How To Read The Hieroglyphs

The essence of the ancient civilisation was captured in the written language of the ancient Egyptians.

Hieroglyphs are the most recognised symbols of writing in the world. They were more than just beautiful pieces of artwork, they were the carriers of the knowledge of the Egyptians, and they were magical.

The ability to read the hieroglyphs was lost to the world in 391 C.E when Emperor Theodosius of the Byzantine Empire closed all centers of non-Christian learning. This actually ended over 3,000 years of knowledge of the Egyptians and the extinction of the language, because the temples and the priests were the ones who kept it alive.

The decline of Egyptian culture would not last forever, in 1822 the code of the hieroglyphs was cracked

Jean Francois Champollion, at the age of 18, was able to read ancient Greek fluently and then was able to compare the Greek with the two other Egyptian scripts.

With the translation of the Rosette Stone, the Ancient Egyptians were now able to tell their stories. No other nation (apart from the Chinese) had kept meticulous records of their dealings with other nations and records of their kings.

The Hieroglyphs required that there be a large educated class of scribes who were able to read and write, and this was also necessary since the Egyptian state had a large civil service and needed to keep records.

To become a scribe you needed to start at an early age. Young boys would go to schools called “Houses of Life” to learn to read and write, and this was compulsory for young boys of the elite class. For boys from the lower classes to attend school was still possible in order to reach a higher level in society.

The Ancient Egyptians had three systems of writing: hieroglyphs, hieratic and demotic. Hieroglyphs were the highly decorated form used on the walls of temples and tombs while Hieratic and Demotic were used for day to day work and