edgepedia

Ancient Near East, Egypt, Nubia, and the Punic world

5,147 articles

Belu-bani

Belu-bani, also known as Bel-bani or Bēlu-bāni, was a king of Assyria, recorded as the forty-eighth ruler in the Assyrian King List, son of Adasi, with a reign of ten years.

Belus of Tyre

Belus of Tyre is the legendary king of Tyre named by Virgil as the father of Dido, and identified with the historical king Mattan I.

Ben-Azen

Ben-Azen, Egyptian name Ramses-em-per-Ra, is a supposedly high-ranking New Kingdom official under Ramesses II, Merenptah, and Ramesses III, proposed since the 1970s as a model for the biblical Moses.

Ben-Hadad I

Ben-Hadad I, also Bir-Hadad or Bar-Hadad, was a king of Aram-Damascus in the early ninth century BC, son of Tabrimmon and contemporary of Asa of Judah.

Ben-Hadad II

Ben-Hadad II, also known as Bar-Hadad II, was a ninth-century BC king of Aram-Damascus who fought Ahab of Israel, led a coalition against Assyria at Qarqar in 853 BC, and was murdered by Hazael.

Ben-Hadad III

Ben-Hadad III, also called Bar-Hadad, was a king of Aram-Damascus from around 800 BC, the son and successor of Hazael, known from the Bible and Assyrian inscriptions.

Benaiah

Benaiah son of Jehoiada (Hebrew Benayahu) was a warrior from Kabzeel in Judah who commanded David's bodyguard and became commander-in-chief of the army under Solomon.

Benben

Benben: sacred conical stone of Heliopolis in ancient Egypt, also called the ben-ben stone, embodying the primeval mound and the god Atum; predecessor of the obelisk and pyramidion (benbenet).

Benerib

Benerib was a royal woman of the Egyptian First Dynasty, linked to King Aha by inscribed objects from tomb B14 at Abydos, though no title names her.

Bent Pyramid

The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, built by Sneferu c. 2613–2589 BC, changes slope from about 55 to 43 degrees at 49 m height; first intended true pyramid, still largely cased, reopened to tourists in 2019.

Bente-Shina

Bentešina, also written Benteshina, was king of Amurru in Syria in the 13th century BC, a Hittite vassal who was exiled for rebellion and later restored by Hattusili III.

Bentresh Stela

The Bentresh Stela, also called the Bakhtan Stela, is a sandstone stela in the Louvre telling how the god Khonsu healed the princess Bentresh of Bakhtan.

Berenice I of Egypt

Berenice I of Egypt, also Berenike I, was a Macedonian noblewoman who became queen of Egypt as the wife of Ptolemy I Soter and mother of Ptolemy II.

Berenice II

Berenice II, also known as Berenike II, was queen of Ptolemaic Egypt as the wife of Ptolemy III, regent during the Third Syrian War and murdered in 221 BC.

Berenice III

Berenice III, also known as Cleopatra Berenice, was a queen of Ptolemaic Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy IX and the only Ptolemaic queen to rule alone, murdered in 80 BC.

Berenice IV

Berenice IV, also spelled Berenike IV, was queen of Ptolemaic Egypt from 58 to 55 BC, eldest daughter of Ptolemy XII and sister of Cleopatra VII.

Berenice Venus

The Berenice Venus is a statue of Venus (Aphrodite), named for the ancient city of Berenice at Benghazi in Cyrenaica, which replaced Euesperides around 247 BCE.

Berlin Execration Texts

The Berlin Execration Texts are Middle Kingdom execration texts written in hieratic on fired clay bowls, held in Berlin, listing foreign rulers and peoples known to Egypt.

Berlin Green Head

The Berlin Green Head (German: Grüner Kopf) is a greywacke sculpture of a bald man's head, probably late Ptolemaic Egyptian, kept in Berlin's Egyptian Museum.

Berlin Papyrus 6619

Berlin Papyrus 6619 is a fragmentary Middle Kingdom Egyptian mathematical papyrus held in Berlin, carrying four problems, including second-degree equations solved by false position, and a pregnancy test.

Besenmut (Fourth Prophet of Amun)

Besenmut, also written Bes-en-Mut or Besmut, is the name of a family of priests of Montu who served at Thebes during Egypt's 26th Dynasty, c. 664–525 BC.

Besenmut (priest of Montu)

Besenmut was a priest of the god Montu at Thebes who also held the civil offices of Mayor of Thebes and judge of the city, known from the block statue Cairo JE 36957.

Beth Shean stelae

The Beth Shean stelae are Egyptian victory stelae of Seti I and Ramesses II, set up at Beth Shean in the Jordan Valley in the early 13th century BCE.

Betrest

Betrest, also rendered Batirytes, was a royal woman of Egypt's First Dynasty, known from the annal tradition as the mother of Semerkhet, Anedjib's successor.

Beveled rim bowl

The beveled rim bowl, also spelled bevelled rim bowl, is a coarse conical clay vessel mass-produced across Mesopotamia during the fourth millennium BC, the characteristic vessel of the Uruk culture.

Bikheris

Bikheris, Greek Bicheris, is a possible pharaoh of Egypt's Fourth Dynasty, placed between Djedefre and Shepseskaf in Manetho's king list and credited with a 22-year reign, though no contemporary Egyptian evidence preserves his name.

Bilalama

Bilalama was a ruler of the Mesopotamian city-state of Eshnunna in the Diyala region around 2000 BC, known from his seal inscription and the rebuilt Palace of the Rulers at Tell Asmar.

Bilistiche

Bilistiche, also known as Belistiche, was a mistress of Ptolemy II Philadelphus who won two Olympic chariot victories at Olympia in 268 and 264 BC.

Bintanath

Bintanath, also spelled Bentanath or Bintanat, was the eldest daughter of Ramesses II and Queen Isetnofret, and later a great royal wife of Egypt's 19th Dynasty.

Biographical inscription of Djemi

The biographical inscription of Djemi is a First Intermediate Period stela in the Metropolitan Museum, recording an officer of Nubian mercenaries who claims to have enslaved northern Nubia.