Can I learn to read hieroglyphics

[bonzer]

@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.

[KarlGauss]

Only when you’re young.

[ALOHA_HATER]

There was a person who started a YouTube channel teaching Egyptian not too long ago. You might want to look him up.

[Schnitte]

@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.

[Ignotus]

@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!

[RioRico]

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.