Tours: Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Learn about hieroglyphs, how they evolved through time, and what they can teach us about ancient Egyptian culture.

The Different ScriptsA Difficult LanguageInsight Into Egyptian CultureSpells & OfferingsThe Book of the Dead

Cup inscribed with the name of Horus Semerkhet / 1st Dynasty

Hieroglyphics were used as sacred writing, appearing on monuments, statues and sacred papyrus texts. The earliest symbols that resemble hieroglyphs were on pottery dating back to 4000 BCE.

This stylized form of signs and drawings was the only writing used from its ancient origins to the end of pharaonic history.

Ancient Egyptians referred to hieroglyphs as the Writing of the Gods.

The Seated Scribe / 5th Dynasty

Considered a difficult language, it was intended for pharaohs, nobility and priests, and meant to be used in ceremonies, within tombs and for government records.

Since few Egyptians were able to read the ancient hieroglyphs, the mythological aura around the language was persistent even in their own culture.

Agricultural Scenes, Tomb of Nakht / 18th Dynasty

The structure of hieroglyphs offers insight into Egyptian culture, not just in what the translations say, but in the structure of the symnbols themselves.

They were found on tomb walls, on sarcophagi, on statues and on pottery, and were meticulously recorded in countless ancient papyri.

Papyrus with worshipper performing reitual scenes / 9th century BCE

In many temples, priests would perform rituals and daily offerings. These were accompanied by hieroglyphs used as spells.

In tomb paintings, the hieroglyphs are represented with formulas to recite. These spoken words were meant to be spells which would allow the deceased to benefit from the offerings for all eternity.

Spells and offerings were also written for the living, to enhance medicines and cure illnesses.

Mythological papyrus of Neskapashuty [Weighing of the heart] / 9th century BCE

The most famous of ancient Egyptian documents is the Book of the Dead.

Written in hieroglyphs and hieratic texts, it depicts important spells and rituals.

These spells were intended to ensure a smooth transition from life to death, and allow the deceased to safely navigate the perils of the afterlife.

Reading HieroglyphicsReading DirectionsWriting With HieroglyphicsUse of SymbolsThe Number of Hieroglyphs

Small safe / Ancient Egypt

Even after it was deciphered, the reading of hieroglyphics remained difficult at times due to the many directions in which they can be read.

Depending on the orientation of the signs, hieroglyphics can be read left to right, right to left, horizontally or vertically, though never bottom to top.

Funerary stele of Nynedchemaou, the offering pavilion director / First Intermediate Period

A clue on which way to read is to first notice which direction the figurative signs are facing. If a pictogram is looking to the right then the reader is meant to start from the right and read towards the figure.

Column text on a papyrus begins from the right, then goes top to bottom for each column.

Foundation deposit: plaque / New Kingdom

Text written on tomb walls resembles the structure of a page from a comic book.

The text can be placed in front, behind or above the character, and its symbols looks in the same direcftion as the character.

Another clue is that the name of a god, or hieroglyphs meaning gods or kings, are always written before the descriptive text.

Nefertiabet's stele / 4th Dynasty

Compared to alphabetical languages, Egyptian hieroglyphs have more symbols.

Confronted with the absence of vowels, the Egyptians invented a category of signs. When placed at the end of words, these signs help inform its meaning.

For instance, a drawing of a lion will refer to a lion, and also relate to the abstract concept of a lion as something dangerous or powerful.

Hieroglyphics chart, part 1, by Jean-Baptiste Bigant / 19th century

Middle Egyptian hieroglyphs contained a little more than 700 signs. By the end of the Greco-Roman period there was 10 000 signs.

Egyptologist Sir Alan Gardiner created a list classifying common hierogylphic signs and their variants.

The Egyptian LanguageRecreating the Egyptian LanguagePassage Into HistoryEnd of Hieroglyphs

Life of St. Andreas, Sahidic parchment. Coptic Period

Ancient Egyptian languages have many similarities with Asian and African languages. They have evolved in similar ways to the various forms of written Egyptian.

These languages belong to the Chamito-Semitic group. There were five clear evolutions in the Egyptian language, each with their own distinctive structure. These languages are known as Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, Demotic and Coptic.

Coptic is the only living language that allows linguists to define the vowel structure and to distinguish different dialects.

Book of the Dead of Asetweret / Late Period

(Behind the Scenes)

While hierogylphs and hieratic script give us an idea as to how the ancient Egyptian language was structured and written, the way it was spoken is still up for debate.

The team opted for English as the spoken language, with the characters using ancient Egyptian and Greek words and accents.

The language that is spoken in the background by the crowds is largely based on Sir Alan Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar.

To help resurrect a dead language, we consulted Egyptologists and dialogue coaches to establish our target sound, and cast actors with Arabic, Hebraic and African backgrounds to bring the game to life.

Rosetta Stone / 2nd century BCE

After Alexander the Great's arrival in Egypt and the establishment of his reign, Greek became the language used by the governing bodies.

The inability to read hieroglyphs caused resentment among the Greek population. It's from this tension that the Rosetta Stone was created.

Alexandria... [Site of the Serapeion, torn down by the Christian papacy c. 391 CE] / 20th Century

The spread of Christianity ended pharaohnic culture and resulted in the destruction of its pagan monuments.

This also marked the end of hieroglyphic writing and understanding.