THE INTERPRETATION OF HIEROGLYPHICS.
Hieroglyphs or hieroglyphics, literally "sacred sculptures," is the term
applied to those written characters by means of which the ancient
Egyptians expressed their thoughts. Hieroglyphs are usually pictures of
external objects, such as the sun, moon, stars, plants, animals, man, the
members of man's body, and various other objects.
They may be arranged in four classes.
First. _Representational_, _iconographic_, or _mimic_ hieroglyphs, in
which case each hieroglyph is a picture of the object referred to. Thus,
the sun's disk means the sun; a crescent the moon; a whip means a whip; an
eye, an eye. Such hieroglyphs form picture-writing, and may be called
_iconographs_, or representations.
Secondly. _Symbolical_, _tropical_, or _ideographic_ hieroglyphs, in which
case the hieroglyph was not designed to stand for the object represented,
but for some quality or attribute suggested by the object. Thus, heaven
and a star meant night; a leg in a trap, deceit; incense, adoration; a
bee, Lower Egypt; the heart, love; an eye with a tear, grief; a beetle,
immortality; a crook, protection. Such hieroglyphs are called
_ideographs_, and are perhaps the most difficult to interpret, inasmuch
as they stand for abstract ideas. Ideographic writing was carried to great
perfection, the signs for ideas became fixed, and each ideograph had a
stereotyped signification.
Thirdly. _Enigmatic_ hieroglyphs include all those wherein one object
stands for some other object. Thus, a hawk stands for a solar deity; the
bird ibis, for the god Thoth; a seated figure with a curved beard, for a
god.
Fourthly. _Phonetic_ hieroglyphs, wherein each hieroglyph represents a
sound, and is therefore called a phonetic. Each phonetic at first probably
stood for a syllable, in which case it might be called a syllabic sign.
Thus, a chessboard represents the sound _men_; a hoe, _mer_; a triple
twig, _mes_; a bowl, _neb_; a beetle, _khep_; a bee, _kheb_; a star,
_seb_.
It appears that when phonetic hieroglyphs were first formed, the spoken
language was for the most part made up of monosyllabic words, and that the
names given to animals were imitations of the sounds made by such animals;
thus, _ab_ means lamb; _ba_, goat; _au_, cow; _mau_, lion; _su_, goose;
_ui_, a chicken; _bak_, a hawk; _mu_, an owl; _khep_, a beetle; _kheb_, a
bee, etc.
It is easy to see how the figure of any such animal would stand for the
name of the animal. According to Dr. Birch, the original monosyllabic
words usually began with a consonant, and the vowel sound between the two
consonants of a syllable was an indifferent matter, because the name of an
object was variously pronounced in different parts; thus a guitar, which
is an ideograph meaning goodness, might be pronounced _nefer_ or _nofer_;
a papyrus roll, which stood for oblation, was called _hetep_ or _hotep_.
Most phonetics remained as syllabic signs, but many of them in course of
time lost part of the sound embodied in the syllable, and stood for a
letter sound only. Thus, the picture of a lion, which at first stood for
the whole sound _labo_, the Egyptian name of lion, in course of time stood
only for _l_, the initial sound of the word; an owl first stood for _mu_,
then for _m_; a water-jug stood first for _nen_, then for _n_, its initial
letter.
Phonetics which represent letters only and not syllables may be called
_alphabetic_ signs, in contradistinction to _syllabic_ signs.
Plutarch asserts that the ancient Egyptians had an alphabet of twenty-five
letters, and although in later epochs of Egyptian history there existed at
least two hundred alphabetic signs, yet at a congress of Egyptologists
held in London in 1874, it was agreed that the ancient recognized alphabet
consisted of twenty-five letters. These were as follows:--An eagle stood
for _a_; a reed, _a_; an arm, _a_; leg, _l_; horned serpent, _f_; mæander,
_h_; pair of parallel diagonals, _i_; knotted cord, h; double reed, _i_;
bowl, _k_; throne or stand, _k_; lion couchant, _l_; owl, _m_; zigzag or
waterline, _n_; square or window shutter, _p_; angle or knee, _q_; mouth,
_r_; chair or crochet, _s_; inundated garden or pool, _sh_; semicircle,
_t_; lasso or sugar-tongs-shaped noose, _th_; hand, _t_; snake, _t_;
chicken, _ui_; sieve, _kh_.
1 [Glyph] a Eagle 'Aa
2 [Glyph] a Reed Au
3 [Glyph] a Arm Aa
4 [Glyph] b Leg Bu
5 [Glyph] f Cerastes Serpent Fi
6 [Glyph] h Mæander Ha
7 [Glyph] h Knotted Cord Hi
8 [Glyph] i Pair of parallel diagonals --
9 [Glyph] i Double Reed iu
10 [Glyph] k Bowl Ka
11 [Glyph] k Throne (stand) Qa
12 [Glyph] l Lion couchant Lu or Ru
13 [Glyph] m Owl Mu
14 [Glyph] n Zigzag or Water Line Na
15 [Glyph] p { Square or Window-blind Pu
{ (shutter)
16 [Glyph] q Angle (Knee) Qa
17 [Glyph] r Mouth Ru, Lu
18 [Glyph] s Chair or Crochet Sen or Set
19 [Glyph] s Inundated(?) Garden (Pool) Shi
20 [Glyph] t Semicircle Tu
21 [Glyph] [Greek: th] { Lasso (sugar-tongs-shaped) Ti
{ Noose
22 [Glyph] t Hand Ti
23 [Glyph] t' Snake --
24 [Glyph] ... Chick ui
25 [Glyph] [Greek: ch] Sieve Khi
About 600 B.C., during the XXVIth dynasty, many hieroglyphs, about a
hundred in number, which previously were used as ideographs only, had
assigned to them a phonetic value, and became henceforth alphabetic signs
as well as ideographs. In consequence of this innovation, in the last ages
of the Egyptian monarchy, we find many hieroglyphs having the same
phonetic value. Such hieroglyphs are called homophones, and they are
sometimes very numerous; for instance, as many as twenty hieroglyphs had
each the value of _a_, and _h_ was represented by at least thirty
homophones. In spite of the great number of homophones, the Egyptians
usually spelled their words by consonants only, after the manner of the
ancient Hebrews; thus, _hk_ stood for _hek_, a ruler; _htp_ for _hotep_,
an offering; _km_ for _kam_, Egypt; _ms_ for _mes_, born of.
The Egyptians began at an early age to use syllabic signs for proper
names. Osiris was a well-known name; and as _os_ in their spoken language
meant a throne, and _iri_, an eye, a small picture of a throne followed by
that of an eye, stood for _Osiri_, the name of their god.
An ideograph was often preceded and followed by two phonetic signs, which
respectively represented the initial and final sound of the name of the
ideograph. Thus a chessboard was an ideograph, and stood for a gift, and
sometimes a building. It was called _men_, and sometimes the chessboard is
preceded by an owl, the phonetic sign of _m_, and followed by a zigzag
line, the phonetic sign of _n_. Such complementary hieroglyphs are
intended primarily to show with greater precision the pronunciation of
_men_, and they are known by the name of complements.
Phonetic hieroglyphs are often followed by a representation or ideograph
of the object referred to. Such explanatory representations and ideographs
are called determinatives, because they help to determine the precise
value of the preceding hieroglyph.
They were rendered necessary on the monuments from the fact that the
Egyptians had few vowel sounds; thus _nib_ meant an ibis; _nebi_, a
plough; _neb_, a lord; but each word was represented by the consonantal
signs _n-b_; and consequently it was necessary to put after _n-b_ a
determinative sign of an ibis or a plough, to show which of the two was
meant.
From the earliest to the latest ages of the Egyptian monarchy, all kinds
of hieroglyphs are used in the same inscription, iconographs, ideographs,
and phonetics are mingled together; and if it were not for the judicious
use of complements and determinatives, it would often be impossible to
interpret the inscriptions.
The hieroglyphs constitute the most ancient mode of writing known to
mankind. They were used, as the name hieroglyphs, that is, "sacred
sculptures," implies, almost exclusively for sacred purposes, as may be
proved from the fact that the numerous inscriptions found on temples,
tombs and obelisks relate to the gods and the religious duties of man.
Hence the Egyptians called their written language _neter tu_, which means
"sacred words." The hieroglyphs at present known are about a thousand,
but further discoveries may augment their number. On the monuments they
are arranged with artistic care, either in horizontal lines or in vertical
columns, with all the animals and symbols facing one way, either to the
right hand or the left.
The hieroglyphs on obelisks and other granite monuments are sculptured
with a precision and delicacy that excite the admiration of the nineteenth
century. In tombs and on papyri the hieroglyphs are painted sometimes with
many colours, while on obelisks and on the walls of temples they are
generally carved in a peculiar style of cutting known as _cavo relievo_,
that is, raised relief sunk below the surface. The beautiful artistic
effect of the coloured hieroglyphs as seen on some of the tombs is as much
superior to our mode of writing as the flowing robes of the Orientals as
compared with the dress of the Franks. The spoken language of the
Egyptians was Semitic, but it had little in common with the Hebrew, for
Joseph conversed with his brothers by means of an interpreter.
Hieroglyphic inscriptions are found in the earliest tombs. The cartouche
of Khufu, or Cheops, a king of the IVth dynasty, was found on a block of
the great pyramid; and as hieroglyphic inscriptions were used until the
age of Caracalla, a Roman emperor of the third century, it follows that
hieroglyphs were used as a mode of writing for about three thousand years.
The Egyptians had two modes of cursive writing. The _hieratic_, used by
the priests and employed for sacred writings only. The hieratic
characters, which are really abbreviated forms of hieroglyphics, bear the
same relation to the hieroglyphs that our handwriting does to the printed
text. Another mode of cursive writing used by the people and employed in
law, literature, and secular matters, is known as _demotic_ or
_enchorial_. The characters in demotic are derived from the hieratic, but
appear in a simpler form, and phonetics largely prevail over ideographs.
To any students who wish to pursue the absorbing study of hieroglyphics,
the following works are recommended:--"Introduction to the Study of
Hieroglyphics," by Dr. Samuel Birch; "Egyptian Texts," by the same author,
and "Egyptian Grammar," by P. Le Page Renouf. The two latter works are
published in Bagster's series of Archaic Classics. Wilkinson's "Ancient
Egyptians," and Cooper's "Egyptian Obelisks," are instructive volumes. The
author obtained much help from the works of Champollion, Rosellini,
Sharpe, Lepsius, and from Vol. II. of "Records of the Past."
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