1) Hieroglyphs were used in Egypt for over 2000 years as a formal written script, containing around 900 symbols, and were forgotten for about 1000 years until being deciphered around 200 years ago. 2) Hieroglyphs could represent sounds, words, or ideas, and included different types of symbols like uniliterals representing single sounds and biliterals/triliterals representing combinations of sounds. 3) Names in hieroglyphs included names at birth (nomen), a crowned name (prenomen), and determinatives indicating gender, with the name of the king often written first in honorific transposition.

1. 𓋹𓏇𓇳
Getting Hieroglyphy in a Jiffy
Stephen Barker
stephen@digitalfrontiersmedia.com

2. Egypt
2005 BBC Docudramatization of historic moments of
Egypt and Egyptology

3. Middle Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Spoken for about 700 years
Used for over 2000 years as the standard
“formal” literary script for memorials, etc.
Has total of around 900 hieroglyphic symbols
Forgotten for about 1000 years and
unreadable until only about 200 years ago

4. The Rosetta
Stone
Hieroglyphics
Demotic
Ancient Greek

5. Names

6. Israel/Israelis
Determinitives for male/female names

7. Horus Name
Name for the latest
incarnation of Horus

8. Nomen
Typically the birth name
Denoted by
“Son of Ra”

9. Prenomen
Crowned name.
Often denoted by two
words meaning “King”

10. Alphabet, Ideograms, or
Silent Symbols?
Yes.

11. Uniliterals
Single-sound symbols

12. Biliterals,
Triliterals, …
Hm-nTr
Hm = “body/slave”
nTr = “god”
“god body” / “god’s slave”
Priest

13. Sounds found in biliterals & triterals are
sometimes repeated following the symbol to
disambiguate alternate pronunciations and for
other reasons that I don’t understand. :-)

14. Determinitives
silent symbols that
disambiguate preceding word
abu - elephant
abu - ivory

15. Determinitives
Singular
Often denoting Ideogram

16. Israel/Israelis
Plural Determinitive

17. Reading Direction
Word
W
o
r
d
d
r
o
W
droW
X
Word
W
o
r
d
d
r
o
W
droW
X
English
Middle Egyptian
X

18. Read towards
faces
(either in the script itself
or as part of a larger piece
of art)

19. Honorific
Transposition
"Take back one kadam to honor the
Hebrew God, whose Ark this is."
―Inscription on the Headpiece to
the Staff of Ra
Mentions of Gods or kings often
written first even if pronounced last.

20. The Offering Formula
(& the game of chess)

21. R.I.P.
Giovanni Belzoni
Explorer
Egyptologist
1778 - 1823

22. Rest in Peace
<memorialized person's name>
<memorialized person's positions or titles>
<year born> - <year died>

23. An offering given by the king to <god's name>
<optional god’s title(s)>: <items offered> for
<memorialized person's positions or titles>,
revered one, <memorialized person's name>

24. Offering Formula
(partial example)

27. False Door
Niche Stele of
Merykhufu

28. What Tutankhamun & Sitting Bull
have in common

29. Tutankhamun = “Living Image of Amun(-Ra)”

30. 𓋹𓏇𓇳
Thank you!
Stephen Barker
stephen@digitalfrontiersmedia.com