The Egyptian Scribe

JSesh 2.4.15 Released

2007-11-15T07:21:00.000-08:00

New version of JSesh was released by Serge Rosmorduc.
The following changes were made:

"The most notable improvement of 2.4.15 is the addition of a new
software: the sign info editor. It allows one to add information on
signs, for instance transliteration and sign description. I hope that
some JSesh user with enough expertise in Egyptology will take advantage
of this to improve the existing data.

Meanwhile, this also means that the JSesh palette has been improved.

Other changes:

* Now, '-' can be used while typing signs transliterations for entering
signs. For instance, you can type "Hwt-Hr".

* Corrected interpretation of \r and \t when importing winglyph text.

* Corrected some bugs in TTF fonts import (well, some of those bugs are due
to the various versions of Java.

* We now include the MDC source file in the PDF output of JSesh as a comment
(in the Subject field). This is a trick, but it will allows us, for
instance, to
save and reload PDF files created by JSesh, which is a requirement of
the IFAO."

DOWNLOAD LINK: jsesh.qenherkhopeshef.org/download

UAT Instructor Creates Cuneiform and Hieroglyphic Translator

2007-09-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

"Joe McCormack has completed work on a web-based application that translates English words into cuneiform script from the Assyrian, Babylonian, Sumerian and the hieroglyphic script of Egyptian."

"The translator works by converting cuneiform and hieroglyphs, both used in the earliest forms of writing, into English words. For example, typing "I am a father" into the Ancient Egyptian translator yields hieroglyphs that roughly translate to "I am" and "father." The translator has been featured on several museum websites around the world and websites specializing in resources for the ancient world."

Hieroglyphic translator is online at Joe's web site virtualsecrets.com

(You can also download 346
flashcard sheets for learning
individual AE words.)

Family members

2007-09-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

	Abt	family, household
	ir n	born of ("made of")
	ms n	born of
	sn	brother
	snt	sister
	sA	son
	sAt	daughter
or	it	father
	mwt	mother
	Hmt	wife
	hi	husband

Family members are usually referred to as "beloved ones"

mry beloved

Google Books about Egyptian Hieroglyphs

2007-07-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

If you're planning to buy a book about hieroglyphs I recommend you see it's preview at Google Books. Note that Google Books has many books with no preview available.
You can search for a certain title or check out the ones I chose to show here. They are all with limited preview.

Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs
by James P. Allen
This is an introduction to the writing system of ancient Egypt and the language of hieroglyphic texts. It contains twenty-six lessons, exercises (with answers), a list of hieroglyphic signs, and a dictionary, as well as twenty-five essays on the most important aspects of ancient Egyptian history, society, religion and literature.

Decoding Egyptian Hieroglyphs: How to Read the Secret Language of the Pharaohs
by Bridget McDermott - 2001

For beginners and Egyptologists alike, reading hieroglyphs provides fascinating insights into the land and lore of the pyramids. Decoding Egyptian Hieroglyphs is the only fully illustrated, easy-to-use guide to the meaning and mystery behind this ancient language...

Sacred Signs: Hieroglyphs in Ancient Egypt
by Penelope Wilson - 2003

In this engaging new study, Penelope Wilson offers a wide ranging look at this ancient form of writing, touching on everything from basic principles of translation to its broader function in Egyptian culture...

Egyptian Language: Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics
by E. A. Wallis Budge

This book is intended to form an easy introduction to the study of the Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions. It contains a short account of the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics, and a sketch of the hieroglyphic system of writing and of the general principles which underlie the use of picture signs to express thought...

Hieroglyphs Without Mystery: An Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Writing
by Karl-Theodor Zauzich

Written for ordinary people with no special language skills, the book quickly demonstrates that hieroglyphic writing can be read, once a few simple principles are understood. Zauzich explains the basic rules of the writing system and the grammar and then applies them to thirteen actual inscriptions taken from objects in European and Egyptian museums...

Writing in Ancient Egypt
by Jil Fine

The writing of this ancient civilization will fascinate readers. Full-color photographs and illustrations will bring the development of writing in ancient Egypt to life.

Older books:

Egyptian Hieroglyphics: Being an Attempt to Explain Their Nature, Origin and Meaning
by Samuel Sharpe (no limit + PDF version)

Egyptian Language Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics
by E. A. Wallis Budge

Hieroglyphs Everywhere - Presentation by Bob Richmond

2007-06-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

"Hieroglyphs Everywhere" by Bob Richmond
Oxford, August 2006

Articles relating to the use of computer technology for Ancient Egyptian.

Download PDF (1 MB) - from PowerPoint presentation

Contents:
- Ancient Egyptian in Print
- Ancient Egyptian as Information
- Future Directions
- Hieroglyphs Everywhere

More info:
Saqqara Technology

Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy by Henry Fischer

2007-06-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

"Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy. A Beginner's Guide to Writing Hieroglyphs" 4th edition.
by Henry G. Fischer
New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999.

A nice book for learning how to write hieroglyhs. It is available for download on Giza Archives Project website.

Download PDF (10.7 MB)

[I found it on Andie's Egyptology News blog:
"Lovely book, in PDF format, which gives you detailed guidelines on how to draw each hieroglyph, stroke by stroke. Wonderful for those who are calligraphilcally-challenged!"]

Common Words - Part 2

2007-05-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

	wr	great
	xfAw	snake
	Hmt	wife
	st	place
	dpt	boat

List of Common Prepositions

2007-05-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

	in	by
	m	in
	n	to, for
	r	to, toward, with respect to
	mi	like
	Hna	together with, and
	Hr	on, upon
	xnt	at the head of
	xr	near
	Xr	under
	Dr	since
	tp	atop

Numbers

2007-05-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

SYMBOL	VALUE
	1
	10
	100

In order to write other numbers, you’ll have to multiply the necessary numerals.

The largest numerals are written first, the smallest last.

SYMBOL	VALUE
	1 000
	10 000
	100 000

For example, number 7 has seven unites of one (7 x 1) - we write 7 times the symbol for one.

Number 56 has 5 tens and 6 units of one (5 x 10 + 6 x 1) – we write 5 times symbol for ten and 6 times symbol for one.

Other examples:

15 (1 x 10 + 5 x 1)

149 (1 x 100 + 4 x 10 + 9 x 1)

32 721 (3 x 10 000 + 2 x 1000 + 7 x 100 + 2 x 10 + 1 x 1)

Inner Ramp Theory Rejected by Egyptologists

2007-05-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

Egyptian, German and US archaeological experts have rejected the theory of the French archaeologist Jean-Pierre Houdin about how the Giza Pyramids were built, Zahi Hawass, the Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said yesterday.

According to Houdin, the Ancient Egyptians built the 480-foot-high Great Pyramid of Giza from the inside out, using a ramp that spiralled around the pyramid's interior, 30 to 45 feet inside its external surface.

Hawass tested the theory on the ground in the area of the Pyramids, along with a number of eminent archaeologists including the American Mark Lehner and the German Rainer Stadelman. They concluded that the Frenchman's theory was scientifically impossible.

from algomhuria.net

Alan Gardiner - Egyptian Hieratic Texts

2007-05-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

Transcribed, translated and annotated by Alan H. Gardiner.
from "Series I: Literary Texts of the New Kingdom" PART I

THE PAPYRUS ANASTASI I AND THE PAPYRUS KOLLER,
TOGETHER WITH THE PARALLEL TEXTS
Leipzig, 1911

DOWNLOAD
(5.6 MB, pdf)

(from etana.org)

James Henry Breasted - Ancient Records of Egypt (Vol. 1 - 5)

2007-05-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

Historical Documents from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest, collected, edited, and translated, with Commentary.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
(1906–1907)

Volume I:
The first to seventeenth dynasties

DOWNLOAD
10.4 MB (pdf)

Volume II:
The eighteenth dynasty

DOWNLOAD
12.4 MB (pdf)

Volume III:
The nineteenth dynasty

DOWNLOAD
12.4 MB (pdf)

Volume IV:
The twentieth to the twenty sixth dynasties

DOWNLOAD
14.2 MB (pdf)

Volume V:
Indices

DOWNLOAD
7.1 MB (pdf)

(from etana.org)

Ancient Egyptian Tales

2007-04-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

The tale of the shipwrecked sailor (6th dynasty)

The tale of the eloquent peasant (Middle Kingdom)

The Tale of Sinuhe (12th dynasty)

The Herdsman's Tale (12th dynasty)

The Tales from the Westcar Papyrus (Middle Kingdom or later)

The taking of Joppa, a tale of conquest by Djehuti under Thutmose III. (18^th dynasty)

King Neferkare and General Sasenet (18^th-19^th dynasty)

Truth and Falsehood: A tale (19^th dynasty)

The Tale of the Two Brothers: Anpu and Bata (19^th dynasty)

The Tale of the Garden of Flowers (19^th dynasty)

Wenamen's journey to Byblos (20^th dynasty)

The Turin papyrus (Papyrus 55001)

The literary letter of Wermai, the end of the New Kingdom

Princess Ahura: The Magic Book (c. 1100 BCE)

The Doomed Prince

A ghost story

The mouse as vizier

Videos About Hieroglyphs on YouTube

2007-04-05T02:37:00.000-07:00

Discover the secrets, the myths and the truths, behind one of the greatest civilizations in history - a world nearly lost beneath the sand.

The Secrets of the Hieroglyphs
(Extract from Egypt - Rediscovering a Lost World, BBC, 9 minutes)

Jean-Francois Champollion, explorer and scholar, unravels the secrets of the hieroglyphs, unlocking the world of the Ancient Egyptians, while fighting a fierce battle with the Church about the Age of the existence, in this extract from a BBC series choronical, exploring legends in archaeology.

The Mystery of the Rosetta Stone
(3 minutes)

In 1798, Napoleon brought his armies to Egypt and made the greatest accidental discovery the world would ever know and bring the lost words of ancient Egypt back into the mainstream of communication with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. Ancient language thought long forgotten, could not be deciphered by modern man.

More Ancient Egypt Videos on YouTube:

Rameses: Wrath of God or Man? - Special Presentation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (each part about 8 minutes)
Rameses was the greatest of all the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, and his life is remembered in history as both mighty and shrouded in mystery. During his 66-year reign, he conquered a larger empire than any other ruler, and built many monuments to his exploits. He also sired over 100 children, one of whom might have been the Biblical Moses.

Live From Egypt - "Into The Great Pyramid" intro 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (each part about 8 minutes)
The National Geographic team takes you inside the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Join researchers as they uncover new insights into the structures that have been shrouded in mystery for 45 centuries. Witness the unsealing of an ancient sarcophagus, a remote-controlled robot penetration into the depths of the pyramid shafts, and much more.

Stone, the Medium of Immortality in Ancient Egypt (3 minutes)

The Temple of Philae - Ancient Gods Still Revered (3 minutes)

Tomb Raiding / Recovering Rameses I 1 2 3 4 5

Mystery of Great Pyramid 'solved'?

2007-04-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

A French architect claims to have solved the mystery of how Egypt's Great Pyramid was built.

Jean-Pierre Houdin said the 4,500-year-old pyramid, just outside Cairo, was built using an inner ramp to lift the massive stones into place.

"This is better than the other theories, because it is the only theory that works," said Mr Houdin as he unveiled his theory with a 3D computer simulation.

He believes workers used an outer ramp to build the first 43 metres (47 yards) then constructed an inner ramp to carry stones to the apex of the 137m pyramid.

"This goes against both main existing theories," Egyptologist Bob Brier told Reuters news agency after Mr Houdin explained his hypothesis. "I've been teaching them myself for 20 years but deep down I know they're wrong."

Mr Houdin said that an outer ramp all the way to the top of the pyramid would have blocked sight lines and left little room to work, while a long, frontal ramp would have used up too much stone.
Further confusing matters, there is little evidence left of external ramps at the site of the Great Pyramid. Mr Houdin said the pyramid could have been built by 4,000 people using his technique instead of 100,000, as postulated by other theorists.

The architect is now assembling a team to verify his theory on site using radars and other non-invasive means.

3D Khufu Revealed website

- Download PDF of the story (1,8 MB)
- Watch 3D animation (3D Life Player plug-in needed)

Suffix Pronouns

2007-04-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

Personal suffix pronouns must follow, and be suffixed to, some preceding word. They could not stand by themselves as a separate words.

General use of suffix pronouns:

- as genitive after nouns (with the sense of our possessive adjectives - "his wife", "their brother")
- after prepositions ("to you", "with them")
- as nominative with the simple tenses of the verb ("I say", "they lived")

1MS	.j	, ,	- often not written - A1 sign (man) is an ideogram and can be replaced by other ideograms (king, woman, god ...)
2MS	.k
2FS	.T (.t)	,	- .t is used later
3MS	.f
3FS	.s	,
1PL	.n		- plural mark often not written
2PL	.Tn (.tn)	,	- .tn is used later - plural mark often not written
3PL	.sn	,	- .sn is later replaced by .w - plural mark often not written

Personal Pronouns

2007-04-04T05:18:00.000-07:00

	SUFFIX	DEPENDENT	INDEPENDENT	(meaning)
1S	.j	wj	jnk	I, me, my
2MS	.k	Tw (tw)	ntk	you, your (m)
2FS	.T (.t)	Tn (tn)	ntT (ntt)	you, your (f)
3MS	.f	sw	ntf	he, him, his, it, its
3FS	.s	sj	nts	she, her, it, its
1PL	.n	n	jnn	we, us, our
2PL	.Tn (.tn)	.Tn (.tn)	ntTn (nttn)	you, your (pl)
3PL	.sn	sn, st	ntsn	they, them, their

Dictionary of Middle Egyptian

2007-03-23T05:02:00.000-07:00

(in Gardiner Classification Order)
by Paul Dickson
December 1, 2006
As I began trying to learn to read the hieroglyphic writing of Middle Egyptian I was frustrated that all of the available dictionaries were organized around the approximate sounds of the words instead of their spelling, as is used in most other dictionaries.

When I learned that all of the raw material was available for making my own dictionary, organized the way I wanted, I set out on this project.

The definitions are organized in order by the Gardiner Codes of the glyphs that make them up. This system, developed by Alan Gardiner in the early part of the 20th century, groups the symbols into families according to what they look like.

Download PDF (18.3 MB)

[The original definitions, transliterations, and glyph sequences are by Mark Vygus, via Luca Brigatti's web site. The word lists are from Faulkner's
dictionary and other sources.]

The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor

2007-03-23T04:46:00.000-07:00

The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor is a tale of adventure which may be an ancestor of the story of Sinbad. Only one copy of this story was ever found, written in Hieratic script (a sort of shorthand version of hieroglyphic writing) on a papyrus that is now in the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was written during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, probably during the early 12th Dynasty (1990-1750 B.C.E.). The story is in the Middle Egyptian language, and has rather simple grammar as such things go.

Download PDF (1.3 MB)

The tale is presented here in a hieroglyph transcription from Hieratic. Translation and commentary is from a series of notes by James P. Allen, Curator, Department of Egyptian Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hieroglyphic typesetting was done by Paul Dickson using the JSesh program and then merged with the text in OpenOffice.

Pyramid's Secret Doors to Be Opened

2007-03-23T04:36:00.000-07:00

Doors will soon open to reveal one of the mysteries of the Great Pyramid in Giza, Dr. Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Discovery News in an exclusive interview.

Hawass, one of the world's leading Egyptologists, said he will show what lies behind secret doors inside the 4,500-year-old pharaonic mausoleum by the end of this year.

"Finally, people all over the world will know what is behind the second door in the southern shaft and the third door in the northern shaft," Hawass said.

Read more: dsc.discovery.com

Table: Adjective forms

2007-02-06T06:21:00.000-08:00

	MASCULINE SINGULAR	MASCULINE PLURAL	FEMININE
PRIMARY	nb	nbw	nbt
SECONDARY	nfr	nfrw	nfrt
DERIVED	nwtj	nwtjw (vulture is here triliteral tjw)	nwtt

Adjectives

2007-01-28T11:44:00.000-08:00

Adjective is a word that describes a noun.

In Egyptian:

- adjectives FOLLOW their nouns. (sn nfr - "good brother")
- adjectives AGREE with the noun in gender and number. (snt nfrt -"good sister")

Egyptian has 3 types of adjectives:

- primary (only one such adjective exists - "all" (nb))
- secondary (most adjectives are secondary - come from verbs, nouns or prepositions)
- derived (also called nisbes - come from verbs, nouns or prepositions)

Basic forms:

- masculine singular (primary and secondary have no ending, derived have ending -i)
- masculine plural (all have ending -w added to their singular form)
- feminine (primary and secondary add ending -t to the masculine singular form - derived add -t in place of -j)

Ancient Egyptian Titles (II)

2007-01-03T10:08:00.000-08:00

RELIGIOUS:

it-nTr (god's father)

Xri-Hb (lector priest)

sm (sem priest)

wab (wab priest)

Hm-nTr (god's servant, priest)

Hm-kA (ka servant, ka priest)

Top 10 Discoveries of 2006

2007-01-03T10:06:00.000-08:00

ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 list

1. Valley of the Kings Tomb
KV63 was the first tomb to be excavated in the Valley of the Kings since Tutankhamun's in 1922. The chamber held seven 18th Dynasty coffins.

2. 3-Million-Year-Old Child
After years of chiseling tiny bones out of sandstone blocks from Ethiopia's Rift Valley, paleontologists announced the discovery of a nearly complete Australopithecus afarensis child (see "The New Face of Evolution").

3. Olmec Script
A stone block uncovered in the 1990s in Veracruz, Mexico, was shown to bear the first definitive proof that the ancient Olmec had a writing system, the oldest in the New World (see "What We Learn").

4. Irish Bog Psalms
In a peat bog near Dublin, bulldozer operator Eddie Fogarty found a book of Pslams, the first early medieval manuscript discovered in Ireland in 200 years.

5. Peru's Temple of the Fox Dating to 2200 B.C., an Andean templ
e was found with unprecedented astronomical alignments, including a facelike disk that frowns at the sunset on the first day of the harvest.

6. China's "Guest Worker"
DNA analysis of bones found near the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi (r. 247-221 B.C.) shows the remains belonged to a Persian man, likely a captive forced to work on the emperor's tomb (see "Worker from the West").

7. Tomb of the Roaring Lions
Grave robbers led Italian authorities to the oldest tomb paintings in the western Mediterranean. The seventh-century B.C. Etruscan scenes feature fanciful lions (see "Flights of Fancy").

8. Lost Kingdom of Tambora
The discovery of a modest house buried by an 1815 volcanic eruption in Indonesia presented the first evidence of the Kingdom of Tambora.

9. Scythian Mummy
A burial mound in the Mongolian Altai Mountains yielded the 2,500-year-old frozen remains of a blond Scythian warrior in full regalia.

10. Brazilian Stonehenge
A circle of some 130 granite blocks in the Brazilian state of Amapa was hailed as a possible 2,000-year-old winter solstice marker.

How to make it as an archaeologist

2006-12-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

- Forget the bull whip
It might have got Indiana Jones out of a scrape or two, but then Indiana Jones has little if anything to do with real archaeology. Excavators these days are far more likely to be armed with a theodolite and laptop than a whip and pistol, so if you are working on the assumption that archaeology = glamour you're going to be sorely disappointed. Mind you, if you find yourself digging somewhere hot then an Indiana Jones Fedora might come in useful.

- Study hard, get the qualifications
Gone are the days of the enthusiastic amateur -- men such as 19th Century businessman Heinrich Schliemann who, having made a fortune contracting during the Crimean War, decided to turn his hand to excavating and, at Mycenae and Troy, made some of the most spectacular discoveries in the history of archaeology. These days archaeologists are highly qualified, technically skilled professionals -- simply being able to poke around in the ground with a trowel is no longer enough. Draughtsmanship, surveying, micro-botany, photography, material conservation, epigraphy, digital design, cartography, computing -- these are just a few of the skills that are required on a modern archaeological mission (although not all necessarily by the same person).
....
- Volunteer as "trowel fodder"
- Resign yourself to a lifetime of poorly-paid obscurity
- Find Nefertiti

Read the whole article:
cnn.com

Ancient Egyptian Titles (I)

2006-12-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

ROYAL TITLES:

"lord of the two lands" (nb tAw)
"great royal wife" (Hmt wrt nsw)
"son of the king, prince" (sA nsw)

"sovereign, ruler" (ity)

"majesty" (Hm)

"ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt" (nsw biti)

"hereditary prince" (rpa)

Egypt finds 4,000-year-old doctor's mummy

2006-12-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian archaeologists have discovered the funerary remains of a doctor who lived more than 4,000 years ago, including his mummy, sarcophagus and bronze surgical instruments.

The upper part of the tomb was discovered in 2000 at Saqqara, 20 km (12 miles) south of Cairo, and the sarcophagus came to light in the burial pit during cleaning work, state news agency MENA said on Tuesday, quoting Egyptian government antiquities chief Zahi Hawass.

The doctor, whose name was Qar, lived under the 6th dynasty and built his tomb near Egypt's first pyramid. The 6th dynasty ruled from about 2350 to 2180 BC.

Hawass said the lid of the wooden sarcophagus had excellent and well-preserved decoration and the mummy itself was in ideal condition. "The linen wrappings and the funerary drawings on the mummy are still as they were," he said.

"The mask which covers the face of the mummy is in an amazing state of preservation in spite of slight damage in the area of the mouth."

The tomb also had earthenware containers bearing the doctor's name, a round limestone offering table and 22 bronze statues of gods.

Stela of Nakhty

2006-11-20T10:18:00.000-08:00

(see hieroglyphic text below)

Transliteration:

Htp di nsw wsir nb Ddw nTr aA nb AbDw di=f prt xrw t Hnqt kA Apd Ss mnxt xt nbt
nfrt wabt anxt nTr im ddt pt qmAt tA innt Hap(y) m Htp
di nsw TAw n anx nDm st snTr wab n kA n HAty-a nxti mAa xrw ms n nxti mAat xrw

Translation:

LINE 1 An offering which the king gives to Osiris, lord of Busiris, great god, lord of Abydos, so that he may give voice offering of bread, beer, ox, fowl, alabaster and linen, everything ....
LINE 2 .... good and pure on which a god lives, which the sky gives, which the land creates, and which the inundation brings as an offering which the king ....
LINE 3 .... gives, the sweet breath of life, the scent of pure incense for the ka of the governor Nakhti, the justified, born of Nakhti, the justified.

Stela of Sarenenutet

2006-11-16T04:18:00.000-08:00

(see hieroglyphic text below)

Transliteration:

Htp di nsw wsir nb Ddw nTr aA nb AbDw di=f xA
m t Hnqt kA Apd Ss mnxt xt nbt anxt nTr im n kA n imAxy dd Htpw nTr n
nTrw Hsb Snwty imy-r pr sA-rnnwtt mAa xrw ms n bA-mkt

Translation:

LINE 1 An offering which the king gives to Osiris, lord of Djedu (Busiris), great god, lord of Abydos, so that he may give (voice offering) thousand ....
LINE 2 .... in bread, bear, ox, fowl, alabaster and linen, everything on which a god lives, for the ka of the revered one, the offering giver to ....
LINE 3 + vertical + LINE 4 .... the gods, the counter of the double granaries and steward Sarenenutet, the justified, born of Bameket.

How to Read Egyptian Cartoushes?

2006-11-16T03:57:00.000-08:00

Some of the most common words to be found inside of a cartoushe and their meaning:

Examples of Offering Formula

2006-11-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

Stela of Sarenenutet - BM EA 585

Stela of Nakhty - BM EA 143

Robbers Discovered Pharaoh’s Dentists’ Graves!

2006-10-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

SAQQARA, Egypt — Thieves led an Egyptian archaeological team to discover three tombs of dentists to the ancient kings, unveiled Sunday at the Saqqara pyramid complex south of Cairo.

"It seems for the first time that the ancient Egyptians made a cemetery to the dentist and they are buried in the shadow of the Step Pyramid," Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said as he toured the site.

About 4,200 years old, the tombs honor a chief dentist and two other dentists, who served the royal families. They show that the ancient Egyptians "cared about the treatment of their teeth," Hawass said.

He pointed out two hieroglyphs — an eye over a tusk, appearing frequently among the neat rows of symbols decorating the tombs' doors — that he said identify the men as dentists.

Thieves beat the archaeologists to the site of the new tombs, launching their own dig one summer night two months ago, before they were captured and jailed. "We have to thank the thieves," Hawass said."

More about the discovery:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pag...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193...

Gardiner's Sign List

2006-10-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

"English Egyptologist, Sir Alan Gardiner, compiled a list of 700 seperate signs used in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. His book "Egyptian Grammar", and this list has become the standard in Egyptology. Both are an absolute "must" for any serious study of ancient Egyptian writing."

SIGN LIST for download:

http://showcase.netins.net/web/ankh/gardiner.html

(4 .gif files, low and high quality)

Categories in the list:

1 A Man and his occupations. A1-A56, (+A59 Man w/Club).

2 B Woman and her occupations. B1-B7. [also B8-B12; see hieroglyphs.]

3 C Anthropomorphic deities. C1-C20.

4 D Parts of the human body. D1-D63.

5 E Mammals. E1-E34. Ox -Rabbit.

6 F Parts of Mammals. F1-F52.

7 G Birds. G1-G54.

8 H Parts of Birds. H1-H8.

9 I Amphibious animals, reptiles, etc. I1-I15

10 K Fishes and parts of fishes. K1-K7.

11 L Invertebrata and lesser animals. L1-L7.

12 M Trees and plants. M1-M44.

13 N Sky, earth, water. N1-N43.

14 O Buildings, parts of building, etc. O1-O51.

15 P Ships and parts of ships. P1-P11.

16 Q Domestic and funerary furniture. Q1-Q7.

17 R Temple furniture and sacred emblems. R1-R25.

18 S Crowns, dress, staves, etc. S1-S45.

19 T Warfare, hunting, butchery. T1-T35.

20 U Agriculture, crafts, and professions. U1-U41.

21 V Rope, fibre, baskets, bags, etc. V1-V38.

22 W Vessels of stone and earthenware. W1-W25.

23 X Loaves and cakes. X1-X8.

24 Y Writings, games, music. Y1-Y8.

25 Z Strokes, signs derived from hieratic geometrical fiqures. Z1-Z11.

26 Aa Unclassified. Aa1-Aa31. (Aa32 is also in Warfare.)

Jim Loy Egyptology pages - Gardiner's Sign List:

http://www.jimloy.com/hiero/gardner0.htm

Hieroglyphic Texts in MdC Format

2006-10-04T03:24:00.000-07:00

Collection of texts in the Manuel de codage format on Serge Rosmorduc's website:

http://www.iut.univ-paris8.fr/~rosmord/hieroglyphes/hieroglyphes.html

(many have also GIF, JPG, PDF version, and translation in French)

Files containing Manuel de codage have .hie extension which is read by most hieroglyphic text editors (like JSesh, TkSesh).

Texts include:

- Louvre C14 stela

- The Shipwrecked Sailor

- the Coffin Text 160

- A papyrus from Gurob

- Un graffiti du Wadi Hammamat

- The wisdom of Amenemope

- Year two stela of Sethnakht in Elephantine

- The teaching of Kagemni (or Gemnika, ...)

- Antef Stela (Louvre C26)

- The "Lebensmüde" (or dispute between a man and his Ba)

- Stela of 400 Years

- Inení's texts

- Iykhernofret stela

- The two brothers

- The Doomed Prince

- Unnamon's travels

- Horus and Seth

- The tales of papyrus Westcar

New JSesh Version - 2.3.2

2006-10-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

New JSesh version has been released.

("The JSesh Project : a free Hieroglyphic editor and Java library for processing Egyptian Hieroglyphs.")

2/10/2006 : version 2.3.2 : Improvement in text layout, bug fixes, updated documentation.

Download link: http://kent.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/jsesh/J...

More info: http://www.iut.univ-paris8.fr/~rosmord/JSesh/

New OpenGlyph version 1.1 Beta

2006-10-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

J. A. G. Sanchez:

I've removed the next "problematic" (for copyright reasons) texts in
the OpenGlyph's distribution:

-Faulkner dictionary
-Amduat texts

Also i've removed a bug with the texts' tree (when you expand/close a
section don't throws an error alert)

You can download the last version in "Files" section at:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/openglyph/

Where Can You Find Hieroglyphic Texts?

2006-09-24T05:58:00.000-07:00

The best guide to online hieroglyphic texts can be found on EEF website:

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/4482/EEFtexts.html

List of indexed texts collected by Michael Tilgner:

THE EEF GUIDE TO INTERNET RESOURCES
FOR ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEXTS

Old Kingdom & First Intermediate Period

A Seal of Pharaoh Peribsen (in tomb P at Abydos)
The Inscriptions of the Statue of mTn / Metjen (Berlin 1106)
The Cannibal Hymn (PT Utterances 273-274)
The Annal Stone (Palermo Stone and associated Fragments)
Three Letters of Pharaoh Djedkare Isesi
The Pyramid Texts
The False Door of Mehu in his tomb in Saqqara
The Decree of Pepi I for the Pyramid City of Snofru (Berlin 17500)
The Autobiography of Weni the Elder (CG 1435)
The Letter of Pepi II to Harkhuf (in his tomb in Qubbet el-Hawa, no. 34)
The Autobiography of Pepinakht called Heqaib in his tomb in Qubbet el-Hawa (QH 35)
The Instruction of Kagemni (pPrisse 1,1 - 2,9)
The Instruction of Ptahhotep

Middle Kingdom & Second Intermediate Period

Rock inscriptions from the Wadi Hammamat of an expedition under Mentuhotep IV
The Stela of the Priest Mentuhotep (Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum E.9.1922)
The Autobiography of Amenemhet called Ameni in his tomb (Beni Hassan 2)
The Autobiography of Khnumhotep II in his tomb in Beni Hassan (BH 3)
Semna boundary stelae of Sesostris III (Berlin 1157; Berlin 14753)
A Cycle of Hymns to King Sesostris III (papyrus Kahun LV.1 / papyrus UC 32157 recto)
A Stela of Ikhernofret (Berlin 1204)
The Transport of the Colossal Statue of DHwti-Htp(.w) / Thot-hotep
The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pPetersburg 1115)
The "Kahun Medical Papyrus" or the "Gynaecological Papyrus" (pKahun (med.) / London UC 32057)
The Dispute of a Man with His Ba (pBerlin 3024)
The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant
The Stelae of Ameniseneb / imny-snb (Louvre C 11 and C 12)
King Kheops and the Magician / Papyrus Westcar (pBerlin 3033)

New Kingdom & Third Intermediate Period

The Autobiography of Ahmose, son of Abana
The Stela of Ahmose from Abydos / Tetisheri Stela (Cairo CG 34002)
The Donation Stela of Ahmose-Nefertari
The Coronation Announcement of Thutmosis I (Cairo CG 34006, Berlin 13726)
The Abydos Stela of Thutmose I (Cairo CG 34007)
The Northampton Stela of General Djehuty
The Obelisk Inscriptions of Queen Hatshepsut in the temple of Karnak
Dedication of the Obelisks by Hatshepsut (block 302 of the Red Chapel)
Graffito of Senenmut in Sehel concerning his work on Hatshepsut's obelisks
The Myth of the Divine Birth
The Speos Artemidos Inscription of Hatshepsut
The Poetical Stela of Thutmosis III (CG 34010)
The Temple Festival Calendar of Thutmosis III in Karnak, South of the granite sanctuary
The King-list of Thutmosis III in Karnak (now: Louvre E 13481bis)
The Obelisk of Thutmosis III, now in Istanbul
The Battle of Megiddo (of Thutmosis III)
The Dream Stela of Thutmosis IV
The Stela of Suti and Hor (BM EA 826)
The Commemorative Scarabs of Amenophis III
Hymns to the Aten
The Boundary Stelae of Amarna
A Graffito from Pawah in the tomb of Pere / pA-jrj (TT 139)
The Restoration Stela of Tutankhamun (CG 34183)
The Great Hymn to Osiris on the Stela of Amenmose (Paris Louvre C 286)
The Myth of the Destruction of Mankind / The Book of the Heavenly Cow
The King-lists on monuments of the 19th Dynasty
The Taking of Joppa (pHarris 500 = pBM 10060, verso)
The Tale of the Doomed Prince (pHarris 500, vs., 4,1-8,14)
The Stela of the Era of 400 Years (JE 60539)
The Obelisk of the Luxor Temple, now Paris, Place de la Concorde
A Satirical Letter (pAnastasi I = pBM 10247)
The Victory Hymn of Merenptah / "Israel Stela"
The Book of Caverns
The Quarrel of Apophis and Seknenre (pSallier I / BM 10185)
The Harem Conspiracy
The Year 4 Abydos Stela of Ramesses IV in Honour of Osiris (JE 48876)
The Great Abydos Stela of Ramesses IV for Osiris and the Gods (JE 48831)
The Contendings of Horus and Seth (pChester Beatty I, recto 1,1-16,8)
The Misfortunes of Wenamun (pMoscow 120)
The Instruction of Amenemope (pBM 10474)
The Stela of Banishment (Louvre C 256)
The Piankhi / Piye Stela (JE 48862)
The Shabaka Stone / "The Memphite Theology" (BM EA 498)
The Stela of Tanutamun / Tanutamani (JE 48863)
The Election Stela of King Aspelta (JE 48866)

Late Period & Greco-Roman Era

The Long Biographical Inscription of Petosiris
The Bentresh Stela (Louvre C 284)
The Satrap Stela (Cairo CG 22182)
The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys (pBerlin 3008)
The Mendes Stela (CG 22181)
The invasion of Ptolemy III into Mesopotamia
The Decree of Canopus
The Decree of Memphis (Rosetta Stone and associated Fragments)
The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom (Philae 436)

KV63 Info & Photos

2006-09-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

The first tomb to be uncovered in the Valley of the Kings in nearly a century was discovered by a team of American archaeologists led by professor Otto Schaden, field director of the Amenmesse Tomb Project of the University of Memphis. The newly discovered tomb was filled with rubble, but also some exciting archaeological finds.

Alongside more than 20 pottery jars, the team found seven coffins that have been a source of food for termites for thousands of years. Now each piece must be brought to the surface in fragments to prevent any further damage.

A miniature coffin was found under some pillows. The coffin is only about 16 inches to 17 inches long and could not have been used for a body bigger than that of a premature child. One theory is that it was a mummiform to be used as a kind of a double for the deceased, to handle any heavy labor the dead person might have had to endure in the afterlife.

The coffin is decorated with gold leaf on the top and sides. There are theories that in one of the two unopened coffins may rest the body of someone important, such as Queen Nefertiti, King Tut's mother Kia, or his wife.

The discovery of KV 63 means that the Valley of the Kings still has secrets to share. Since British archaeologist Howard Carter unearthed King Tut's tomb in 1922, many thought the Valley was virtually empty of big finds.

(Discovery Channel)

New Version of OpenGlyph

2006-09-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

"There is an OpenGlyph's new version (0.4 beta).
This new version includes:

-A database of text in MdC format (about 1000 MdC texts)
-Multilanguage support (English and Spanish)
-GUI multiwindow

You can download the new version at:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=159656

You can see a screenshot of this new version at:
http://sourceforge.net/project/screenshots.php?group_id=159656

The OpenGlyph's main page:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/openglyph "

J. A. G. Sanchez announced on GlyphStudy.

Introducing Egyptian Hieroglyphs by C.I. Burkinshaw

2006-09-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

Early representation

As early human settlements developed and were able to support non-agricultural specialization, a method was required to record basic information. Typically this occurred within the frameworks of religion and government.

Records were kept of inventory on tablets. Strokes for the number with pictures ('pictograms') of an animal or object. ...

Time frame

Hieroglyphs were in use for over three thousand years. In part, the longevity of the Egyptian civilisation was imbued by the Nile, but whereas a written language in any culture has a tendency to change, hieroglyphs exhibit an unusual stability. One reason is that hieroglyphs were considered the language of the gods (hieroglyphs Greek, sacred writing) or more precisely, from Egyptian, ‘the God’s Words’. ...

Ideograms and phonograms

In addition to the single consonants listed above, there are symbols that represent double or triple consonants (bilaterals and trilaterals).

There are about 130 bilaterals but just a handful are commonly used. Again, a bilateral or trilateral can often also represent an object. ...

Classification

The standard classification is the one set out by Gardiner. It allocates each sign to one of 26 categories (A-I, K-Z, Aa) and numbers each within that category. ...

Read the complete article on this page: http://www.psifer.com/hier.htm

More on psifer.com:

Hieroglyhic Fonts: (download link) http://www.psifer.com/httf.zip

Introduction as a Word document: http://www.psifer.com/hier.doc (1MB)

Coptic Alphabet

2006-08-31T01:49:00.000-07:00

- used from 4th century AD for writing the Coptic language
- it mainly uses greek letters
- letters for the sound which weren't used by Greeks are derived from Demotic script
- 31 letters

This is how the signs are called (with transliteration below):
(follow in the table - from top to bottom)

1st column

alfa
a

beta
b, v

gamma
g

delta
d

eie
e

sou
(so)

zeta
z

eeta
ē

theta
th

2nd column

iota
i, y

kapa
k

lavla
l

mi
m

ni
n

exsi
ks, x

o
o

pi
p

3rd column

ro
r

sima
s

tav
t

epsilon
v, u, y

fi
ph, f

ki
kh

epsi
ps

oou
ō

4th column

shai
sh

fai
f

khai
h

hori
h

janja
g, j

chima
c, kj, ch

ti
ti

OpenGlyph - New Hieroglyph Software

2006-08-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

"OpenGlyph is an Egyptian hieroglyph database useful for learn and translate ancient Egyptian texts."

OpenGlyph, made by J. A. G. Sanchez, is a new Hieroglyph Dictionary.
It has great search options. You can search for an English word or Egyptian (transliteration or Gardiner code), and you don't have to type all the letters - just the beginning, middle or end (useful when some signs canÂt be read).
Although it is written in Spanish, the options are quite simple and easy for use.

You can download it from here, free:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=159656&release_id=441130

Java is needed. It is based in JSesh.

OpenGlyph has an online database with more than 1000 text in MDC format:
http://openglyph.cvs.sourceforge.net/openglyph/openglyph/textos/

Egyptian Cartoushes

2006-08-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

(Tutankhamun's cartouche)

- King's names were written inside of cartouches (sometimes the names of gods and queens who ruled as a pharaoh).
- It's form developed from the shen hieroglyph .
- They symbolized protection.
- First used by 3rd Dynasty ruler Huni.

Cartouches are written after titles -Son of Re-:

and -King of Upper and Lower Egypt- :

More info
- The Ancient Egyptian Cartouche
by Jimmy Dunn:
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cartouches.htm

Possible discovery of a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings!

2006-08-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

Dr Nicholas Reevs, Amarna Royal Tombs Project:
"... our project discovered clear evidence for existence and location
of what appears to be a second new burial - KV 64"

For the full report see:
www.valleyofthekings.org
www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/reeves.html

What does Amenhotep's name mean?

2006-07-28T01:46:00.000-07:00

This is a cartouche of one of the Amenhoteps (Amenhotep I, II, III, IV - Akhenaton). These kings ruled during the New Kingdom. The cartouche contains their birth name (nomen) which was introducted by "son of Re" (sa ra) title.

it is transliterated: imn htp
translation: Amun is content

words:
imn - Amun (god) (i and n uniliterals, mn - biliteral, n is phonetic complement of mn)
htp - content, pleased (htp - triliteral, t and p uniliterals)

More about the kings:

http://touregypt.net/featurestories/amenhotep1.htm
- Amenhotep I, the Second King of Egypt's 18th Dynasty

http://touregypt.net/featurestories/amenhotep2.htm
- Amenhotep II, 7th Pharaoh of Egypt's 18th Dynasty

http://touregypt.net/featurestories/amenhotep3.htm
- Amenhotep III, the Ninth King of Egypt's 18th Dynasty

http://www.touregypt.net/18dyn10.htm
- Amenhotep IV, Akhenaten

Digital Egypt Website

2006-07-28T01:29:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this wonderful new website! It has amazing Quicktime panoramas and photos of Giza and Luxor.

http://egypt.ebeling.ee/

(to see panoramas you need QuickTime and Macromedia Flash plug-ins)

New look

2006-07-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

Do you like the new look? I was making this whole day - I hope it looks good!
Cheers!

Why some female names don't end in t?

2006-07-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

(this question was asked in one of the comments)

Why female names like Isis, Hathor, Nephthys, and Qetesh don't end in t as other female words do? Every female name in ancient Egyptian is ending in t. Just that some of them we now know by their Greek version.

- Isis was called by ancient Egyptians most probably Aset (could have been pronounced Iset, Ast. Eset, Auset...)
- Het-Hert (-house of Horus-) is the Egyptian name for Hathor (Greeks called her Hathor).
- The Egyptian name of Nephtys is Nebt-Het (-mistress of the house-) - Nephtys is a Greek version too.
- Qetesh was originally a Syrian deity, so this is a foreign name/word

My Apology

2006-07-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

I would like to apologize to everyone who wrote comments on this blog and didn't see them appearing!

What happened was that I didn't know that "Comment Moderation" was turned on, and that all comments were waiting to be approved.

Now I put them all, and answered your questions.
I am really sorry.

Thanks for everyone who commented and keep doing it, I promise it will be displayed!
:)

Write a word - Egypt

2006-07-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

Ancient Egyptians called their country kmt (Kemet), which literally means "black land".

kmt

km (tail of a crocodile), biliteral, code I6

-m (owl), phonetic complement, G17
-t (loaf), X1

is a determinative for town/city/nation (niwt), O49

more info:

Tour Egypt article: The Origin of the Name, Egypt
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/kmt.htm

Blog improvement

2006-07-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

Big new update for The Egyptian Scribe blog!

You can now read it in your language with Google translation link in the sidebar (right).

(there are just 4 languages, but I can add some more if you want (you can find the available languages on the Google Translate page: http://www.google.com/translate_t and tell me which one)

... also, I added a Google search bar for the web and the blog!

Keep reading!

Phonetic complements

2006-07-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

Phonetic complements are alphabet signs written after biliterals or triliterals to help with reading and sometimes for estethic reasons (or filling up the spaces left). They are not to be read.

Example:

nfr (good, beautiful) is usually written with three hieroglyphs - first is triliteral and then come f and r as complements.

- "A uniliteral sign following a biliteral sign is almost always a phonetic complement and not an additional letter".
-great number of biliterals use complement for their second consonant.
-alphabet signs can sometimes precede 2lit. or 3lit.

NEWS: "Egypt archaeologists find sarcophagi near pyramids"

2006-06-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian archaeologists have found two ancient sarcophagi close to the pyramids, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities said on Sunday.

The sarcophagi, found about a kilometer (0.6 miles) south of the pyramids in Giza, dated to the late 26th dynasty, or about 2,500 years old, council chief Zahi Hawass said in a report by the state MENA news agency.

Hieroglyphs referring to the ancient Egyptian gods Osiris, god of the dead, and the sun-god Ra were painted on the larger sarcophagus, which measured about 2 meters (6 ft 6.74 in) tall, 70 cm wide and 60 cm deep and was painted red, blue and green, the report said.
....

See full report here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1671476.htm
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=science

More websites on learning hieroglyphs

2006-06-20T22:58:00.000-07:00

AEL - Learning Ancient Egyptian (http://www.rostau.org.uk/Aegyptian-L/index.html)

Learn to read hieroglyphs! : Introductory lessons in middle Egyptian.

Exercises for beginners : Some interesting and fun exercises.

Fun with hieroglyphs : Identify these signs! Puzzling exercises by Geoffrey Graham, Yale University.

Gardiner Exercises : Hints and tips for studying from Alan Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar. [Compiled by Michael Dyall-Smith]

Learning hieratic : The cursive script that scribes commonly used. [Stephen Fryer's web site]

Beginning Coptic : The last phase of egyptian language; and it is still spoken today! [by Geoffrey Graham,Yale Uni.]

Reference : More useful reference material for working with Ancient Egyptian

Ancient Hieroglyphs
http://www.greatscott.com/hiero/index.html

The ancient Egyptian picture (?) language
http://members.aol.com/egyptnew/glyph.html

Hieroglyphs for kids:
http://www.kidzone.ws/cultures/egypt/hieroglyph.htm

How to become an Egyptologist?

2006-06-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

Becoming or being an Egyptologist - The Ancient Egyptian Site

Q: What should I do if I want to become an Egyptologist?
Q: What are the prospects when one has graduates as an Egyptologist?
http://www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to...
How do I become an Egyptologist?
How do I get on an Egyptian dig?
2. Why...
... did you become an Egyptologist

... and a lot more on http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/egypt/faq/index.html

Do You Want To Be An Egyptologist? - short text by Jim Loy
http://www.jimloy.com/egypt/e-ology.htm

Mummy Mania - How do I become an Egyptologist?
http://mummymania.com/content/view/10/69/

Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology
"So you think you want to become an Egyptologist?"
http://academics.memphis.edu/egypt/ugletter.html

Glyphdoctors: Becoming an Egyptologist
http://www.glyphdoctors.com/mod/resource/view.php?id=30

Tour Egypt has an interesting article about all the famous Egyptologists:
The Egyptologists by Jimmy Dunn
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/egyptologists.htm

Dictionaries on the web

2006-06-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

Very nice dictionary for Ancient Egyptian language can be found on Hieroglyphs.net website.
There is a search box for english, transliteration and Gardiner code:
http://www.hieroglyphs.net/000501/html/000-016.html

Jim Loy's Egyptian
Hieroglyphics
and Egyptology Page has
"My Egyptian Hieroglyphic
Dictionary":
http://www.jimloy.com/hiero/e-dict.htm

The Beinlich wordlist, An Internet-searchable database by Nigel Strudwick (in german)
http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/egypt/beinlich/beinlich.html
(the whole dictionary can be downloaded as a .txt file (and opened in MS Word or something like that):
http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/egypt/beinlich/beinlich.txt.zip)

Software

2006-06-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

Serge Rosmorduc's software for typing hieroglyphs is very useful (and free!). JSesh, word processor, uses Java and here you'll find the new version (for Mac and Win):
http://www.iut.univ-paris8.fr/~rosmord/JSesh/download/

I have Java installed but can't open it :(, so I use TKsesh:
http://webperso.iut.univ-paris8.fr/~rosmord/TKSESH/

Another free and interesting program is Luca Brigatti's HieroWord:
http://home.rochester.rr.com/lucabri/
It is not a text processor but a very useful dictionary. It uses more than 800 hieroglyphs (from Gardiner's Sign list). You can add words yourself or use some of the dictionaries which are also available for download on his website.

He made a program called Hieroglyphs too, a flashcard that shows only signs (not words) - but it's also useful!
See the link above.

MacScribe, a professional hieroglyphic text processor only works on Macintosh.
http://www.macscribe.com/ (in French)
Costs ~ $250

HieroNote - Type in Hieroglyphs, try the demo version (2.84MB):
http://www.download.com/HieroNote-Type-in-Hieroglyphs/3000-2279_4-5080971.html
Free to try; $19.95 to buy

GlyphTutor is a program for memorizing the phonetic values of the most common signs.
http://www.softlookup.com/download.asp?ID=2315
Free to try (3 MB)

That's what I've found for now. If someone can think of any other good program, or has experience with some, please tell us.

If you want to see how your name look in the cartouche see this link.
http://webperso.iut.univ-paris8.fr/~rosmord/nomhiero.html

... my full name :)

Dating Inscriptions (II)

2006-06-12T05:15:00.000-07:00

In few older words ...

g

... is used for

g

X is first interchanging with S and later (sometimes) with x

S

x

Dating inscriptions

2006-06-05T00:55:00.002-07:00

Each stage of ancient Egyptian introduced changes and by knowing its grammar one can easily determine which form of the language he's reading, and thus the historical period in which the text was written.

Few tips for beginners:

- sound w is alternately written by its hieratic form (see below).
This is the original one.

w (later form)

m (original)

m (later)

n (original)

n (later)

Will be continued in the next post...

Read on the WEB: Zahi Hawass - Treasure without an end IV

2006-06-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

On Al-Ahram Magazine website http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ Zahi Hawass, the famous Egyptologist, writes a weekly column (Dig Days) about his adventures in the world of Egyptian archaeology.
See his newest article:
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/797/he2.htm

Dig days:
Treasure without an end
Valley of the Kings

By Zahi Hawass

Part IV
... to be continued

Gender in Egyptian

2006-05-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

Egyptian has just two genders: masculine and feminine. (no neuter)
How can you distinguish them?

- feminine words have the ending t (it is added to the root of the word)
- masculine words have no special ending (but some may add w or j to their root)
(some of the masculine words end with t, but it is just a part of their root - not an added ending)

Example:
(in personal nouns the gender is clearly marked by determinative)

nb
lord, ruler

nbt
mistress

Egyptology Forums

2006-05-21T04:46:00.000-07:00

Some of the most visited forums where you can discuss anything about ancient Egypt, ancient history, archaeology etc.:

Egyptian Dreams Discussion Board
http://forum.egyptiandreams.co.uk/

KingTutOne
http://www.kingtutone.com/board/

Archaeology Fieldwork
http://www.archaeologyfieldwork.com

The House of Netjer ("house of the god")
http://www.netjer.org/forums/ubbthreads.php

Egypt Travel Information Forums
http://ask-aladdin.com/forum/

Gods

2006-05-21T02:24:00.000-07:00

Egyptian word for god is

nTr

Here are some of the most important
gods in Egyptian religion:

(you can see that they all have determinatives
- either their own or a common determinative for a god
(it's the one with Osiris and Geb):

Ast
goddess Isis

Gb
god Geb

Imn

god Amun

Wsir
god Osiris

Egyptology blogs

2006-05-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

If you're interested in the most recent news about ancient Egypt, you'll find everything on the Egyptology News weblog (http://touregypt.net/TEBlog/egyptologynews/) which is edited by archaeologist Andie Byrnes. There is a link on my sidebar too.

Another related site is Egyptology Blog - Egyptology news from around the world (http://www.egyptologyblog.co.uk/) written by Mark Morgan.

I also read Luxor News (http://touregypt.net/TEBlog/luxornews/?p=72) by Jane Akshar who is living in Egypt and talking about life and happenings in Luxor.

Read on the WEB - Interview with Zahi Hawass

2006-05-20T01:38:00.000-07:00

Zahi Hawass’ Egypt (interview)
An exclusive guided tour of Egypt with the world’s foremost Egyptologist!

STOP 1: The Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx
STOP 2: Bahariyya Oasis
STOP 3: The Western Desert
STOP 4: Upper Egypt
STOP 5. The Valley of the Kings and its latest treasures
STOP 6: The Egyptian Museum

link: http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6567

Directions of writing

2006-05-19T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hieroglyphic text could be written from both left to right and right to left (when it is in a horizontal line). From right to left was more common.

In a vertical line, it is always written from top to bottom.

If the signs are written one above the other in the same line, we first read the upper one.
See sxr "plan" .

When you see an ancient text, how can you know what is its orientation? There is a rule - every human and animal faces the beginning of the text.

More info and examples:

Learning Egyptian Hieroglyphs - Lesson 1
http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/.../glyphs_1.html
(Also has other lessons about hieroglyphs)

Direction of Writing in Egyptian
http://www.jimloy.com/hiero/direct.htm

Direction of Writing
http://www.iut.univ-paris8.fr/~rosmord/Intro/node8.html

Write a word - plan

2006-05-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

sxr - plan

s

x

r

- this is a determinative for abstract things which could not be depicted (determinatives are not transliterated)

As you see, some of the signs are combined for better use of space and estetic reasons.

Biliterals (II)

2006-05-17T12:19:00.001-07:00

sw

nw

ir

mr

di

Hm

Coptic

2006-05-17T00:27:00.000-07:00

Links about coptic script:

Coptic Lessons
http://www.stshenouda.com/coptlang/cptlsn1w.htm

Coptic alphabet
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/coptic.htm

The History of the Coptic Language
http://www.coptic.org/language/stshenouda1.htm

Ancient Scripts - Coptic
http://www.ancientscripts.com/coptic.html

------------

True Type Coptic font
available for Windows:
ftp://ylcftp.uoregon.edu/fonts/coptic/coptic.zip

Hieratic

2006-05-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

Great site for learning hieratic:

Basic Lessons in Hieratic
http://home.prcn.org/sfryer/Hieratic/

More about hieratic:
http://www.crystalinks.com/hieratic.html
http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/writing/hieratic.html

Learn a sign - A2

2006-05-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

A2
-determinative (it is not transliterated)
-signify an action: speaking, eating, drinking... or an emotion: think, feel, love...

* category A is called "Man and his occupations"

Gardiner's Sign List

2006-05-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

In Sir Alan Gardiner's sign list every hieroglyph has its own code. For example, a duck sign is G39. The letter tells us which category does the hieroglyph belong to, and the number - its place in it.

For complete list of hieroglyphic signs see:

http://showcase.netins.net/web/ankh/gardiner.html
http://www.jimloy.com/hiero/gardner0.htm

History of the Language

2006-05-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

Ancient Egyptian had several phases and (chronologically) they are:

- Old Egyptian (2600-2100) - the oldest form of the language.
This was the simplest writing.

- Middle Egyptian - developed during the Middle Kingdom.
It is called the classical form of the language.
In this blog, I use Middle Egyptian!

- Late Egyptian - spoken during the Late Kingdom.
At that time, Middle Egyptian was still used in writing.

Demotic - used Greek letters in writing.
There were some additional signs for the sounds
that weren't present in Greek.

Coptic - the last phase.
Still used in Coptic (Egyptian Christian) church.

Hieratic was cursive hieroglyphic script.
It was present throughout Old, Middle and Late Kingdom.
Hieratic was written with reed brush and ink on papyrus.

Write a word - scribe

2006-05-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

sS
scribe

sS is another biliteral.

is a determinative - it tells you it's a person (a man).

Biliterals

2006-05-15T04:55:00.000-07:00

Biliterals are glyphs with 2 consonants.
Some of them are:

sA

pr

nb

Aw

kA

(just as the alphabet, you should learn them by heart)

Champollion and the Decipherment

2006-05-15T01:50:00.000-07:00

Links to see:

Hieroglyphics and Their Decipherment
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/Hieroglyphics.htm
(hieroglyhics is actually a wrong name for the egyptian signs - that is an adjective (as in "hieroglyphic text") -the signs are called hieroglyphs

The Decipherment of Hieroglyphs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/decipherment_01.shtml

Books and articles
http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/hieroglyphs/2.html

The Decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphic Text
http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/hieroglyphics.htm

Hieroglyph Story
http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/2884/?letter=H&spage=3

Jean Francois
Champollion -
Biography

Giants of Egyptology - Jean Francois Champollion
http://www.egyptology.com/kmt/winter95_96/giants.html

The Father of Egyptology
http://touregypt.net/featurestories/champollion.htm

Some common words

2006-05-14T08:31:00.001-07:00

im
there

xt
thing

rn
name

Hna
and, together with

Dd
say, speak

bw
place

Important notes

2006-05-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

What is important for you to know about hieroglyphic writing is that it does not show vowels, so we can only see the consonants written (something like a skeleton of a word).

In the next post, I will show you some of the words that are written only with basic alphabetic signs. Egyptian language also uses bilateral and trilateral signs, which I will mention later on.

As I cannot use hieroglyphic font on this blog you will see MdC format letters used for transliteration (in my tables they are in the last column). MdC is the abbreviation of Manuel de Codage, which is a convention that Egyptologists use to present transliteration with roman/latin letters.

See more on MdC: http://www.catchpenny.org/codage/

If you need transliteration font (second column in the table) you can download it from here: http://213.132.220.88/ccer/apps/glyph_i.zip
(unzip it and put the font file in the following folder: C:\WINDOWS\Fonts)

I will introduce you to some of the programs I use to type hieroglyphs soon.

The Alphabet - part 5

2006-05-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

The Alphabet - part 4

2006-05-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

The Alphabet - part 3

2006-05-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

The Alphabet - part 2

2006-05-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Alphabet - part 1

2006-05-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

Books

2006-05-12T05:06:00.000-07:00

Books about Egyptian for beginners:

"Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs" by James P. Allen - Great to start with! (at amazon.com)

"Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs" by Sir Alan Gardiner - More serious, but a beginner would also get by. (at amazon.com)

"How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-by-Step Guide to Teach yourself" by Mark Collier and Bill Manley (at amazon.com)

Discussion Lists - Must be a member!

2006-05-12T03:48:00.000-07:00

Use of computers and internet helped studding everything and therefore languages like ancient Egyptian. Discussion list or mailing list is a community that assembles scholars but also everyone else interested in the subject. They are useful in your learning as you can read other people's opinions (in our case many professionals, like Egyptologists, historians and archaeologists) and participate in discussion yourself.

One extremely important is GlyphStudy - Middle Egyptian Study group that has been created especially for learning Egyptian hieroglyphs. It goes through the book "Middle Egyptian" by James Allen and it is now begging the 13th chapter.
Sign up ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GlyphStudy) and hurry up before they complete it!

You should also be a member of the ones below. They are dealing with ancient Egyptian language and culture.

www.rostau.org.uk/Aegyptian-L/
AEL - Ancient Egyptian Language Email List

http://showcase.netins.net/web/ankh/eefmain.html
EEF - The Egyptologists' Electronic Forum

What is Ancient Egyptian?

2006-05-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for some info about ancient Egyptian language or its script, try here:

www.iut.univ-paris8.fr/~rosmord/Intro/Intro.html
"A Short Introduction to Hieroglyphs" by Serge Rosmorduc

www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html
Ancient Egypt - Language - Part of this site is dedicated to Middle Egyptian grammar, writing, signlist and titulary.

www.jimloy.com/egypt/egypt.htm
Jim Loy's Egyptology Page has a nice introduction for beginners and also contains basic grammar, hieroglyphic dictionary, his translations of some inscriptions etc.

www.eyelid.co.uk/hiero1.htm
Mark Millmore's introduction and alphabet.

See also:

www.greatscott.com/hiero/index.html
www.virtual-egypt.com/newhtml/hieroglyphics/

The Egyptian Scribe

JSesh 2.4.15 Released

UAT Instructor Creates Cuneiform and Hieroglyphic Translator

Family members

Google Books about Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphs Everywhere - Presentation by Bob Richmond

Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy by Henry Fischer

Common Words - Part 2

List of Common Prepositions

Numbers

Inner Ramp Theory Rejected by Egyptologists

Alan Gardiner - Egyptian Hieratic Texts

James Henry Breasted - Ancient Records of Egypt (Vol. 1 - 5)

Ancient Egyptian Tales

Videos About Hieroglyphs on YouTube

Mystery of Great Pyramid 'solved'?

Suffix Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Dictionary of Middle Egyptian

The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor

Pyramid's Secret Doors to Be Opened

Table: Adjective forms

Adjectives

Ancient Egyptian Titles (II)

Top 10 Discoveries of 2006

How to make it as an archaeologist

Ancient Egyptian Titles (I)

Egypt finds 4,000-year-old doctor's mummy

Stela of Nakhty

Stela of Sarenenutet

How to Read Egyptian Cartoushes?

Examples of Offering Formula

Robbers Discovered Pharaoh’s Dentists’ Graves!

Gardiner's Sign List

Hieroglyphic Texts in MdC Format

New JSesh Version - 2.3.2

New OpenGlyph version 1.1 Beta

Where Can You Find Hieroglyphic Texts?

THE EEF GUIDE TO INTERNET RESOURCESFOR ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEXTS

KV63 Info & Photos

New Version of OpenGlyph

Introducing Egyptian Hieroglyphs by C.I. Burkinshaw

Coptic Alphabet

OpenGlyph - New Hieroglyph Software

Egyptian Cartoushes

Possible discovery of a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings!

What does Amenhotep's name mean?

Digital Egypt Website

New look

Why some female names don't end in t?

My Apology

Write a word - Egypt

Blog improvement

Phonetic complements

NEWS: "Egypt archaeologists find sarcophagi near pyramids"

More websites on learning hieroglyphs

How to become an Egyptologist?

Dictionaries on the web

Software

Dating Inscriptions (II)

Dating inscriptions

Read on the WEB: Zahi Hawass - Treasure without an end IV

Gender in Egyptian

Egyptology Forums

Gods

Egyptology blogs

Read on the WEB - Interview with Zahi Hawass

Directions of writing

Write a word - plan

Biliterals (II)

Coptic

Hieratic

Learn a sign - A2

Gardiner's Sign List

History of the Language

Write a word - scribe

Biliterals

Champollion and the Decipherment

Some common words

Important notes

THE EEF GUIDE TO INTERNET RESOURCES
FOR ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEXTS