Origin of names

ABA
Governor of Upper Egypt. He is the son of Ankh-Hor.

ABOUSIR
Abuse. Pyramids located between Giza and Saqqara

ABYDOS
Ancient holy city dedicated to Osiris. Pilgrimage site. A well-preserved temple was built there by Pharaoh Seti I.

AHMES
Daughter of Thutmose III, whose real name is Ahmes Meritamon.

AHMOSIS
Pharaoh, liberator and founder of the XVIIIth dynasty. He fought the Hyksos, invaders of Egypt.

ALEXANDRE
Alexandria, city of Egypt founded in -331 by Alexander the Great. It became in Antiquity the first port of Egypt and the capital of the country. Its famous library founded its notoriety.

ALTAIR
Twelfth brightest star in the celestial vault, one of the closest stars visible to the naked eye.

AMADA
Nubian temple built by Thutmose III and Amenhotep II. Moved by Unesco in the 1960s to prevent it from being swallowed up by Lake Nasser. Without being dismantled, it slid on rails for a distance of 3.6 km.

ANKH
Cross of life.

ANOUKIS
Goddess of the cataracts of the Nile river. She is the guardian of the island of Sehel and the sources of the Nile.

ARMANA
Tell-el-Amarna, capital of Pharaoh Akhenaten.

ARSINOE
Daughter of Lysimachus, King of Thrace, she married Pharaoh Ptolemy II.

ASSIOUT
Asius, egyptian city located between Cairo and Luxor. Its ancient name "Siâout" means "the protected one". An ancient necropolis consisting of burial caves is located on the western hills of the city.

ATHENA
Star linked to the constellation of Virgo, also a great goddess of ancient Greece.

ATLAS
Atlas, is a triple star system in the Pleiades cluster. The name Atlas formally designates the primary star of this system.

ATRIA
In astronomy, Atria designates the traditional name of two stars located in the constellations of the Triangles.

BASTET
Goddess of the house and the domestic cat represented by a cat.

CALLISTO
According to Greek mythology, this constellation would represent Callisto, a beloved nymph of Zeus. When Hera, the wife of Zeus, discovered their relationship, she changed Callisto into Big Dipper and her son Arcas into Little Dipper.

CERES
It is the smallest dwarf planet in the solar system and the largest main-belt asteroid. It is named after the Roman goddess Ceres.

CHABAKA
King of Napata, becomes Pharaoh of Egypt in the 8th century BC.

CHALLENGER
Challenger was an American space shuttle that carried out nine missions and which disintegrated during takeoff, causing the death of its seven occupants.

CREMONE
Cremona, asteroid discovered by Italian astronomer Luigi Carnera on May 11, 1902.

DAKKA
Temple located on the bank of the Nile, dedicated to Thoth. In 1961, it was moved by Unesco 50 km to the shores of Lake Nasser.

DEIR
(Syn DERR). Small temple built under Ramses II. It was moved to the shores of Lake Nasser during the construction of the Aswan Dam.

DENDOUR
Dendur, small Nubian temple built during the Roman period and now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

DEP
The town of Bouto was made up of two towns, Pé and Dep, which faced each other, separated by one of the arms of the Nile delta. These two twin cities were the home of Wadjet, goddess and protector of the red crown and the souls of Pé, who accompanied the pharaoh and the gods in their processions.

EDFOU
A town south of Luxor, a superb temple is dedicated to Horus.

ELEPHANTINE
The south of this island located on the Nile is facing the famous hotel “Old Cataract” in Aswan. A temple dedicated to Knoum was built there in the New Kingdom.

ERATO
One of the nine muses. Patroness of lyrical and erotic poetry.

FARAS
Former capital of the independent kingdom of Nobatie. This kingdom was located in the region located in the north of Sudan, a neighboring country to the south of Egypt.

FAYOUM
The Fayoum is an oasis in the Libyan desert. It was one of the main granaries of the ancient world. His fields were watered by a canal coming from the Nile.

GAMMA
Star of the constellation of the Southern Cross, located 88 light years from the sun.

GEMINI
Another name for the constellation of Gemini whose main stars are Castor and Pollux.

GOURNA
Village located near the Theban mountain on the western bank of the Nile opposite the city of Luxor.

HAPY
God of the Nile.

HEBY
Egyptian name for the ibis bird.

HEHOU
In Hermopolis, Héhou represents spatial infinity with its feminine counterpart Héhout. He is represented by a frog or frog-headed man and snake or snake-headed woman.

HENOUTMIRE
Henoutmire is the fifteenth daughter of Pharaoh Ramses II. She is the third great royal wife of her father to whom she is married around the year 54 of the reign, at sixteen years old, when he was sixty.

HERMES
Mythical character of Greco-Egyptian antiquity, to whom a set of texts and mystical-philosophical treatises have been attributed.

HOURGADA
Hurghada is a 20th century city established on the shores of the Red Sea.

IKHEM
Feminine name in ancient Egypt.

IMAT
Imât is the capital of the 19th nome of Lower Egypt, about twenty kilometers north of Fakous.

IMHOTEP
Having lived in the 3rd millennium BC, he was a man of many talents. Vizier and architect of King Djoser (Third Dynasty), he is also said to be a doctor and a philosopher.

JUPITER
Gas giant planet, the largest in the solar system and the fifth from the Sun. It owes its name to the Roman god Jupiter.

KA
The Ka, for the ancient Egyptians, is one of the five inseparable elements composing the being during its lifetime: the spiritual double which is born at the same time as the human and which survives after death. The other elements are the Djet (the body), the Bâ, incorrectly translated by soul, Shout, the shadow, and the name, the Ren. After death, the Ka is considered the true representative of the human personality.

KALABSHA
Temple of Nubia, dedicated to Mandoulis, Osiris and Isis.

KAMOSIS
He is the first pharaoh of the XVIth Dynasty, of which we know little. Ahmose succeeds him and will complete the reconquest of the Delta by expelling the Hittites.

KARANIS
The ancient site of Karanis, currently called Kôm Oushim, is located in the oasis of Fayoum.

KARY
Kary is an ancient Egyptian male given name literally meaning gardener.

KAWA
City of Sudan, known for its temple dedicated to Amon-Rê.

KEKOU
Egyptian god of the night before the first dawn. He is represented by a man with the head of a frog.

KENTIKA
Governor of the oasis of Dakhla, probably occupied since the IVth dynasty. Kentika held an important position there as the representative of royal power in the provinces.

KERMA
Capital of the Nubian kingdom of the same name. His black pharaohs will reign over the Sudanese course of the Nile between -2450 and -1480.

KHABA
Fourth ruler of the Third Dynasty of the Old Egyptian Empire (-2605 to -2599).

KHONSOU
Khonsu, lunar god represented as a man with the head of a falcon.

KOMOMBO
City south of Luxor, a temple dedicated half to Sobek and half to Haroeris.

LOLA
Lola is a female name of Spanish origin. Short for Dolores.

MAGELLAN
Nebula, also called "The Magellanic Clouds", it is located in the constellation of Sagittarius, 7000 light years from Earth.

MAMMISI
Small temple where the birth of a child-god was celebrated.

MANDOULIS
God. He is mainly honoured at the temple of Kalabsha.

MARINER
NASA space programme to send space probes to study Mars, Venus and Mercury.

MAYA
Minister of Finance under Pharaoh Tutankhamun at Horemheb.

MEDINEH
Mortuary temple of Ramses III on the western bank of the Nile (Luxor). Its full name is Medinet-Habu, temple of millions of years.

MEHA
Great temple of Abu-Simbel dedicated to Horus and the power of Ramses II.

MEIDOUM
The Step Pyramid of Meidum is located at the entrance of the Fayum. It originally had seven steps, of which today only three floors are still visible. It was certainly built for King Huni, the last ruler of the third dynasty.

MENDES
Religious city of antiquity where the god Banebjedet lived, represented in the form of a ram. The goddess Hatmehyt was also worshipped here. This city served as the capital during the XXIXth dynasty.

MENNA
Menna was a nobleman, "scribe of the domains of the lord of the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt" in Dynasty 18 during the reign of Thutmes IV or Amenhotep III. The tomb of Menna located in the Valley of the Nobles (Luxor) is known for its superb frescoes of scenes of daily life, depicted in bright colours.

MERAK
Star. It is part of the Big Dipper.

MERCURE
Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest in the solar system.

MEREROUKA
Mererouka, name borne by one of the viziers of Pharaoh Teti of the 6th Dynasty. His mastaba is located north of the Djoser burial complex.

MEROE
Ancient city of Nubia, known for its necropolises with steep pyramids.

MERTY
Merty (or Méret) is the "mistress of the throat" and protects the throat where the air passes that allows the emission of sounds. As such, she was the goddess of song and one of the singers of the god Amun.

MESSENGER
Launched in 2004, the Messenger probe was the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury on 18 March 2011.

METELIS
Metropolis of the 7th nome of Upper Egypt.

MICRON
Measurement symbol representing one millionth of a metre.

MINOS
King Minos, son of Zeus and Europa, ruled Crete. He asked Daedalus to build the Labyrinth to enclose the Minotaur.

MIRA
Mira, a fascinating variable star, moves at 130 kilometres per second, leaving behind a long tail of gas. It has been known for 400 years.

MONTU
God of war and protector of weapons.

NAOS
Tabernacle containing the statue of God or the "Holy of Holies".

NAPATA
Ancient city in Sudan, downstream from the fourth cataract of the Nile, from which the XXVth dynasty, called "Kushite", came and dominated all Egypt.

NECTANEBO
Pharaohs of the XXXth dynasty, 378 BC to 341 BC. Nectanebo II was the last pharaoh of this dynasty and an independent Egyptian ruler. Artaxerxes III, king of Persia, had invaded Egypt.

NEFERKARE
King of the second Thinite dynasty (2724 BC to 2719 BC).

NEPTUNE
Eighth and most distant planet of the solar system.

NOUBET
Queen, wife of Cheops. 4th dynasty.

NOUKAR
(or Ningal), Babylonian goddess who means in Sumer "the great lady", wife of the moon-god.

OUBA
(or Oukhykh), Egyptian deity.

OURANOS
In Greek mythology, Ouranos is a primordial deity who personifies Heaven and Life.

OUSERMAATRE
Divine name of Ramses II. It means "The Justice of Ra is powerful".

OUSHEBTI
Mummiform statuette placed in the tomb by hundreds. It had to carry out the daily work and chores in the place of the deceased.

PACHED
Famous craftsman of the New Kingdom. He set up his vault in the Valley of the Artisans. The walls are decorated with polychrome paintings that are very well preserved.

PALMA
Asteroid that was discovered by Auguste Charcois on 19 August 1893.

PANDORA
Pandora is a natural satellite of Saturn discovered in 1980 in images taken by the Voyager 1 probe.

PAROS
Paros is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It lies west of Naxos in the Cyclades archipelago.

PEGASE
Constellation of about thirty stars in the northern hemisphere, located south of Andromeda, northwest of Pisces and north of Aquarius. It is the seventh largest constellation in the sky.

PEPI
Pharaoh of the 6th dynasty (Old Kingdom). His tomb is located at Saqqara.

PERNEB
The tomb of Perneb, partially in ruins, from Saqqara, was acquired in 1913 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

POLARIUS
The Polar Star or Polaris is located almost directly above the North Pole.

POUNT
Probably a region in Ethiopia where the Egyptians bought wood, myrrh, gold and other precious products.

RAMOSE
Vizier of Amenothep III and IV. The walls of his tomb in the Valley of the Nobles are covered with uncoloured reliefs of rare beauty.

SADIRA
Star located in the shoulder of the constellation Sagittarius.

SAMOS
Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea near Turkey. It is the home of Aesop and Pythagoras.

SARGAS
Star of the constellation Scorpio.

SATIS
Goddess associated with the Nile and its cataracts. Her name means "she who spreads" and her function is to spread the waters that her husband Khnum has brought forth.

SECHAT
Goddess of mathematics, knowledge and writing.

SEHEL
Island on the Nile south of Aswan, granite quarry.

SENNEFER
Former mayor of Thebes under Amenhotep II. The ceiling of his tomb (Valley of the Nobles) is decorated with vines and grapes.

SETHI
Seti I is a pharaoh of Egypt of the XIXth dynasty, who reigned from 1294 BC to 1279 BC. He was the father of Ramses II.

SINKI
The pyramid of Sinki is located about seven kilometres from Abydos. Remains of the ramps used in its construction have been found there.

SIRIUS
The main star in the constellation of the Great Dog. Seen from Earth, it is the brightest star in the sky after the Sun.

SOBEK
Crocodile God. Protector of Men.

SOKARIS
God of the Necropolis. Represented as a mummy with a falcon's head.

SOYOUZ
Russian space vehicle used, since 1960, to place Russian cosmonauts in orbit.

SPEOS
Speos are temples dug into the rock. The most beautiful examples of speos in ancient Egypt are those at Abu Simbel.

TAHO
Ancient Egyptian male first name.

TEFNOUT
Goddess of Egyptian mythology, part of the great Ennead of Heliopolis.

TEMBO
Africa. A colloquial name for an elephant.

TEOS
Pharaoh who reigned from 362 BC to 360 BC. He had to face the threat of invasion from the Persians.

TETI
Pharaoh of the 6th dynasty, he built his pyramid at Saqquarah.

THINIS
Capital of Ancient Egypt during the Thinite period (-3100 to -2700). Its location is unknown but it is probably located north of Abydos.

THOT
Lunar god with the head of an Ibis

THOUERIS
Goddess with a body that is half hippopotamus, half crocodile with lion's paws. She protected all women during childbirth.

TOURAH
Tourah is located in Egypt, south of Cairo and on the eastern bank of the Nile. This place is particularly famous for the underground quarries that provided the pharaohs with the fine limestone for their tombs.

TOURI
Viceroy of Nubia during the reign of Thutmose I.

TOUYA
Noble woman of the 18th Egyptian dynasty, wife of Youya. She is the mother of the great royal wife Tiyi, wife of Amenhotep, son of Hapu.

TRIANON
Trianon was a small village near Versailles, which disappeared in 1668 to become part of the park of Versailles and on whose territory the Grand and Petit Trianon were built.

VEGA
The brightest star in the constellation Lyra. Seen from Earth, it is the fifth brightest star in the sky.

VENATOR
Star in the constellation Jonah's Whale. One of the brightest stars has a strange name: Rotanev (Venator in reverse).

VESTA
The brightest asteroid. It is the second largest in the asteroid belt after Ceres.

VIRGINIE
Virginia, feminine name that embodies generosity.

ZABARAH
Jebel Zabarah, or Mount of the Emeralds, this site in Upper Egypt is a mountain range located not far from the Red Sea and was exploited for its emerald mines from the time of Sesostris.

ZABOU
Small village part of an oasis located in the Lybian desert but close to the Nile valley.

ZETA
Star located in the constellation of the Whale, also called Baten Kaitos.

ZIBAL
Star located in the constellation of Eridan.