pharaonic period - Page 3 of 3

Magical Objects

MAGICAL OBJECTS In its preventive form, magic was considered in pharaonic Egypt as one of the normal elements of religion. It was a prerogative of divine power and of all who had a share in it. The progressive weakening of the concept of the authentically sacred in the Late Period led also to a degeneration …

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Monasteries Of The Middle Sa‘Id

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

MONASTERIES OF THE MIDDLE SA‘ID The Greek geographers and the Arab historians of the Middle Ages identified this province of Egypt as beginning south of al-Bahnasa (OXYRHYNCHUS) and ending at AKHMIM (Panopolis). Left Bank To the south of al-Bahnasa, going up the Nile, lies the site of Dayr al-Ju‘, followed by Dayr Abu Bifam, where …

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Mythological Subjects In Coptic Art

Heritage, Culture / By Armia FAYEZ

MYTHOLOGICAL SUBJECTS IN COPTIC ART The ancient civilizations of the Middle East abounded in myths, which expressed sacred truths in words. Mythological subjects were a fertile source of inspiration for artists. As one civilization succeeded another in the same area, the newer mythology gradually superseded the old, and the iconography changed accordingly. But elements of …

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Idfa

Places / By Armia FAYEZ

IDFA A city in the district of Suhaj. Called Iteb in the pharaonic period, and then in Hellenistic times Iton or Itos, Idfa is mentioned in the Christian period only in the summary that the recension of the SYNAXARION of the Copts from Upper Egypt devotes to the martyr hermits PANINE AND PANEU at 7 …

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Inscriptions

Heritage / By Armia FAYEZ

INSCRIPTIONS Writing on long-lasting materials. Inscriptions, like texts written on papyrus (see PAPYROLOGY), are important primary sources of information about a society. In Egypt they appear on stone, plaster, clay, wood, metal, and textiles. They may be scratched, carved, engraved, stamped, painted or inked, or woven. Those written on clay sherds or limestone fragments are …

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Elephantine

Places / By Youssef Matta

ELEPHANTINE An island at the level of Aswan, and the most southerly town in Egypt. In the pharaonic period, it was the capital of the Elephant nome, but from Ptolemaic times, it was reduced to a temple town and the administration was transferred to Syene, today Aswan, on the eastern riverbank. The two main temples …

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