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Ba - the “soul” of a deceased Egyptian (b3)-essentially nonphysical, said to reunite each night with Osiris (embodied in the mummy) and thus be

about to be reborn each day among the living in a new, noncorporeal form of existence. Old Kingdom, was represented by a human body; later

shown as a bird with a human head.

Bakenrenef - (c.717-711 B.C.) Second and last King of the 24^th Dynasty.

Battle of Kadesh - Celebrated battle at the Hittite city of Kadesh on the Orontes River between Ramesses II and the Hittites. Memorialized in

papyrus and on the walls of temples at Abydos, Karnak, Luxor, the Ramesseum, and at Abu Simbel as a great Egyptian victory, was however

more of a qualified victory snatched out of the jaws of defeat by a young pharaoh.

Beer - Together with bread, the Egyptian staple food. Very thick and very nutritious, ingredient of many medications. Made from either sprouted

grain or partially cooked bread (crumbled, mixed with water, and left to ferment), flavored with many fruits. Most made from barley, Hordeum,

vulgare,while a small part was made from emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccum.

Bees and Honey - Native Egyptian honeybee (Apismellifera), smaller and more aggressive than European. Honey was “bit” and bees were called

“3fin bit” or “honey flies”. Honey was very important in religious ceremonies and in the diet. It was imported from Palestine, but most came from

apiaries in Egypt.

Behbeit el-Hagar - Site in the province of Gharbieh-ruins of a temple dedicated to the Osirian family by the last Egyptian pharaoh, Nektanebo II

(r.360-343 B.C) and by the Ptolemies (Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III, r.282-222 B.C.) Appears to have collapsed by the beginning of the Roman

Imperial period.

Beni Hasan - Site located on hillside near eastern bank of the Nileabout 250 km south of Cairo. Vast, important necropolis with about 930 tombs

that span the late 6^th and the 12^th Dynasties. Sometimes included is the Speos Artemidos, south of the necropolis, a beautifully decorated

rock-cut temple built in honor of the lion goddess Paket by Hatshepshut. Beni Hasan renowned chiefly for the wall scenes in the large tombs

of the upper level.

Bersheh - Site in province of Minia-Deir el-Bersheh is a large ancient cemetery. Administrators of the15th Upper Egyptian nome (nomarchs of

Hermopolis) were buried in the rock-cut necropolis behind Bersheh in the Old and Middle Kingdoms.

Bes - Shown as a bandy-legged gnome with a grotesque lionlike face and protruding tongue. Mostly worshipped in the New Kingdom and 21^st

Dynasty. Very popular, he protected during childbirth, childhood, sleep, and eroticism. Later associated with the child Horus.

Book of Going Forth By Day - Principal collection of funerary literature used from the New Kingdom until the early Roman Period. Also known

as the Book of the Dead. Complete copies or excerpts were buried with the dead, and spells from it were also written on the walls of tombs,

on coffins, and on temple walls. It was the ultimate guide to the afterlife.

Book of That Which Is In The Underworld-(Amduat) - One of several guidebooks to the beyond associated chiefly with the New Kingdom

tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Some dated to 18^th through 20^th Dynasties, but at least one recognizable as

Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts. The most detailed of the descriptions of the afterlife used in 18^th Dynasty tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Book of the Dead - Principal collection of funerary literature used from the New Kingdom until the early Roman Period. Also known

as theBook of Going Forth By Day. Complete copies or excerpts were buried with the dead, and spells from it were also written on the walls

of tombs, on coffins, and on temple walls. It was the ultimate guide to the afterlife.

Bread -Along with beer, the dietary staple of the Egyptian diet, eaten at every meal. Most was made from ground emmer wheat, Triticum

dicoccum, mixed with water and baked in heavy cylindrical pottery bread molds (Middle Kingdom); later, flat discs of dough were slapped onto

the hot walls of ovens and peeled of as they became done (New Kingdom).

Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin; in Ancient Egypt, the term includes alloys others, such as arsenical copper and copper with additions of

lead and of nickel. Ores were imported from a variety of sources.

Bubastis - City in the eastern Nile Delta on the so-called Canal of Moses, which leads to the Tanitic branch of the Nile. Egyptian name was

“Per Bastet”, or “pr b3stt” meaning “the house of Bastet”. The city dates to at least the Old Kingdom.

Bull Gods - Ancient Egyptian pantheon included bull, cow, and calf divinities—including human figures with bovine heads. Worship of bull and

cattle gods is very ancient, going back to Late Paleolithic to Neolithic times.

Byblos - Present-day Jebail, ancient seaport on the Lebanese coast, 40 km north of Beirut. Ancient Mediterranian trading center for oils, resins,

wine, and timber; ships were also built there. Occupied from Neolithic times until the seventh century A. D. Egyptian trade with Byblos may

have begun as early as the Naqada II period.