The Egyptian language is the oldest surviving language in the world, spanning more than 4500 years of continuous use. However, for thousands of years, the ability to read hieroglyphs was lost until their decipherment in 1822. Learn about the history of this language, its stages and scripts, how it functions, and how we ‘cracked the hieroglyph code’, until you too can read a simple offering formula. Sign-lists and dictionaries will be provided for Week 4. Students do not need to acquire their own. Please note: although you will learn some standard phrases and to recognise a few words, this is not a language course. There will be no intensive grammar or vocabulary learning.
- Hybrid (Face-to-Face & Online simultaneously)
- J.P. Allen, 'Egyptian Language and Writing' in Middle Egyptian: an introduction to the language and culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd Edition (Cambridge University Press, 2010) ISBN: 9780521741446
- R.B. Parkinson, Cracking Codes: the Rosetta stone and deciphermen, (University of California Press, 1999)
- P. Wilson, Hieroglyphs: a very short introduction, (Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN: 9780192805027
- The historical development of the Egyptian language and its scripts
- The decipherment of hieroglyphs and the importance of multilingual decrees like the Rosetta stone
- Text in context: the relationship between language, art, and architecture
- Learn to read a simple Ancient Egyptian offering formula from the Stela of Princess Neferetiabet
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Have an understanding of the development of the Egyptian language, its alphabets, function, and its decipherment
- Recognise different Egyptian scripts, and some standard phrases
- Explore the connections between text, art, and architecture in ancient Egypt
- Understand translation practices and use tools like a sign-list and dictionary to read a simple offering formula
