# Ancient gyptian Inscriptions: were They Addressed to Us?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-gyptian-inscriptions-were-they-addressed-to-us/499754>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 14, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-gyptian-inscriptions-were-they-addressed-to-us/499754 "2009-06-14T19:50:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-gyptian-inscriptions-were-they-addressed-to-us/499754/1 "2009-06-14T19:50:27Z")

</div>

I once read a translation of the inscriptions, found in the burial chamber of an ancient egyptian pharoah. It was translated as “People of the future-…”.  
Did the ancient egyptians actually address these inscriptions? Were these inscriptions meant for public viewing? Or were they essentially private messages?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-gyptian-inscriptions-were-they-addressed-to-us/499754/2 "2009-06-16T13:02:14Z")

</div>

Maybe it meant whoever was reading it, so the near future rather than now.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-gyptian-inscriptions-were-they-addressed-to-us/499754/3 "2009-06-16T13:06:07Z")

</div>

Nope, never heard of such a thing. Of course how can anyone prove that not a single inscription has such wording.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ancient-gyptian-inscriptions-were-they-addressed-to-us/499754/4 "2009-06-16T15:09:39Z")

</div>

Since there was often a good chunk of treasure buried with Pharaohs, most often they tried to hide them or make them wholy inaccessible. (Not that this prevented theft, in the long run.)

While it’s possible that there might have been such an inscription, personally I’d suspect that it was a translation of a translation as made by someone who was a bit woo.