Dab'a, Tell ed - (also Avaris, Piramesse) Site in the eastern Nile Delta, location of Hyksos capital city, then later of the southern part of
Ramesses II and successors’ capital city.
Dashur - site of southernmost necropolis of Memphis. Location of the Red Pyramid of Sneferu and the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu and several other
smaller pyramids and mastaba
tombs
Dance - oldest dance is related to funerary rites, also appear to have been childbirth dances, and dances in honor of the various gods and
goddesses.
Deir Durunka - see Asyut.
Deir el-Bahri-archeological site on the West Bank at Thebes (Luxor), site several mortuary temples and tombs. Most important are those of
Hatshepsut and of Mentuhotep II
Deir el-Medina - archaeological site on the West Bank at Thebes (Luxor). Mainly known for the remains of the workmen’s village built in the early
18th Dynasty for the men and their families who constructed the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings
and Valley of the Queens.
Demons - Egyptians had no real concept of a division between bad and good gods; all had to be propitiated. Demons are usually minor gods
subordinate to a superior authority, and many were attached to a particular person, place or building. If freed, they were “promoted”. Usually
aggressive and protective, could be hostile;
could be either dangerous or beneficial to humans.
Demotic Literature - Literary texts written in demotic script over about six centuries beginning about the 4th Century B.C. Includes Wisdom
literature, scientific texts, magical papyri, and cosmological
papyri.
Dendera - Site important since Predynastic times owing to location at the crossroads of the Red Sea and the Eastern Desert. Site of magnificent
temple to Hathor, capital of the sixth nome, and a large necropolis. One of the major
temples in Egypt.
Dental care - knowledge based on examination of teeth and skulls, and written inscriptions from tombs and papyri. Major problems seem to have
been attrition (wearing down of enamel) from chewing a coarse diet, and periodontal
disease.
Destruction of Mankind - initial portion of longer book, The Book of the Heavenly Cow. May be one of the most ancient preserved narratives.
Ra wearies of mankind, sends his eye down in the form of Hathor to destroy man. She then has to be tricked into drinking red ochre-laced
beer, making her too drunk to continue her mission.
Diorite - related rocks-dark-gray or greenish igneous rock, chiefly feldspar and hornblende. Name is mistakenly applied to two variety of gneiss
called Chephren's diorite, used mainly in Predynastic vessels and in the first through sixth Dynasties. The first is greenish-black and
light-gray banded; the second is a light colored anorthosite gneiss, with greenish-black
streaks and patches in a light gray matrix.
The Doomed Prince - A tale based solely on the Hieratic Papyrus Harris 500 (reign of Seti I or RamessesII)-important for its treatment of the
concept of fate in ancient Egypt.
Dra Abu el Naga - Area of Western Thebes that extends along the gebel front in a northeasterly direction from the point at which the gebel cuts
into the Deir el Bahri bay into the wadi leading to the Valley of the Kings. Includes both royal and non-royal burials from the Second
Intermediate Period through the Saite period.
Dream Books - Dreams were often sought by sleeping in sacred precincts. Attempts to interpret go back to letter from First Intermediate Period,
and first manual of dream interpretation was 12th Dynasty Chester Beatty Dream Book - recording and interpreting dreams continued into the
Ptolemaic period.
Duamutef - One of the four sons of Horus, one of the Canopic jars has his head.
Dwarves - Highly sought after in Egypt-valued.