Ancient Egyptian Language and Writing: The History and Legacy of Hieroglyphs and Scripts in Ancient Egypt
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Colin Fluxman
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Perhaps not surprisingly given how advanced they were in comparison to contemporaries, the Egyptians invented one of the first writing systems ever, and for centuries, people thought these ancient texts held some sort of secret, be it aliens, advanced technology lost to the world, or mystical cures for all of the world’s ills. Even the ancient Egyptians saw their writing systems as full of mystery and hidden knowledge - according to Egyptian mythology, writing was invented by the ibis-headed god Thoth, the most intellectual of the gods. He was a scribe, also associated with mathematics, medicine, and astronomy, and could appear as either an ibis or a baboon. Thoth was originally a lunar god, strongly associated with recording events and time. He is more commonly known as the scribe who records judgment in the famous weighing of the heart scene in which a person’s fate in the afterlife is decided
To the Egyptians, writing was a gift of the gods and should be used accordingly. It was powerful and had the ability to create. For example, written formula offerings could provide sustenance in multiple ways, including being written, depicting the offerings, and read aloud. Each of these methods brought offerings to the recipient for all of eternity. Speaking words was especially powerful as shown in myths where the gods create in this fashion. One such myth is the “Memphite Theology,” where the creator god Ptah creates other beings through the “thoughts of his heart and the words of his mouth.” Furthermore, writing a person or a god’s name gave them power, and erasing their names took the power away. By placing his name on it, a person or king could usurp a statue from someone else. Since writing was hieroglyphic, it was also art, and the images held power. This is evidenced by signs or images being disfigured in tombs or funerary settings, so as not to hurt the owners.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cambrian Period: The History and Legacy of the Start of Complex Life on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pleistocene Era: The History of the Ice Age and the Dawn of Modern Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Madame de Pompadour: The Life and Legacy of French King Louis XV’s Chief Mistress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medieval England: The History of England from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Tudor Dynasty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSigmund Freud and Carl Jung: The Pioneering Lives and Works of History’s Most Influential Psychologists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fermi Paradox: The History and Legacy of the Famous Debate over the Existence of Aliens Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Ancient Egyptian Language and Writing
Related audiobooks
Egyptian Romany - The Essence of Hispania Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Egyptian Sacred Sciences and Cosmology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImhotep: The Life and Legacy of the High Priest Who Designed Ancient Egypt’s First Major Pyramid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hathor: The History of the Ancient Egyptian Sky Goddess and Symbolic Mother of the Pharaohs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ancient Egyptian Culture Revealed, 2nd edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ancient Nubians: The History of One of the Oldest Civilizations in Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mummies of Ancient Egypt: The History and Legacy of the Egyptians’ Mummification Process Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani in the British Museum Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of the Dead: The History and Legacy of Ancient Egypt’s Famous Funerary Texts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sumerian Golden Age: Legends of the Anunnaki as Revealed by their Mysterious Discoveries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Egyptian Book Of The Dead, Part 1: The Ancient Science Of Life After Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ancient Egyptians’ Diet: The History of Eating and Drinking in Egypt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mysterious Egypt: A Collection of Ancient Egyptian Mysteries, Strange Stories, and Archaeological Oddities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crime and Punishment in Ancient Egypt: The History and Legacy of the Egyptians’ Concepts of Justice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient Alexandria: The History and Legacy of Egypt's Most Famous City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Origins of the Sphinx: Celestial Guardian of Pre-Pharaonic Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Egyptology: The History and Legacy of the Modern Study of Ancient Egypt Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ancient Egypt’s Most Famous Royal Family: The Lives and Deaths of Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Tutankhamun Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Heliopolis: The History and Legacy of Ancient Egypt's Cult Center for the Sun God Atum Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUmma: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ethiopia and the Origin of Civilization Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Flinders Petrie: The Life and Legacy of the Father of Modern Egyptology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Initiates of Egypt: In Search of the Ogdoad and Ancient Adept Wisdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Egyptian Hieroglyph Metaphysical Language Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thoth The Author of Ancient Egyptian Wisdom: Exploring The Life and Teachings of Thoth The Atlantean Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Ancient History For You
The Epic of Gilgamesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Jesus: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chariots of the Gods Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume I Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When God Had a Wife: The Fall and Rise of the Sacred Feminine in the Judeo-Christian Tradition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of An Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Histories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roman History 101: From Republic to Empire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alexander the Great Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ancient Greece 101: Greek History, Myth, and Civilization Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Past Mistakes: How We Misinterpret History and Why it Matters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quetzalcoatl: The History and Legacy of the Feathered Serpent God in Mesoamerican Mythology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eternal City: A History of Rome Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Egyptian Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Sagas, Rituals and Beliefs of Egyptian Myths Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Egyptian Mythology: An Enthralling Overview of Egyptian Myths, Gods, and Goddesses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Ancient Egyptian Language and Writing
1 rating0 reviews