APPENDIX THREE Pronouncing the Names of Ancient Times

A Pronunciation Guide to the People, Places, and Events in Volume 1

Abram – AY bram

Aegeus – EE jus or EE jee us

Ahmose – AH mos

Akhenaten – ah ken AH ten

Akkad – AH kad

Akkadia – ah KAY dee uh

Alaric – ah LAR ic

Alcibiades – al sih BYE uh deez

Amenemhet – AH men EM het

Amenhotep – AH men HO tep

Amon-Ra – AH men RAH or AY men RAY

Amun – AH men or AY men

Amytis – uh MYE tis

Anansi – ah NAN see

Anu – AY noo

Anubis – uh NOO bis

Aphrodite – A fro DITE ee or AH fro DITE ee

Appian – AP ee un

Ariadne – AIR ree ADD nee

Ashurbanipal – ash ur BAN ih pal

Asia Minor – AY zhuh MY nor

Asoka – uh SO kuh

Assur – AH sur

Assyria – uh SEE ree uh

Astyges – uh STIH jeez or uh STEE uh jeez

Aten – AH tun

Athena – ath EE nuh

Attila the Hun – uh TILL uh the HUN

Augustus Caesar – uh GUS tus SEE zer

Belshazzar – bel SHAZ er

Bhagiratha – bah gih RAH thuh

Boadicea – BO uh dih SEE uh

brahmin – BRAH min

Brutus – BROOT us

Bucephalas – byoo SEH fuh lus or byoo SHE fuh lus

Caesar – SEE zer

canopic – kuh NO pick or kuh NAW pick

Carthage – CAR thij

Carthaginian – CAR thuh JIN ee un

Cassius – CASS ee us

Ceres – SEER eez

Cheops – KEE ops

Cincinnatus – sin sih NAH tus

Claudius Pulcher – CLAW dee us PULL care

Cleopatra – clee o PAT ruh

Confucius – con FYU shis

Constantinople – CON stan tih NO pul

Cyclops – SIGH clops

Cyrus – SIGH rus

Diocletian – DIE o CLEE shun

Dorians – DOOR ee un

E pluribus unum – EE PLUR ih bus OO num

Enkidu – en KEE doo or en KIE doo

Eris – AIR ris

Et tu, Brute? – Et TOO, BROO tay?

Euphrates – you FRATE eez

familia – fah MEE lee ah

floris – FLO ris

frigidarium – frih gih DAR ee um or frih jih DAYR ee um

Ganga – GANG guh

Gautama – GOW tuh muh

Gilgamesh – GILL guh mesh

Gordian – GORE dee un

Gutians – GOO tee ANS

Hammurabi – hah mu RA bee

Hannibal – HAN ih bel

Haran – hah RAN

Harappan – huh RAP uh

Harpagus – har PAG us

Hatshepsut – hat SHEP soot

Hera – HEER uh or HAIR uh

Hieroglyphs – HIGH ro glifs

Honoria – on or EE uh

Horus – HORE us

Huang Di – hwang DEE

Hyksos – HICK sos

imperator – im PEAR uh tor

Indus – IN dus

Ishtar – ish TAR

Isis – EYE sis

Jakata – ja KA tah

Janus – YAH nus

Jericho – JAYR ih ko

Jove – JOHV

Judah – JOO duh

Judea – joo DEE uh or joo DAY uh

Julius Caesar – JOO lee us SEE zer

Juno – JOO no

Khufu – KOO foo

Kish – KISH

Knossos – NAW sus

Kush – KUSH (the “u” sounds like the “oo” in “foot”)

Lei Zu – lay TZU

liber – LEE bear

Londinium – lon din EE um

Macedonians – mah suh DO nee unz

Mahayana – MAH high yah nuh

Marduk – MAR duke

Mari – MAH ree

mastaba tombs – MAH stuh buh toomz

Mauryan – MAR ee un

Maximian – mack SIH mee un

Mayans – MY unz

Medes – MEEDZ

Media – MEE dee uh

Menelaus – men uh LAY us or men uh LOUSE

Menes – MEN eez

Mesopotamia – MESS uh puh TAY mee uh

Milvian – MILL vee un

Min Lai – min LIE

Minos – MY nus or MY nos or MEE nos

Minotaur – MIN uh tar or MY nuh tar

Momyllus – muh MILL us

murex – MYUR eks

Mycenaeans – MY suh NEE uns

Narmer – NAR mare

navis – NAH vis

Nazca – NAZ kuh

Nebuchadnezzar – NEH buh kud NEH zer

Nefertiti – NEH fer TEE tee

Nero – NEER o

Nineveh – NIN uh vuh

Ningal – NING gul

Nubia – NOO bee uh

Numitor – NOO mih tor

Octavian – ock TAY vee un

Odysseus – o DIS ee us

Olmecs – OLE mecs

Olympus – o LIM pus

Orestes – o REST eez

Osiris – o SYE rus

Parthenon – PAR thuh non

Pax Romana – PACKS ro MAH nah

Peloponnesian – pel uh puh NEE zhun

Pericles – PEAR ih cleez

Pheidippides – fih DIP uh deez or fie DIP uh deez

Pictograms – PICK toe gramz

Plato – PLAY toe

Pompey – POM pee

Poseidon – po SYE din

Potiphar – PAH tih far

princeps – PRIN keps or PRIN seps

Proserpine – PRO ser PEE nuh

Ptolemy – TALL uh mee

Purusha – POO ruh shuh

Qin – CHIN

Qin Zheng – chin ZHUNG

Ra – RAH or RAY

Remus – REE mus

Romulus – ROM you lus

Rubicon – ROO bih con

Sakka – SACK uh

Sarai – SAIR eye

Sargon – SAR gone

Scipio – SKIP ee o or SIP ee o

scriptum – SKRIP tum

secutor – sec YOO tur

Seleucids – seh LOO sidz

Seleucus – seh LOO cuss

shaduf – sha DOOF

Shamshi-Adad – SHAM shee ah DAD

Shang – SHANG

Shi Huangdi – SHIH hwang DEE

Shiva – SHEE vuh

Siddhartha – sid ARE thuh or sih DART uh

Sparta – SPAR tuh

sphinx – SFINKS

Stilicho – STILL ih ko

Suddhodana – SUD ho DAN uh

Suetonius – soo TOE nee us

Sumer – SOO mer

Sumerian – soo MARE ee un

Sutra – SOO truh

Syrians – SEER ee enz

T’ang – TANG

Terah – TARE uh

Thebes – THEEBZ

Theodosius – thee uh DO shus

Thera – THAYR uh

Theseus – THEE see us

Thutmose – THUT mohs

Tiber – TIE ber

Tiberius – tie BEER ee us

Tiglathpileser – TIG lath pih LAY zer

Tigris – TIE gris

Tiye – TIE ee

Tripitaka – TRIP ee TAK uh

Tutankhamen – toot ang KAH men

Tutankhaten – toot ang COT en

Tyre – TIRE

Ulysses – you LIS eez

Uruk – OO rook

Utnapishtim – ut nah PISH tim

Veni, Vidi, Vici – VAYN ee, VEE dee, VEE chee or WAYN ee, WEE dee, WEE kee

Visigoth – VIZ ih gawth

Xi’an – SHYAN

Xiling Ji – SHEE ling JEE

Yangtze – YANG see or YANG dzu