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2007-03-09 00:24:19 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
The translation was made possible by the Rosetta Stone which contained the same text in three languages. (Two Egyptian languages, plus Greek)
The Heiroglyphs are pictograms, and in understanding the images, it's possible to understand the story behind them.
If you want to learn to read this language, a good place to start might be in getting a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, as well as a basic text on understanding this language.
The Book of the Dead has the original Hieroglyphs along with the English translation as well as some notes on understanding the language.
2007-03-09 00:30:52 · answer #1 · answered by Deirdre H 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They found the Rosetta stone.
The Rosetta Stone is a text written by a group of priests in Egypt to honour the Egyptian pharaoh. It lists all of the things that the pharaoh has done that are good for the priests and the people of Egypt.
Who deciphered hieroglyphs? Many people worked on deciphering hieroglyphs over several hundred years. However, the structure of the script was very difficult to work out.
After many years of studying the Rosetta Stone and other examples of ancient Egyptian writing, Jean-François Champollion deciphered hieroglyphs in 1822.
How did Champollion decipher hieroglyphs?
Champollion could read both Greek and coptic.
He was able to figure out what the seven demotic signs in coptic were. By looking at how these signs were used in coptic he was able to work out what they stood for. Then he began tracing these demotic signs back to hieroglyphic signs.
By working out what some hieroglyphs stood for, he could make educated guesses about what the other hieroglyphs stood for.
2007-03-09 08:28:14 · answer #2 · answered by Martin S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋