Understanding Hieroglyphs: A Quick and Simple Guide

225 Pages·2020·16.917 MB·English

by  Hilary Wilson

Understanding
Hieroglyphs

Understanding
Hieroglyphs
A QUICK and
SIMPLE GUIDE
HILARY WILSON
Michael O’Mara Books Limited
This new edition first published in 2019
First published in Great Britain in 1993 by
Michael O’Mara Books Limited
9 Lion Yard
Tremadoc Road
London SW4 7NQ
Copyright © 1993, 2019 Hilary Wilson

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ISBN: 978-1-78929-107-0 in hardback print format
ISBN: 978-1-78929-108-7 in ebook format
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Contents

Acknowledgements 8
Introduction 9

1. What’s in a Name? 14
2. Personal Names 33
3. Royalty 54
4. Spirits of Place 78
5. Be a Scribe 109
6. Officialdom 128
7. The Priesthood 152
8. The Servants in the Place of Truth 169
9. Keeping Count 185
10. Marking Time 199

Select Bibliography 218
Index 219
GENERAL MAP OF EGYPT
Understanding Hieroglyphs
Name of
Period
1 TELL EL-FARA’AN
SA EL-HAGAR 2 3 ABUSIR
4 SAN EL-HAGAR
TELL ATRIB 5 6 TELL BASTA
7 TELL EL-YEHUDIYA
KEY TO CLASSICAL SITE NAMES TELL HISN 8
1 BUTO
2 SAIS
3 BUSIRIS MIT RAHINA 9
4 TANIS
5 ATHRIBIS
6 BUBASTIS
7 LEONTOPOLIS 10 ATFIH
8 HELIOPOLIS
9 MEMPHIS MEDINET EL-FAYUM 11 12 EL-LAHUN
10 APHRODITOPOLIS
11 CROCODILOPOLIS AHNASYA EL-MEDINA 13
12 PTOLEMAIS HORMOS
13 HERAKLEOPOLIS MAGNA
14 OXYRHYNCHUS EL-BAHNASA 14
15 HERMOPOLIS
16 –
17 CUSAE
18 LYCOPOLIS
19 PANOPOLIS
20 ATHRIBIS
21 THINIS
22 ABYDOS 15 EL-ASHMUNEIN
23 DIOSPOLIS PARVA
24 TENTYRIS 16 EL-AMARNA
25 KAINE
26 COPTOS EL-QUSIYA 17
27 DIOSPOLIS MAGNA/THEBES
28 HERMONTHIS ASYUT 18
29 APHRODITOPOLIS
30 LATOPOLIS
31 HIERAKONPOLIS
32 EILEITHYIASPOLIS
33 APOLLINOPOLIS MAGNA
34 OMBOS 19 AKHMIN
35 SYENE WANNINA 20
GIRGA 21
25 QENA
EL-ARABA EL-MADFINA 22 24 DENDERAH
HIW 23 26 QIFT
ARMANT 28 27 LUXOR
GEBELEIN 29
ESNA 30
KOM EL-AHMAR 31
EL-KAB 32
EDFU 33
KOM OMBO 34
35 ASWAN
6
NaPmereio odf Archaic Old Kingdom 1st Intermediate Middle Kingdom 2nd Intermediate New Kingdom 3rd Intermediate Late Ptolemaic
3500
3000 1
–
2
3
2500 Dynasties
–
6
7–11
2000 11
–
12
13–17
1500
18
–
20
1000
21
–
26
500
27–31
BC
32
0
CHRONOLOGY OF EGYPT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book would not have been written without the encouragement
of my adult education students who wanted to learn more about the
origins and use of hieroglyphs without going into the complexities
of Egyptian grammar. They have told me that, when armed with an
understanding of the cultural context of some of the commonest
types of inscription, they have found visits to museums and sites
in Egypt far more rewarding. I have to thank fellow members of
the Southampton Ancient Egypt Society, many of whom are former
students, for their enthusiastic reception of presentations I have
given on this subject. In particular, I must mention my dear friend
Peter Funnell who designed and drew the maps. The line drawings
are all mine. Finally, I cannot forget my long-suffering husband,
Philip, and our four children all of whom have endured much in the
name of Egyptology.
8
INTRODUCTION
The latest-dated Egyptian hieroglyphs were carved at the
Philae Temple in ad 394. By that late date there could have
been relatively few Egyptian sculptors who could read, much less
understand, the signs they were commissioned to carve. From the
death of Alexander the Great in 323 bc until the Roman conquest
in 30 bc, Egypt was ruled by a family of Macedonian Greeks,
the Ptolemies, and during that period Greek became the official
court language. Important decrees were made bilingual and the
Egyptian demotic script, called by the scribes the ‘writing of the
documents’, superseded the more ancient hieratic script and was
used even for carving inscriptions in stone. Hieroglyphs, which
were known as the ‘Words of the God’, were still used for monu-
mental inscriptions, particularly on the magnificent temples built
by the Ptolemies in an attempt to gain the approval of the Egyp-
tians and their gods. Nonetheless, signs were often chosen for
their decorative effect rather than according to Egyptian scribal
tradition. Some signs changed in meaning or sound and mistakes
9