Thursday 20 December 2018

Write Like An Egyptian?

You learn something everyday. I've been working on hieroglyphics with my student. We used a chart similar to this and interpreted messages. 
The CHARTS do have variations - some have two bars to represent "I" and others say the "rope" character is "th" not "ch". Others have a lasso shape for "o" or "u". But we had fun. I said I had two papyrus which my brother bought in Egypt 30 years ago.

Apparently it's a popular tourist purchase - you choose your picture and then they personalise it with a name. Adrian got one for my parents [Hilda and Stan] and one each for Elizabeth and Stephanie. We had them up on the wall for years. Since we moved here, they have been in a box
I got them out to take to school. And only this week did I discover the error - there is no "b" on the Elizabeth papyrus! 
It's probably a little late to ask for a refund. I was in a CS on Saturday and saw one of these travel souvenirs on the shelf. I picked it and started deciphering it. It was painted for "Mabel and Arthur"

This is my friend's gold pendant. I took a photo and my student promptly said "Is she Jodie or Judy?". You hear stories of tourists buying souvenirs and getting home to find the words are completely wrong. It's reassuring that these are pretty accurate. It takes ages to write even simple words. I shall stick to our regular alphabet. I'm in de-Nile. 



1 comment:

  1. I shared this post with my daughter - she was (still is to a certain extent) very taken up with all things ancient Egyptian! She knew all the words to the song you linked and sang them along! :D

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