For teachers Β· KS2 & KS3 Ancient Egypt
Bring real hieroglyphs into your classroom
A whiteboard name translator, a printable write-your-name worksheet with answer key, and a ready-made 50-minute lesson. Free, accurate, and no pupil accounts needed.
Cleopatra, as a scribe would write it
Quick answer
Learn Hieroglyphics offers free classroom resources for teaching Ancient Egypt: a name-to-hieroglyphs translator that needs no sign-in, a printable A4 worksheet where pupils write their own name in a cartouche using the 24 real alphabet signs, a teacher answer key, and a 50-minute lesson outline mapped to the KS2 History depth study of Ancient Egypt.
Three ways to use it tomorrow
On the whiteboard
Type any name and watch it appear sign by sign, then tap each sign for a one-line explanation. Pupils love seeing their own name; it is what brought a whole class from one UK school to this site in a single morning.
Name translator βOn paper
A three-page A4 worksheet: alphabet chart, write-your-name cartouche, four names to decode, a challenge for fast finishers, and an answer key. Print it or save it as a PDF.
Printable worksheet βAs a full lesson
Lesson one of the course teaches all 25 alphabet signs with audio and quick checks in about 25 minutes. Free with an account. Run it from the front, or set it as homework for older pupils.
Free lesson βA ready-made 50-minute lesson
Learning objective: to understand how the ancient Egyptians wrote sounds, and to write my own name as a scribe would.
- 10 min
Starter: a name on the wall
Open the name translator on the whiteboard and type a volunteer's name. Ask the class to work out the rules from what they see: Why is there no letter E? Why do L and R look the same? Reveal the answers (Egyptian wrote consonants only; L and R were one sound).
Open the translator β - 25 min
Main: write your name in a cartouche
Hand out the worksheet. Pupils use the alphabet chart to write their own name inside the cartouche, then decode four famous names. The chart is on page one, activities on page two, answer key on page three (keep that one!).
Open the worksheet β - 10 min
Plenary: swap and decode
Pupils swap sheets and read a partner's cartouche aloud. Finish on the big question: if Egyptian only wrote consonants, how do we know how the words sounded? (We mostly don't; Egyptologists insert an 'e' by convention, which is why it is Nefer-titi and not Nfrtt.)
- Extension
Homework: lesson one, free
The first lesson of the course teaches all 25 alphabet signs with audio, sign-by-sign quick checks and a spelling game, in about 25 minutes. It needs a free account, so it suits older pupils at home or the teacher on the board.
Start the free lesson β
Where it fits the curriculum
History (KS2)
The achievements of the earliest civilisations: a depth study of Ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphs are the most concrete achievement pupils can hold in their hands.
English
Phonics in reverse: pupils break their own name into sounds and discover that some English letters share a sound (C/K, S/Z, F/V).
Art & Design
The cartouche is a ready-made design brief: pupils can paint, carve into clay or stitch their finished name.
History (KS3)
Writing systems, the Rosetta Stone and how historians decode the past: a strong transition or enrichment lesson.
Accurate, not just decorative
Every sign on the worksheet and in the translator is a genuine uniliteral from Gardiner's sign list: the owl for m, the water ripple for n, the vulture for the glottal stop Egyptologists read as a. The vowel, L/R and double-letter conventions are the ones the British Museum and university departments use when they write modern names.
We are honest with pupils about the limits: this is a phonetic transliteration of the sounds of a name, not a translation of its meaning, and cartouches were reserved for royalty, which is exactly why children enjoy putting their own name in one.
Teacher FAQ
- Is it free for schools?
- Yes. The name translator, the printable worksheet, the answer key and the lesson outline on this page are free to use and photocopy for classroom teaching. The full eight-lesson course is a one-off $14.99 per account; the first lesson is free.
- Do pupils need accounts?
- No. The name translator and the worksheet work with no sign-in at all, so pupils can use them on Chromebooks, iPads or a shared whiteboard. Only the lesson course needs a free account, so we suggest the teacher signs in and runs lesson one from the front of the class.
- Which year groups is it for?
- It is written for Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6) studying Ancient Egypt as their earliest-civilisations depth study, and works well as a KS3 enrichment or transition activity. The worksheet needs only basic reading; the challenge questions stretch older pupils.
- Are the hieroglyphs accurate?
- Yes. Every sign is the real Gardiner-list uniliteral used by Egyptologists, and the conventions for vowels, L/R and double letters are the same ones museums use when they write modern names in hieroglyphs. The worksheet explains that this is a phonetic transliteration of sounds, not a translation of meaning.
- Is there anything unsuitable for children on the site?
- No. There are no adverts, no chat features and no user-generated content. Public pages show first names and last initials on the leaderboard only for people who have chosen to create an account.
Want it for a whole class or school?
If you would like class access to the full course, a school visit, or a worksheet adapted to your scheme of work, tell us what you need; we reply to every teacher.