Write Your Name in Hieroglyphs
The hieroglyphic alphabet: the 24 signs Egyptian scribes used for single sounds
Rules of the scribes
- Egyptian wrote no vowels. Use the vulture for A, the reed for E, I and Y, and the quail chick for O and U.
- L and R were the same sound, so both use the mouth sign.
- Double letters are written once. Harry becomes H-A-R-Y.
- C sounds like K before A, O or U (basket) and like S before E, I or Y (folded cloth).
- SH, CH, TH and PH are one sign each.
Activities
Use the alphabet chart on page 1. Write from left to right, like the scribes often did.
1 Write your name in a cartouche
Only pharaohs had their names written inside a cartouche, an oval rope with a knot at the end. Today, you are the pharaoh. Draw your name, one sign for each sound.
How Egyptologists would write the sounds of your name (e.g. Harry = h-a-r-y): ____________________________________
2 Decode these famous names
Which pharaoh, river or goddess is written here? Use the chart to work out each sound.
3 A friend's name
Swap sheets with a partner. Write their name in the cartouche and then say it aloud from the signs.
β Challenge
Some English letters share one hieroglyph. Find three pairs of letters on the chart that use the same sign, and write them here:
1. _____ and _____ Β Β 2. _____ and _____ Β Β 3. _____ and _____
Why do you think the Egyptians had no sign for the letter E? Write one sentence.
______________________________________________________________________
Teacher's answer key
Plus a 50-minute lesson outline. Full teacher notes at learnhieroglyphics.com/teachers
2 Decode these famous names
| Signs | Reading | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| t-w-t | Tut (Tutankhamun's nickname) | |
| n-j-r-j | Nile (the river) | |
| j-s-j-s | Isis (the goddess) | |
| r-κ£-m-j-s-j-s | Rameses (eleven pharaohs had this name) |
Accept any answer that gets the consonants right; the vowels are guesses for the Egyptians too. βTutβ uses the quail chick for U; pupils may read it as βTwtβ, which is exactly how an Egyptologist writes it.
β Challenge
Letters that share one sign (any three pairs):
- L and R: the mouth
- C (hard) and K: the basket
- S and Z: the folded cloth
- F and V: the horned viper
- O, U and W: the quail chick
- E, I and Y: the reed
Why no E? Egyptian writing recorded only consonants; readers supplied the vowels from knowing the language, just as we can read βtxt msgβ. Egyptologists add an e between consonants by convention so that words can be spoken aloud.
β± 50-minute lesson outline
| Starter Β· 10 min | Type a volunteer's name into the translator on the whiteboard (learnhieroglyphics.com/translate-name-to-hieroglyphics). Class works out the rules: no vowels, L = R. |
| Main Β· 25 min | Pages 1β2 of this sheet. Fast finishers take the challenge. |
| Plenary Β· 10 min | Swap and decode a partner's cartouche. Discuss: how do we know how Egyptian sounded? (Mostly we don't, hence Nefertiti, not Nfrtt.) |
| Extension | Lesson one of the course (free with an account) teaches all 25 signs with audio in ~25 minutes: learnhieroglyphics.com/get-started |