# Can I learn to read hieroglyphics **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-learn-to-read-hieroglyphics/845913 "2020-01-04T02:19:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-learn-to-read-hieroglyphics/845913/21 "2020-01-05T01:12:18Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > _How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-by-Step Guide to Teach Yourself, Revised Edition_ by Mark Collier and Bill Manley This is the one that sprung to mind and that I actually have on my shelves. Granted it was essentially bought for free, as part of a “two-for-one” offer while buying someone’s birthday present twenty years ago and unread since, but it was well-regarded at the time as the obvious introduction. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-learn-to-read-hieroglyphics/845913/22 "2020-01-05T01:25:43Z")
Only when you’re [young](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Young_(scientist)#Egyptian_hieroglyphs). ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-learn-to-read-hieroglyphics/845913/23 "2020-01-05T05:54:51Z")
There was a person who started a YouTube channel teaching Egyptian not too long ago. You might want to look him up. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-learn-to-read-hieroglyphics/845913/24 "2020-01-05T10:20:31Z")
> [@bonzer](#): > > This is the one that sprung to mind and that I actually have on my shelves. Granted it was essentially bought for free, as part of a “two-for-one” offer while buying someone’s birthday present twenty years ago and unread since, but it was well-regarded at the time as the obvious introduction. Another vote for this book (_How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-by-Step Guide to Teach Yourself_ by Mark Collier and Bill Manley); I also have a copy. on my shelf. I would highly recommend it; it reads and feels like a do-it-yourself textbook for modern languages: It’s divided into lessons, with each lessons starting with a little vocabulary of new words to learn, then a grammar part explaining some new aspect or usage, and some exercises where you’re asked to apply what you just learnt. I must admit I didn’t get very far in the book because it is challenging and a little time-consuming, and I don’t know which reputation the book has in the academic community. But if you want to have hands-on exposure to reading hieroglyphs more than just superficially, then this is the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-learn-to-read-hieroglyphics/845913/25 "2020-01-05T11:21:40Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > I made a stab at learning hieroglyphs at an evening class some years ago. I didn’t get very far and I seem to remember _Honorific Transposition_ being the concept that finally persuaded me this was not for me. As others have said, hieroglyphs are mostly phonetic where the sounds of the things depicted make up the syllables of a word (though there are also ‘determinatives’ which hint at meaning rather than sound). **However, if the hieroglyph depicted something of religious significance, it was given top billing at the front of the word regardless of the syllable order.** Much of the text seemed to be ceremonial where the act of writing it was of more importance than passing on information. That’s how future historians will be able to deduce that Americans worshiped the Dollar! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-learn-to-read-hieroglyphics/845913/26 "2020-01-06T02:10:59Z")
An underground network communicating with hieroglyphs and cuneiform codes - what’s not to like? A plethora of hieroglyphic messages will keep the NSA busy. Not to mention the disinfo possibilities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-learn-to-read-hieroglyphics/845913.md?page=1)