How were hieroglyphics translated?

Answer 1

The Rosetta Stone was instrumental in the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphics ; see related link below .

Hieroglyphics were deciphered using the Rosetta stone

an Egyptian artifact that was discovered in the late 1700's by the french

it contained a three carved texts two in Egyptian and the third in classic greek

being able to translate the greek allowed the English to translate the other languages

when they acquired the stone in the early 1800's
Hieroglyphics were decoded thanks to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone can best be described as a decoder stone. This stone featured Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic script, and Ancient Greek. The three types of writing all contained basically the same information, which made it easier for archaeologists and historians to decode the hieroglyphs and make a sort of "key" to be able to decode other hieroglyphs that may be found.

Answer 2

You first need to study ancient Egyptian culture, language and grammar. Then take a very long time to learn how the hieroglyphic script was used, what meanings are assigned to each sign and how they work in combination. Study a number of different texts from one period (preferably Middle Egyptian), understand the illogical and obscure writing of certain words and practise writing your own texts.

Next, you need to understand "transliteration". this involves writing the approximate sound-value of each sign in the conventions used by Egyptologists. Then and only then can you attempt a translation into English.

Doing this properly can take up to three years of intensive study - and it helps considerably if you are already familiar with Arabic, ancient Hebrew and Coptic.

Answer 3

Hieroglyphics are only a writing system, like the alphabet. They were used to write the ancient Egyptian language, the ancestor of Coptic, which is now almost extinct. In order to understand ancient Egyptian writing it is necessary not only to know what the symbols mean but also what the words are. For example, the word spelled with what looks like a capital letter "D" with the flat side down, then a picture of a chick, then another flat-side down "D" is the word "twt", the first syllable in the name of Tutankhamun. But only by knowing the language can you know that this word "twt" means "image or representation"

To translate a genuine Ancient Egyptian inscription, you need a translating dictionary.

Answer 4

In 1799 a French soldier in Egypt stumbled across the Rosetta Stone, A French scholar named Jean Francis Champollion worked for 14 years to decipher Hieroglyphics.

The Rosetta Stone has three languages on it, Hieroglyphics, Demotic (another Ancient Egyptian language) and Greek.

Answer 5

The first translation of hieroglyphics was the Rosetta Stone. A French archaeologist found the stone which contained translations of many languages to Greek. If you want to translate something into hieroglyphs, Google it or Bing it or Yahoo it.

Answer 6

Knowing that they are partly alphabetic and knowing the words in the Ancient Egyptian language is helpful. For example, knowing that the word for "life" in that language is "ankh" is essential to understanding the meaning of the hieroglyphs making up ankh.

Answer 7

Rosetta Stone

Answer 8

The Rosetta Stone