Late Nineteenth Century Egyptian Arabic
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- afreet
- evil demon (often used by the Egyptian workmen in reference to a young Ramses)
- abd
- servant of
- abeyya
- women's version of the galabeeyah
- abu
- father, saint
- Abu Shitaim
- father of curses (often used by the Egyptian workmen in reference to Emerson)
- Aga
- title of respect, as Hassan Aga; basic meaning is landlord
- ahwa
- coffee and coffeehouse
- ain
- well, spring
- Alemâni
- German
- Allah yimessîkum bil-kheir
- God give you a good evening
- Amerikâni
- American
- atef
- the white crown of upper Egypt with red feathers added on each side; sometimes seen in the form of the Hemhem, or triple atef crown
- bahr
- river
- baksheesh
- tip, present
- baladi
- local, rural
- bawwab
- doorman
- bey
- title of respect, as Hassan Bey; Ottoman Turkish; outranks Effendi and Aga
- bir
- spring, well
- birket
- lake
- burko
- face veil
- caliph, khalif
- Islamic ruler
- canopic jars
- tomb containers for internal organs (liver, stomach, lungs, intestines) of the mummy
- cartouche
- oval shape enclosing the hieroglyphs of royal names
- Coptic
- pertaining to the Copts, Egyptian Christians
- criosphinx
- ram-headed sphinx, as at the avenue of criosphinxes at Temple of Amun at Karnak
- dahabeeyah
- houseboat
- darb
- track, street
- deir
- monastery, convent
- demotic
- a late form of ancient Egyptian writing, very abbreviated compared to hieratic or hieroglyphic
- Deshret
- the red crown of Lower Egypt, low in front and tall in back, with a protruding coil, possibly of woven wickerwork
- effendi
- sir, as Hassan Effendi
- eid
- feast
- emir
- ruler, military commander or governor
- essalâmu áleikum
- peace be with you
- fahddle
- gossip
- faience, faïence
- opaque glass-like substance (same ingredients as glass, different proportions)
- fellah (pl. fellahin)
- ploughman, tiller of the soil, peasant
- Feransâwi
- French, Frenchman
- filoos
- money
- firman
- permit, particularly a permit to excavate an archeological site
- galabeeyah
- loose man's robe
- gebel
- mountain or mountain range
- gezira
- island
- guinay
- Egyptian pound
- habib
- friend
- haj
- pilgrimage to Mecca
- hakim
- doctor
- hamman
- bathhouse
- hanim
- lady, madam, courteous address to a Turkish lady, as Azize Hanim
- hantour
- horse-drawn carriage
- harah
- lane, alley
- harîm, haramlik
- women's quarters, family quarters
- Hedjet
- the white crown of Upper Egypt, a tall white conical headpiece, possibly of pleated fabric
- heka
- Pharaoh's royal crook, symbol of Upper Egypt
- hezaam
- sash
- hieratic
- the most usual, or script, form of ancient Egyptian writing
- hieroglyphs
- the most formal ancient Egyptian writing
- ibn
- son of
- iftar
- breaking of the fast during Ramadan
- imam
- Islamic scholar or cleric
- Inglizi
- English
- irsh
- piastre (pt)
- jinni (pl. jinn)
- demon
- jubba
- vest
- ka
- spirit, or double, of a living person which gained its own identity with the death of that person
- khafiya
- Bedouin headcloth
- khamseen
- hot wind from the Western Desert
- khat
- plain version of the Nemes headdress
- khedive
- Egyptian viceroy under the Ottomans (1867-1914)
- Khepresh
- the blue crown, or "war crown," a helmet, ornamented with golden discs, with the uraeus and vulture on the brow
- khwaga
- foreigner
- klaft
- apron-shaped headcloth worn by women
- kubri
- bridge
- limoon
- a lemon drink
- lotus
- plant identified with Upper Egypt
- L.P.H.
- "Life, Prosperity, Health," in classical Egyptian "ankh weja seneb"
- Ma-a-kheru
- True of voice, the justified; honorific for a dead person, as "the late"
- mahatta
- station
- marhaba
- welcome
- mashrabiyya
- carved screen
- Masr
- another name for Egypt and Cairo; also written as Misur, Misr
- mastaba
- a rectangular bench, and by extension, a mud-brick structure above a tomb of the same rectangular shape
- midan
- town or city square
- modius
- small crown made up of a ring of cobra heads
- moulid
- festival celebrating the birthday of a local saint or holy person
- muezzin
- mosque official who calls the faithful to prayer five times a day from the minaret
- mugzzabin
- Sufi followers who participate in zikrs in order to achieve unity with Allah
- nai
- reed pipe
- narghila
- water pipe
- natron
- hydrated sodium carbonate; used in ancient Egypt to pack and dry bodies during mummification
- Nekhbet
- the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt (Nekhbet = 'she of Nekheb'); one of the Two Ladies who, with the cobra goddess Wadjet, formed part of Pharaoh's headdress
- nekhekh
- Pharaoh's royal flail, symbol of Lower Egypt
- Nemes
- a head-dress rather than a crown, as on the gold mask of Tutankhamun; a piece of striped cloth tight across the forehead, worn with the uraeus and the vulture on the brow
- Nilometer
- pit descending into the Nile, containing a marked central column which recorded the level of the river, especially during the inundation
- nur
- light; Nur Misur, Light of Egypt
- obelisk
- monolith stone pillar, with square sides tapering to a pyramidal, often gilded, top
- 'Omdeh
- local magistrate
- oud
- a sort of lute
- papyrus
- plant identified with Lower Egypt; writing material made from the pith of the plant; a document written on such paper
- pasha
- ruler of Egypt, and also used more generally to denote someone of standing, as Enver Pasha; outranks a Bey or an Effendi; from Ottoman Turkish; also occasionally bestowed on Westerners, such as Thomas Russell Pasha
- porphyry
- from Greek porphyros (purple); a reddish-purple rock highly resistant to erosion. Many sarcophagi were made from porphyry
- Pschent
- The double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, the red crown and the white crown combined, the "Two Mighty Ones"
- Pyramid Texts
- paintings and reliefs on the walls of the internal rooms and burial chamber of pyramids, in particular the hymns vital to passage into the afterlife. In later times these texts would be painted on the sarcophagus
- qanun
- zither
- qarafa
- cemetery ('q' is unvocalised)
- qasr
- castle or palace ('q' is unvocalised)
- reis
- captain, foreman
- risha
- feather, or a style of sarcophagus in a multicolored, all-over feather pattern
- sabil
- water fountain
- safragi, suffragi
- waiter
- salamlik
- men's quarters
- sarcophagus
- stone or marble coffin used to encase other wooden coffins and the mummy of the departed
- scarab
- dung beetle, sacred symbol of the sun-god Ra
- serdab
- hidden cellar in a tomb, or a stone room in front of a pyramid, containing a painted statue of the dead; pronounced SAIR-dab, rhymes with CHAIR
- shadouf
- water wheels, used for irrigation
- Shari'a
- Islamic law, the body of doctrine that regulates the lives of Muslims
- sharia
- road or street
- sharm
- bay
- shay
- tea
- sheesha
- water pipe
- shuty
- crown ... cap with double tall plumes
- sitt
- lady; Sitt Hakim, lady doctor
- solar barque
- wooden boat placed in or near a Pharaoh's tomb
- stela (pl. stelae)
- inscribed slab or column, wood or stone
- Sufi
- follower of any of the Islamic mystical orders which emphasize dancing, chanting and trances to attain unity with Allah
- sûk, sûq, souq, souk
- bazaar, market
- tabla
- small hand-held drum
- tarboosh
- hat, elsewhere known as a fez, Ottoman Turkish
- Touareg
- a desert tribe
- towla
- backgammon
- ukaf!
- stop!
- umm
- mother of, as Umm Ramses
- uraeus
- cobra, symbol of the goddess Wadjet; a rearing cobra, hood inflated, always formed part of the Pharaoh's headdress, usually the serpent in the crown
- ushebti/shawabti
- magical statuette placed in the tomb, intended to volunteer for work assignments in place of the deceased; often found in sets
- wadi
- watercourse canyon, dry except during the rainy season
- Wadjet
- the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt (Wadjet = 'the green one'); one of the Two Ladies who, with the vulture goddess Nekhbet, formed part of Pharaoh's headdress
- wahah
- oasis
- yalla!
- go on! hurry!
- zabtiyeh
- police station
- zemr
- a kind of oboe
- zikr
- long sessions of dancing, chanting and swaying