The Ka is a vital force that inhabits the body during life and leaves it in death, but requires the Ba spirit to help recognize the deceased and join it in the afterlife.

The Kaaba is the most sacred shrine of Islam. It is a cube-shaped stone structure, which is covered in black carpets. The Kaaba is located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Greek word for modius, a grain measure, a symbol of abundance and fertility

a cup with two high-curving vertical handles set on each side

a type of Coptic textile

The Karimi were an group of merchants who managed the marketing of spices and other oriental products in medieval Egypt. At their height they were bankers to the Mamluk rulers and had great political power.

book of daily readings or lectionary; comes from the Greek: "according to the days"

a religious hostel for Sufi (Muslim mystics)

carrier of the Royal Saddlecloth, and responsable for the inner house

a matchmaker who arranged marriages during the Mamluk era

Turkish for "Lady"

The Kiswa is a black curtain or cloth produced traditionally in Egypt that covers the Kaaba in Mecca. It is changed annually at the time of the Hajj.

cosmetic preparation used to darken eyelashes and eyelids

Holy Book of Islam, considered by Muslims to contain the revelations of God to the Prophet Muhammad

Arabic script used extensively in early Islamic times which has specific proportional measurements, along with pronounced angularity and squareness; the name comes from the Iraqi city of Kufa.

an Islamic elementary school, frequently attached to a mosque, where boys are instructed on the Koran