Should I Learn Hieroglyphics?

The Question I Kept Asking Myself

When I first started looking into hieroglyphics, I had one question on repeat: is this actually worth my time? I mean, it's a dead language. Nobody speaks ancient Egyptian at the coffee shop. There's no "Business Hieroglyphics" course on LinkedIn Learning. So why bother?

After spending months learning the script, I can give you my honest answer: yes, absolutely. But not for the reasons you might expect.

It's Not About Practicality

Let me be upfront. If you're looking for a skill that will boost your resume or help you land a job, hieroglyphics probably isn't it (unless you're planning a career in Egyptology). I didn't learn it for practical reasons. I learned it because I was genuinely curious, and that curiosity turned into one of the most rewarding intellectual experiences of my life.

There's something deeply satisfying about looking at symbols that have been carved into stone for over 4,000 years and being able to read them. The first time I decoded a cartouche on my own, I felt a connection to the ancient world that no documentary or museum visit had ever given me.

It's Surprisingly Learnable

One thing that held me back at first was the assumption that hieroglyphics would be impossibly difficult. I pictured thousands of mysterious symbols with no logic behind them. The reality is quite different.

The core of the system is built on about 24 single-consonant signs that work like an alphabet. Once you memorise those, you can start sounding out words almost immediately. Yes, there are hundreds of additional signs (logograms, biliterals, triliterals, determinatives), but you build up to those gradually. It's like learning any language: you start with the basics and layer on complexity over time.

I found the learning curve steep at the beginning but surprisingly manageable after the first few weeks. The writing system has an internal logic that starts to click once you get past the initial overwhelm.

What You Actually Gain

Here's what learning hieroglyphics has given me that I didn't expect:

A new way of thinking about language. Hieroglyphics combine sound, meaning, and classification in ways that no modern writing system does. A single word might include phonetic signs (spelling out sounds), a logogram (representing the whole concept), and a determinative (a silent sign that tells you what category the word belongs to). Wrapping my head around this system completely changed how I think about writing and communication.

Real access to ancient texts. Before I learned hieroglyphics, ancient Egypt was something I experienced through other people's translations and interpretations. Now I can read inscriptions directly. It's the difference between hearing someone describe a song and actually listening to it yourself.

A genuine sense of accomplishment. In a world where most of what I learn is immediately practical (a new framework, a productivity hack), learning hieroglyphics felt like a pure intellectual challenge. There's no shortcut, no AI tool that does it for you. You just have to sit down, study, and build the knowledge piece by piece. That process has been incredibly rewarding.

Better museum visits. This one sounds small, but it's been one of my favourite side effects. Walking through the Egyptian galleries at a museum and being able to read even fragments of the inscriptions transforms the experience entirely.

Who Should Learn Hieroglyphics?

I think hieroglyphics is a great fit if you:

• •Have a genuine interest in ancient Egypt (even a casual one)
• •Enjoy puzzles and pattern recognition
• •Want an intellectual challenge that's completely different from your day job
• •Like the idea of reading primary sources from one of history's greatest civilisations
• •Are patient enough to stick with something that takes time to master

It's probably not for you if you need immediate practical returns on every hour you invest. But if you have room in your life for something that's purely enriching, I can't recommend it enough.

My Advice If You're on the Fence

Start small. Learn the 24 uniliteral signs. Try to read a cartouche or two (Cleopatra's name is a great first exercise because it's spelled purely phonetically). See how it feels. You'll know pretty quickly whether this is something that excites you or not.

For me, the moment I realised I could read "Tutankhamun" in the original script, I was hooked. That single moment of recognition turned a casual curiosity into a genuine passion.

So should you learn hieroglyphics? If the question keeps nagging at you, that's probably your answer right there.