqara. For this reason, it is known locally as El-Haram el-Maharbish, the "Heap of Stone" and was recognized as a royal pyramid by western archaeologists in the 19th century.
The Yonggu Mausoleum is the mausoleum of Empress Feng (442-490), formally Empress Wenming and the wife of Emperor Wencheng of the Northern Wei dynasty of Chinese history. The tomb is located on a mountain about 25 kilometers from the city of Datong, in Shanxi Province. When her husband died in 465, Empress Dowager Wenming became regent until her stepson, Emperor Xiaowen, attained his adulthood. While Emperor Xiaowen assumed the imperial powers upon adulthood, she remained highly influential until her death in 490. This was at the time Buddhism became a state religion and Empress Dowager Wenming was responsible for the imperial shrines at Yungang Grottoes. There is evidence that The Empress Dowager Wenming masterminded the transformation of the government and the sinification movement.
The Qianling Mausoleum is a Tang dynasty (618–907) tomb site located in Qian County, Shaanxi province, China, and is 85 km (53 mi) northwest from Xi'an, formerly the Tang capital. Built in 684, the tombs of the mausoleum complex house the remains of various members of the House of Li, the imperial family of the Tang dynasty. This includes Emperor Gaozong, as well as his wife, Wu Zetian, who assumed the Tang throne and became China's only reigning female emperor from 690–705. The mausoleum is renowned for its many Tang dynasty stone statues located above ground and the mural paintings adorning the subterranean walls of the tombs. Besides the main tumulus mound and underground tomb of Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian, there are 17 smaller attendant tombs or peizang mu. Presently, only five of these attendant tombs have been excavated by archaeologists, three belonging to members of the imperial family, one to a chancellor, and the other to a general of the left guard. The Shaanxi Administration of Cultural Heritage declared in 2012 that no further excavations would take place for at least 50 years.
A necropolis is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek νεκρόπολις nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead".
The majority of the 65 numbered tombs in the Valley of the Kings can be considered as being minor tombs, either because at present they have yielded little information or because the results of their investigation was only poorly recorded by their explorers, while some have received very little attention or were only cursorily noted. Most of these tombs are small, often only consisting of a single burial chamber accessed by means of a shaft or a staircase with a corridor or a series of corridors leading to the chamber, but some are larger, multiple chambered tombs. These minor tombs served various purposes, some were intended for burials of lesser royalty or for private burials, some contained animal burials and others apparently never received a primary burial. In many cases these tombs also served secondary functions and later intrusive material has been found related to these secondary activities. While some of these tombs have been open since antiquity, the majority were discovered in the 19th and early 20th centuries during the height of exploration in the valley.
Discovered in 1991, excavation of the Abydos boats began in 2000 in which 14 boats were identified. They are located alongside the massive mud brick structure known as "Shunet ez-Zebib" attributed to the 2nd Dynasty Pharaoh Khasekhemwy. Shunet ez-Zebib is one of several such "enclosure wall" constructions at this site dating back to the 1st Dynasty, and is located nearly one mile from the early Dynasty royal cemetery of Umm el-Qa'ab.
The Tombs of the Via Latina are Roman tombs, mainly from the 2nd century AD, that are found along a short stretch of the Via Latina, an ancient Roman road close to Rome, Italy. They are now part of an archaeological park and can be visited.
Nefer-Setekh is the name of an Ancient Egyptian high official, who lived and worked either during the late midst of the 2nd or during the beginning of the 3rd dynasty. He became known by his name, which was addressed to the deity Seth.
The Northern Mazghuna Pyramid is an ancient Egyptian royal tomb which was built during the 12th or 13th Dynasty in Mazghuna, 5 km south of Dahshur. The building remained unfinished, and it is still unknown which pharaoh was really intended to be buried here since no appropriate inscription has been found.
The pyramid was rediscovered in 1910 by Ernest Mackay and excavated in the following year by Flinders Petrie.
Nisuheqet was an Ancient Egyptian king's son of the Second Dynasty. Nisuheqet is only known from his stela found in tomb 964.H.8 at Helwan. The only title he bears on this monument is king's son. The stela is made of limestone and shows the prince on the left, sitting on a chair with an offering table and offerings in front of him. The stela was discovered in excavations by Zaki Saad at Helwan, that were conducted between 1952 and 1954. The royal father of this king's son remains unknown.
Khenmetptah was an Ancient Egyptian king's daughter who lived most likely in the Second Dynasty. She is only known from her stela once placed in her tomb and found at Helwan. On the stela Khenmetptah is shown sitting on a chair in front of an offering table. Next to the offering table are shown many offerings. Above this scene is a short text: the king's daughter Khenmetptah. Her royal father is not known. On stylistical grounds the stela is datable to the Second Dynasty.
Satkhnum was an Ancient Egyptian king's daughter who lived most likely in the Second Dynasty. She is only known from her stela once placed in her tomb and found at Helwan. On the stela Satkhnum is shown sitting on a chair in front of an offering table. Next to the offering table are shown many offerings. Above this scene is a short text: Satkhnum, the king's daughter. Her royal father is not known. On stylistical grounds the stela is datable to the Second Dynasty.
Meriiti was an Ancient Egyptian official living at the end of the First Dynasty around 2900 BC. He is only known from his stela found in tomb 810.H.11 at Helwan. The stela was found in the burial chamber next to the coffin. It shows on the left Meriiti sitting on a chair with offerings in front of him. On the right side of the stela is a list of Meriiti's titles.
The Hunsrück-Eifel Culture is an Iron Age cultural group of the Middle Rhine region of western Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate) and eastern Belgium and Luxemburg. The names "Hunsrück" and "Eifel" refer to a pair of low mountain ranges covering most of the region.
