Decoding the Secrets of Egyptian Hieroglyphs | Ancient Egyptian Alphabet | Wondrium

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Ancient Egyptian civilization is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating chapters in human history. While remnants of the culture like temples, obelisks, and sarcophagi continue to mystify us, you can unlock their true meaning if you know how to read hieroglyphs.
To the untrained eye, this ancient writing system looks like artful decoration, a random scattering of stylized ducks, suns, eyes, hands, chairs, and feathers. But to Egyptologists like Dr. Bob Brier of LIU Post-a noted public educator known as “Mr. Mummy” and a popular Great Courses professor-hieroglyphs are the gateway to understanding ancient Egypt, from its religious beliefs to its cosmological ideas to the legacies of its great pharaohs.
In short, they’re the closest we can get to truly resurrecting the lives of ancient Egyptians.
00:00 Translating a Sentence in Hieroglyphs
04:18 Phonetics, Determinatives, and Ideograms
05:49 Learning the Egyptian Alphabet Part 1
13:49 Learning the Egyptian Alphabet Part 2
23:39 Writing Letter Combinations
25:24 How to Transliterate Our Names
28:02 Practice Hieroglyphs With a Homework Lesson
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[@AmeerulIslam]

where is part 1

[@TheGreatCourses]

Hi - You can watch part 1 (and parts 3-24) on our website here: www.TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/show/decoding_the_secrets_of_egyptian_hieroglyphs?US_OnlineVideo&SocialMediaEditorialKZbin&

[@drspaseebo410]

You need to BUY the course from The Great Courses ! Copyright !!

[@hannahlarson920]

Lol

[@queenladyj7450]

I Totally Disagree With Your Explanation Of These Hieroglyphs, Except For 2.

[@ricktasker8248]

You have to pay for more videos in the series. This video was just a tease. But a goood tease :-)

[@evanshtoo3027]

*Me having assignments due* Also me: the perfect time for me to learn Hieroglyphs.

[@pavel9652]

He has a great advice, though. When I was student many years ago, during boring lectures, I used to draw various shapes, mazes, characters, fancy curves, arrows, etc. Had I knew hieroglyphs, I would have practiced and made some ornaments in my notebooks ;) It is an interesting language and the vulture is a great start for the alphabet ;)

[@lenseidel1055]

I know Dr. Brier. He is the most amazing teacher I've ever met.

[@cruisepaige]

Len Seidel you are so lucky!

[@bernadettekenny888]

Yes what a great teacher. You can tell he really loves his subject. I'm sure his students couldn't possibly fail with his passion and skill. :)

[@CadeD679]

He seems really cool!

[@sakkmatt]

If you are learning more then you need to know that you should not believe anything. There is no movie in which everything they say is true.You only have to believe in prayer in the temple.

[@adiconstantin4598]

​@@sakkmatt Indeed, no field of human activity is true for everyone, except for science & technics. If you are looking for certitude, go with one of those two. Bye the way, this video is about linguistics & history, which are both more sciences than arts - so more true (than differently accepted, for everyone)

[@joalexsg9741]

I never thought I could ever understand Egyptian hieroglyphs so clearly as with this video lesson, this is a most skilled teacher, thanks for making the ancient and truly Egyptian culture accessible to us all! Shared, undoubtedly:-)!

[@thepartyofone9329]

😆

[@megw7312]

Even easier if you do it the correct way! Cymroglyphics uses the correct language which is cymraic (Cymraeg a.k.a. “Welsh”). Find out how at BritainsHiddenHistoryRoss.

[@basemali847]

it's need to focus on

[@leandroyearwood7890]

eye river bird?

[@user-ro2nn7lt3r]

The fact that Bob Brier is still alive and hosts shows like this is probably the best news I have heard this week.

[@jekkyfish.]

Producer: how many Egyptian walls with writings do u want? The Great Courses Plus: Yes

[@tubeviewerX20]

Can’t believe I’ve been an Egyptophile all these years and never learned this! Good lesson.

[@-roejogan-]

I started reading the glyphs behind you

[@lxo2732]

Hhhhhahaaahha me too 😂😂😂

[@Kimmy-pw8tm]

Thats cool, taking notes . That's alright, I was taking photos for a background.😂

[@mysticscape]

One of the most finest and engaging teacher I have ever experienced. My respect.

[@russianagent9175]

The homework hieroglyphics reads " chicken legs in water covering the chicken. When it boils, remove from heat. Eat quickly with a glass of water, cover food with a lid. Served on a tray."

[@jamesdent2044]

I am laughing way to hard ..... Thats great

[@Loooppp]

Way better !

[@kureimori55]

Logically correct lol

[@laurieallen8040]

😂

[@jimmytruong3512]

Em r

[@carmensierra3935]

Thank you for posting these! Much appreciated! Our children loved it.

[@davidarrowsmith6034]

Great tutorial. I didn't realise how complex ancient Egyptian is. I learnt a lot, thanks.

[@carmensierra3935]

David Arrowsmith You did not think ancient Egyptian looked difficult ? Also..... "learnt" is not correct. You had learned...perhaps instead of learning ancient Egyptian, you should try modern English. Just a suggestion

[@poneill65]

+Carmen Prey tell us what is "Pedantic Douchebag" in ancient Egyptian.

[@undardu5568]

carmen sierra, "learnt" is not incorrect. Do a simple search before offering your "suggestions".

[@jokerofmorocco]

They also wrote in Demotic which is a lot simpler

[@Its.Corey.]

carmen sierra Actually learnt is correct, as well. You can use learned or learnt in that particular context. Learnt is used more often in British English, whereas American English uses learned. Sounds like you should try educating yourself a little more before opening your mouth!

[@bilankim1448]

Thank you very much teachers. This was very important. Big jobs. God bless you!

[@gumwarrior]

I love the way this teacher conveys a message. This is the greatest teacher if you ask me.

[@TheDwynn85]

Yes, but how do we know for certain that this is the correct way to read them?

[@adenature9378]

@@TheDwynn85 That’s what I’m wondering too.

[@torchgoat1707]

Ty as a kid our teacher taught us some of the Egyptian gods and their names so watching this was like a flash back, ima go get coffee and write it all down I have subscribed.

[@Bella-wl6fn]

Bob, OMG☺️ I've missed your homework questions! I haven't seen you in anything since the '90s (but I gave the tv away in 1998) you're looking great in 2022. I'm excited to watch this on my phone, so happy to see that Bob is still doing docs. Thank you for the upload 🌼

[@s.claire8522]

Thank you so much. I have been looking for a video like this for a while. :)

[@oilyoily2959]

I was looking for the Sacred Sacrab Beetle, ended up here and stayed for the duration, this is fascinating I'd like to learn more. I subscribed. Thanks sir.

[@Beccaboo530]

Oh man this was way better then what I’ve been watching. Thank you so much for that break down. I think it’s finally clicking! 👍

[@davebowles1957]

So cool! Thank you for having this available. I drew along with him. I love to doodle so this will be a lot of fun to practice.

[@lirioverdesilva3637]

Always fascinated me this Egyptian writing, it's amazing 👁️

[@brogen100]

they are interesting because it's actually an ancient form of modern day emojis. I know it's hard to believe, but humour has existed from the beginning of mankind

[@buffy377]

Is this the man who did a real mummification? If so, I attended his lecture at UT Knoxville and loved meeting him. Would live to know more about him and his courses.

[@TheGreatCourses]

Hello! You can find more about professor Bob Brier and courses taught by him at www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/professors/bob-brier?US_SocialMedia&SocialMediaEditorialFacebook&

[@gost4995]

AC Origins had me curious. Glad I stopped by to learn something new😊

[@omgitzmelisa]

So happy I came across this video, I can’t wait to learn and study and practice the alphabet, thank you!

[@fatkraken3140]

I feel illuminated after all thank you so much !

[@lezzzd6137]

simple and informative, thank you for this Egyptian alphabet teaching 🤗🤗💜 I loved it and loved learning how to write my own name 😌😝

[@jonathassantos6697]

Thak you so much for that, you passed it into a easy way to write.

[@liamhart3731]

Ah, ancient lyrics for Mr. Blue Sky. What's Egyptian for "their ain''t a cloud in sight?"

[@garethalford682]

Best comment

[@riverstone100]

Bob Brier is an absolutely delightful lecturer! I have just reached the end of the course. Absolutely invaluable detail. Great reference. You feel a little sad when it's over, but if you get the recordings, he says, you can watch it again. He says, I'll see you again soon!

[@flavius22]

11:24 when u can read few letters on the walls and you are so concentrated that you dont even realise they are changing everytime to show you what you have just learned

[@tm75_88]

Very good !👍 Thx a lot for uploading 🙏

[@malsoonsakit4786]

Youv've made it so easy and simple. Thanks

[@alidahall8726]

I've always wanted to learn hieroglyphics I've been interested in the ancient Egyptian culture since I was 14

[@lalbadshah2157]

16:01 The first one is lion The second one is mouse 😂😂🤣🤣

[@snowrain4127]

Love this video , such a great teacher 😊

[@MaxWindshear]

He said symbols are sometimes stacked "to make it look good". I would think it was more about conserving precious writing space. This was literally written in stone after all.

[@thesmilingmercenary937]

That may be true, but he also emphasized how important aesthetics were to them. The style of the thing mattered a lot, and it wasn't as interesting to look at just stringing them out. I think they really do look better stacked, you know?

[@junaidchaudhary8993]

You both may be right .... They may have stacked the letter to make it look good as well as to conserve space.

[@vytisagafonovas3887]

i dont want to misslead you but i think there is some words that are stacked purely estheticaly, like they mix sequence of letters just becouse it would look good

[@LongDistanceCall11]

Although it may look like "well if it`s a long dead language no one really knows what it was and why and how it was used, so my guess is as good as anyone`s", the reality is a bit different. Scientific work is not just some guessing - be it chemistry, anthropology or linguistics. People study hard first, and then work even harder, checking and rechecking their theories, there`s scientific method behind everything that is done, so normally when you hear someone with a degree uttering just one word - it has a huge amount of work to back it up. While I do not know Dr Brier from Adam, I still feel that it is very unlikely that he, being a scholar, would just say something without being sure.

[@ANTSEMUT1]

If that's a concern you have. The ancient Egyptian had two other scripts they'd use for every day mundane things. This particular script was just the prestige script.

[@ricktasker8248]

Wow! This guy really explains hieroglyphs. You have to pay for more videos in the series. This video was just a tease. But a goood tease :-) :-)

[@megw7312]

Yes.. just a tease. See Cymroglyphics at BritainsHiddenHistoryRoss for the real explanation.

[@saberliberta]

What a great interesting video. Thanks for sharing with us.

[@mrhoryaal]

Comparison of Egyptian-Somali Vocabulary: "The language of ancient Egypt belonged to the Hamitic group...Surviving Hamitic languages are spoken across a large part of North Africa and include Somali." (The english language ,A Historical Introduction," by the british historian and linguist Charles Barber .) 1) In ancient-egyptian language "Hes" = song,sing with musical instrument / in somali language :" Hees"= song,sing with musical instrument. 2) "AAR" means "Lion" in both languages . 3) "Usha" means "Scepter" in both languages . 4)In Somali-Egyptian" Shub" means a)"pour out , " b) construction made of concrete . 5) In Somali-Egyptian languages :"Sekedseked" means " Redoubling of the building blocks ,Stacked building blocks or something else . 6) In Egyptian-Somali : Neter/Neder (divine being) Hipo/Hibo (it means "gift" and the sound "p"it is not mainly used in Hamitic languages ): Heru/Huur (a stork) : Tuf/Tuf (spit) : Habi (the Nile)/ Habi,ᵓAbi (source of water,to drink ,give him drink ) Wabi ( a river) ; Kab/kab (shoe) brq/biriq (lightning) :"Qbb/Qaboob (cold,cool,fresh ): 'ayah/dayah (moon) ; dab/dab (fire) anka/aniga (pronoun "I" ): su,asu/usi (he) ; Ka,Kaah /Ka,Kaah (Him,the man's appearance, spirit,vital essence,) ; Xi/Ki (a such ) ; Hati,Hat/Haat,Haati (widen wings,flying birds) ; medu/muud (liquid), Hoo/Hoo (to offer ) , Gundhate ,Gunti/Gundhate ,Gunti (loincloth) ,Maanta/Maanta (today,morning ); Kaua/Kaw (standard number one ,1,first ) ; NefNefi/NefNef,Neef (respiration,breath ), (Râ,Horakhty /Râh, Horrahthy (the Sun) In Ancient-egyptian "Râ" is the sun-god / in Somali "Qor-Rah" means the "neck of Rah ,sun-god . ( Qor= neck / Rah: sun-god) the letter " a" is pronounced with the voiceless pharyngeal fricative [ħ] 7) Egyptian Somali :Awoow /Awoow (grandfather,old man) ; Ayeeytha/Ayeeyda (grandmother,old woman, old age ) 8) In Ancient-egyptian "Hun, Hunnu" = young man ,young girl/ in Somali "Hun, Hunnu,Huunno" = young man , young girl . 9) Two Somali/Egyptian Similar Names of the Pharaonic Enthronement : Sare,Hore/Sare,Hore ( the High and the First ) 10)In ancient-egyptian :Ausar =god Osiris ,ancestor of egyptians /.In Somali : Ausar,= Father Sar (AW-father ; Sar), Isir,Ausar = Ancestor , venerated in the Somali Culture in the antiquity according to a Somali Historian and linguist Diriye . 11) In Somali Language "The pyramids" means "Xabaal-Maguur" =" Stable Graves " 12) The Ancient-Egyptians named themselves "Rageedii": "The perfect men" in their language and the Somali People use still now this name "Rageedii" with the same ancient-egyptian meaning "The perfect men". For example in somali language : " U dadaal sidii Rageedii"= Make efforts as Rageedii ,the perfect men. There are many similar words somali-egyptian ,preserved in Somali language. I just shared with you some examples above but you can find many others if you fond of the Egyptology and History . References : "Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary by Budge" ; "Black Nations and Culture by Cheikh Anta Diop" ; "Learn Somali by Diriye Abdillahi " Fiqi's Somali English Dictionary " by A.A Hashi 1985 .etc...

[@bariantejackson5852]

Thanks

[@deborahnorris736]

AVALITE Empire so great to know the comparisons, thank you! I love entomology! Do you believe that our first language was one of sound? Or souls just knowing, and reading each other’s hearts? Regardless, it’s so thrilling for me to understand of the first languages, and your tips are appreciated. 💯

[@oldmanfromscenetwentyfour8164]

Where's your web site that has this information available?

[@damyr]

So when they wanted to write word "lion" (AAR), they needed to draw two vultures and an eye. Talking about ambiguity. 😃

[@hamidasman5993]

Perfect.

[@stevenleslie8557]

Dr Brier is a good instructor. He is knowledgeable and is interesting to listen to

[@TheGreatCourses]

Thanks for the shout-out, Steven, it is much appreciated. Never stop learning!

[@bettegregory4960]

Love Dr Bob Brier!

[@frienderella]

18:41 did he just teach me to draw a rectangle twice?

[@Wodz30]

you need to learn the correct stroke paths. See if you draw a rectangle the modern way in your hieroglyphics someone will come along and dismiss it because of your insane modern styling

[@ej1722]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🔲

[@RachelPun]

I love his sincerity

[@pavel9652]

Now do it with a chisel and hammer on some nearby granite block ;)

[@thomasf.5768]

Very nice. Good teaching skills & great presentation.

[@jenniferlynncalogero896]

Ancient Hieroglyphics is a language comprised of symbols to help bring together the different languages of what the people spoke at that time. It was used to eliminate the chaos of confusion and the different understandings and comprehensions. I would say it acted like bridges to help bring everyone together.🖤❤💛🤍💙

[@showbread9366]

Good story

[@MF-qy2bm]

I'm from Egypt. Greetings to all

[@LadySamurai88]

I knew it was complicated but not this complicated. Bravo for everyone who actually can read and write hieroglyphs

[@mascottewise8954]

It’s pretty easy

[@TheDwynn85]

Yes, but how can we be certain that this IS the exact way to read them? Who taught who and passed it down to us?

[@felipesantos2]

Thank you very much for such knowledge.

[@vasumathyb7997]

Thank you sir for your clear explanation

[@akashictrance]

Amazing resource thank you!

[@StephiSensei26]

Thank you. Highly enlightening.

[@jackavalcrafting4928]

Fantastic video. Thank you!

[@Sean_Coyne]

Yesterday I stumbled on the reason we call the oval line around a Pharaoh's name a cartouche (the line represented a rope to the ancient Egyptians). It was coined by the French antiquarians accompanying Napoleon during his ill fated invasion of Egypt. The shape reminded one Frenchman of the silk powder cartridges used in a ship's guns. Hence the French word for cartridge, cartouche. :-)

[@drspaseebo410]

No kidding ? Sacré bleu !

[@ramoun7633]

such a great tutorial

[@FlatEarthAndCoffee]

Thank you for sharing this.

[@basemali847]

yes..it's

[@markbagley7217]

i am a member of great courses plus bob bryar's course is excellent

[@TheGreatCourses]

Thank you for being a part of our Plus family, we are glad to hear that you're enjoying our courses.

[@tecumsehtekawana1533]

Thank you that's pretty awesome , very neat and clear

[@kimberlyvalverde7769]

*me with an overdue chemistry assignment* now seems like a great time to learn ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics

[@ralphsoto3436]

Thanks so much!! I needed this stuff for tomorrow in school

[@Patriot1777]

Outstanding!, thank you.

[@olivercedino3780]

Thank you for your impormation about egytian alphabets.

[@urisnawazir]

This is owesome....thanku dear sir

[@talkingcatsproductions1140]

So way cool. Thank you so much.. I love this 💚

[@aamirshah439]

very useful lesson.

[@mediterraneanolive1932]

I love this! 👏👌💚Thank you so much! I learned a lot!

[@sahana4546]

Its awsom n helpful sir....tq

[@knowledge-jm5dn]

What a awesome teacher

[@BillyCRoach]

rt. to left reading is also something to consider i will watch ur video an lern more .thanks billie

[@jazzz666]

Thank you for all this information. This is great!!!

[@donaldwildgrube5544]

I learned so much from Bob Brier in the Great Courses. He is brilliant.

[@entfremdet_naz]

I don't know why, but I learned something interesting about this... And I now want to learn hieroglyphics~🤧

[@fahshala9747]

So Egyptian hieroglyphics are written by sound and not just by picture. Egyptians didn't use letter vowels but drawings that represented vowels and alphabet. A is a vulture drawing, B is a foot, C is a circle with lines, wow, amazing. I will come back to this.Memorizing and drawing to interpret the drawings would be the 🔑.Because each picture represents an alphabet to form words.My memory is good and I love to draw, this is definitely a challenge. I hope I am interpreting this right. I learned a few ancient alphabet today.Thank U for sharing!

[@mohammedkhalil61]

thank you very much it has been very useful , Greetings

[@RosssRoyce]

So good! Thanks!

[@rajanikanthtiwari6236]

thanks sir i am from India i loved it

[@joemysic7942]

are anyone else's birds looking like penguins? 😩

[@cheesepuffmcgruff30]

Cause everyone knows owls and penguins live in the desert.

[@CadeD679]

I am studying this course right now! It was a Christmas gift. My birds came out looking pretty strange at first, but, have gotten much better with practice!

[@peterbulloch4328]

Aren't penguins birds?

[@brettanymichellelawson-top5197]

@@peterbulloch4328 yes and the sentence was the sun is shining in the sky

[@DarkMagicianMan20]

Dont worry, no penguins live in Egypt

[@saanvi2509]

Thank you so much

[@Xgy33]

I loved it!

[@Islamistrue1]

excellent work

[@pavelyakunin1409]

Good educational video. This gentleman is a great teacher

[@TheGreatCourses]

Thanks for the feedback, Pavel! We will share it with our team!

[@lockylique]

🐫this was so much fun, thanku.

[@emmanuel5766]

Most Amazing Teacher !!! Once the whole series was available free on KZbin!!! I was lucky to watch it before some years ago,and I took notes by writing down!!! A most excellent series of lessons! Where can I watch again that series of Lessons???Anybody know??? I wish he Would made a second series of lessons more advanced !! It would be a treasure!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@TheGreatCourses]

Hi there! Thank you for your comment. We are glad you enjoyed this series before and ready to watch it again. You can watch the "Ancient Egyptian Alphabet" course on Wondrium: www.wondrium.com/lp/t2/youtubemain?Video&KZbin&

[@theuncomfortablepan9953]

That was a great course.

[@tomaszstarling1343]

Thank you Doctor Briar! This is the best Egypt language class I have ever seen! My biggest wish is to meet you one day and shake your hand Doctor! Thanks again for all your great work. Hello from Colorado ♥️💙🇺🇸💙♥️☮

[@cruisepaige]

TAVOR VICEROY VALDOR I love him. His passion, lack of snobbery and lack of patronizing. He’s very funny, too.

[@RudeReaper]

"A foot" lol made my day

[@kalpitsoni305]

OMG you made it super easy millions of thanks I want to join your classes

[@ravirajmahajankatti4691]

Thank u so much! It was great.

[@mikejones-go8vz]

If the animal or bird is facing left like the first example, then the translation should be read from right to left

[@StitchGV]

Watching for the first time, pausing it at 0:14 . “Scribe in Egypt”. 👍🏻🤗🤓

[@narimafanficfan]

i am in loooooooooooooove ! thank youu!!

[@natalieguiliano4430]

Thank you! Amazing

[@S3fR0]

Ok so it says: "Shine sun sky or rise sun sky", here's my perception of it, the opener could be "they" instead of "the", also the "shine" could be a verb making it "They rise sun in sky" or "They shine sun in sky". Is this an actual hieroglyph by the way?

[@consumer61]

what do you do in situations where you have a small hieroglyph forced to stand alone?? i.e. sandwiched between larger hieroglyphs such that it cannot be stacked

[@nakitatillis2715]

Awww....look at my Set in the background. 😀💓

[@brideoflk9790]

this is soooooooo freaking cool. thank you!

[@TheGreatCourses]

Glad you like it!

[@basemali847]

amazing

[@amakafelix1462]

Thank you so much sir,this will help my sons' ancient Egypt project. I love your teaching sir thanks a lot

[@WhisperinglOv3]

i started learning this

[@riffraftmusic8669]

Been wondering about this for years! Simple and to the point--Thanks! edit edit... Okay, it's maybe ten minutes later, and I've just watched somebody else's KZbin video. Thanks to this, I was able to figure out that they were spelling "Ptolemy" (Actually, Ptolemios or something, but I got really close!) The only one your video didn't cover, which I'm assuming was added by the Greeks, as you explained about the L, was the O which looks like a lasso.

[@RUSIKful]

Thank you very much

[@huelthaxter4310]

Very. Informative

[@shakespearaamina9117]

Wow! Amazing ❤️🌷🌷