How to Learn Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Symbols
Invented in 3,000 B.C., hieroglyphics is a pictorial language used by the ancient Egyptians. Prior to the 1800s, scholars believed that each picture, such as a bird or sun, represented a concept, according to the International World History Project. In 1799, French scholars discovered the Rosetta Stone, a slab with the same content written in three different scripts: Demotic, Greek and hieroglyphics. Twenty years later, a young Egyptologist, Jean-Francois Champollion, deciphered the code and assigned phonetic values to the pictures. In order to interpret hieroglyphics, you need to undertake a robust language program that includes courses in Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, Demotic and Coptic.
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Instructions
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Online resources such as Neferchichi's Tomb (see References) provide a quick and casual overview of hieroglyphics. On this site, you can match the ancient Egyptian symbols with familiar sounds in English. The "b" in baby is represented by the bottom half of a leg pointing left. The site also explains how the Egyptians grouped together pictures to form words; however, the site does not offer comprehensive language instruction, such as lessons in vocabulary and grammar. Use caution when perusing these sites. What you are learning is how to write English words by using Egyptian symbols in a quick and dirty way. This activity does not equate to learning the language of hieroglyphs.
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Read about the history of hieroglyphics on history, art and archeology sites that are dedicated to ancient Egypt. The International World History Project provides a more comprehensive explanation about the Egyptian hieroglyphic system, its general characteristics and form. For example, it describes the two groups of Egyptian glyphs, phonograms and ideograms. While phonograms represent sounds, ideograms represent ideas. The ancient Egyptians typically used a combination of both groups, placing a phonogram before an ideogram to signal the reader on the context or meaning of the symbols. Again, this kind of research only provides a high level overview of hieroglyphics.
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Take undergraduate courses or major in Egyptology to learn hieroglyphics. According to Princeton Review's "Guide to College Majors," a sample curriculum would include introductory courses in Coptic, Demotic and Late Egyptian. Study Egyptian Art and Architecture, Literature, Religion, Magic, History, Archeology and a selection of Middle Egyptian Hieroglyphic texts. Acquire fluency in at least one of the following four languages: Latin, Greek, German or French. A second language will enable you to read scholarly texts. Very few undergraduate colleges offer a major in Egyptology. In the U.S., training in Egyptology occurs at the graduate level; however, you can major in Near Eastern Studies.
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Enroll in a graduate program in Egyptology. According to The Fitzwilliam Museum, the best programs in the U.S. are offered by the University of Chicago, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, New York University and the University of California, Berkeley and Los Angeles. Investigate Egyptology programs in British and European universities. For example, the Griffith Institute at Oxford University specializes in Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. The Institute boasts the largest specialized Egyptological archive worldwide. This archive includes notebooks, sketches, watercolors, blueprints of Egyptian monuments and more.
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References
- Virtual-Egypt: Learn All About Reading Heiroglyphics: An Introduction
- Neferchich's Tomb: Writing with Hieroglyphs
- Ancient Egypt: Writing
- International World History Project: Ancient Egypt, Hieroglyphics
- Guide to College Majors: Everything You Need to Know to Choose the Right Major, Princeton Review
- The Fitzwilliam Museum: How to Be An Egyptologist FAQ
Resources
- Photo Credit egyptian hieroglyphics image by Albo from Fotolia.com
