How to read Egyptian hieroglyphs: A step-by-step guide to teach yourself

by Mark (Mark Anthony) Collier

A practical teach-yourself course on ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs for the general reader. In this text, the grammar of ancient Egypt is introduced using the inscriptions found on monuments, with an emphasis on learning to read and translate accurately. A series of 43 exercises accompanies an easy to follow ten-step guide and is supported by a reference section of sign-lists and a short dictionary at the end of the text. Background notes on general topics including gods, royal dynasties and principal sites aim to help the reader to understand the historical concept.

Genres: Nonfiction, Egypt, History, Language, Egyptology, Reference, Archaeology

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Together with my LARA colleagues Belinda and Cathy, we've put together a multimodal version of one of the examples from this book. You can see it here, view in Chrome or Firefox.

Karim, who is Egyptian, recorded the audio. None of us, including Karim, have any idea if it's correct, but he sounds amazing. Thank you Karim!!
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[Update, Jun 11 2022]

Not just stumbled over the YouTube Ancient Egyptian revival channel. Looks like fun!
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[Update, Jul 2 2022]

We are carrying out a pre-study to examine the possibility of using this kind of technology in museums. If you have a few minutes to spare, you might like to visit this page and answer the short questionnaire it links to. Results will be reported in a paper we're presenting at the EUROCALL 2022 conference next month.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I studied from this book in preparation for a trip to Egypt and was amazed at my progress. While in Egypt (and at museums elsewhere since) I was able to read and understand writing on sarcophagi, tomb walls, etc. Learning with this book requires a bit of dedication and a willingness to practice but the effort sure pays off – I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs for him- or herself.

[Savasandir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il metodo Assimil dell'egizio antico.

[Gareth Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very clever little book. I read it, went to the British Museum's Egyptology Collection and could read the hieroglyphs fairly well. The authors are from the BM, but present the Egyptian in modern way for the beginner. The chapters are well-paced, and you can work your way through them by yourself. Egyptian isn't the easiest language to learn, but this book certainly helps.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best guide to ancient Egyptian that I have come across. Uses actual Egyptian artifacts as examples!

[Michael Snuffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book looked promising. I wanted to learn to read hieroglyphs, and the authors, both prominent Egyptologists, have taught this material for many years. Sounds like a good match, right? It didn’t play out that way.

I had problems right off the bat with the first section of chapter one. The text presents the Egyptian alphabet, a list of one-consonant signs, but does not identify what any of the signs actually represent. I really felt that I needed to know what the signs meant as ideograms in order to correctly draw and understand them (“square, squiggle, bird, slug” just didn’t cut it), I so put the book down and quickly found a reference chart on the web that provided the necessary information. Strike one.

I told my best friend that I had started studying how to read hieroglyphs, and he asked me some simple questions I could not field using this book, like “how many hieroglyphs are there?” I easily found this information in other books; including a simple two- or three-page introductory essay that provided some basic facts would have added context and depth to this book. Strike two.

Exercises in the first section ask you to write out words in hieroglyphs, but the signs lack definition due to their small size, making it difficult to reproduce them. They made the signs too small; they need to print them in a larger typeface. Strike three, and I’m out looking for better book on how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Postscript: I found Bill Manley’s recent book, Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners, most helpful in learning and understanding the writing of the Ancient Egyptians. Highly recommended!

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the joy of 'glyphs with lots of real examples to translate and a focus on some of the more common formulaic inscriptions (to equip you for the museums of the world to show off your swanky knowledge of dead languages).

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to follow with useful practical exercises, the layout of the book introduces hieroglyphs step by step building the reader's knowledge up progressively. Also a very handy reference guide once you have the basic skills to work through translations outside those provided by the authors.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great class. Took almost a year, but we're done! Did most of the exercises with the group. Even when I was preparing for the Russian DLPT and I took several weeks off, afterwards, I went back to the book, read through the two chapters I'd missed (maybe just one? ch 3?) and did the exercises, checking my work against the collations.

Next up: translation course where we'll work on Amenemhat's instructions to his son (Sety II?).

[L.]

Se me olvidó que tenía esto en la estantería y lo acabé antes de que terminase el curso... el método no está mal, aunque probablemente sería mejor con un profesor que lo siguiera como está planteado y no cogiendo lo que más le interese. Se sigue bien de forma autónoma, de todas maneras.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well it only took me 16 years since buying this book in the British Museum, and 6 months since actively starting to work on it, but I finished C&M - How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs, by Collier & Manley. YES! Such a feeling of accomplishment.

This is a great book for beginning your study of hieroglyphic Egyptian. Whether it's the absolute best I'm not sure - I've also heard that Janice Kamrin's Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Practical Guide, and Hoch's grammar, are good. I'm pretty sure Bussman's Complete Middle Egyptian isn't bad either, though I've not finished that one yet. However, it's probable that this is the fastest guide to getting you started on reading actual inscriptions, since it introduces the offering formula very early, viz. Chapter 3, and honestly once you've mastered that you're guaranteed to find at least one artifact to read in any museum with a decent Egyptian collection (and which to impress passing visitors).

I've also found in working through Allen's Middle Egyptian, which is probably THE textbook, that having gone through C&M was a BIG help. Allen tends to frontload information without the full context, but thinking back to examples I'd seen in Allen helped to provide that context.

The exercises are fairly challenging, but the authors provide just the right amount of help for a dedicated student. They're very realistic since they generally consist of reading an inscription from the British Museum, sometimes photographs in quite scruffy condition, so you have to squint. But that's kinda what it's like at a real museum.

Again, great book. My copy is all scratched up because I bought the half-price as-is copy at the museum shop as an impoverished student in 2003, but I'll always cherish it - and will probably make use often of the handy-dandy reference tables in the back.

[Mateen Ar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed studying this book; not because the book in itself was good, but rather because I really did enjoy the content and what I learned about it. The book is structured in a way in which one cannot help but to enjoy learning, but the parts relating to teaching grammar are incredibly weak and lax of information. There is no proper explanation of unique grammatical information and so without a teacher, one cannot learn as much as he could otherwise. There are also several things missing from this work that would otherwise have made it into a better book, such as digital content available online perhaps, more historical content (as opposed to tomb text after tomb text), and even something more exciting would have made one crave reading this book more (such as Akhenaten's stelae).
Also, it could have done if the exercise answers had notes on them; as opposed to just showing the answers.

[Ann Schwader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've actually worked my way through this useful small volume at least three times, though the last two times were incomplete -- I keep getting bogged down on the exercises in the last chapter.

This is a limited (intentionally) but very useful book for learning enough Middle Egyptian hieroglyphs to read inscriptions in museums & do other things a non-specialist might want to do. Not as intensive or extensive as a real course in hieroglyphs (and, yes, I have had a mail-in one from the Oriental Institute), but well worth doing if you have an interest.

Dictionary, sign list, and all answers to exercises are supplied in the back of the book. Nothing else to buy. Good end notes for further study, too.

[Itsbecka · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to be able to read the stuff you see in museums, this will give you a basic understanding of how the inscriptions are set up and what are the basic elements to look for.

[Ruth Kenyon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't think much of this one. Tried to be too simple and too full of grammar and tenses at the same time. I gave up and went back to Gardiner.

[Sergio ruocchio · Rating 5 out of 5]

effettivamente le promesse di questo manuale vengono mantenute . il testo garantisce una prima comprensione del geroglifico egizio.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book since 2005. When I originally purchased the book, it seemed a bit too daunting to me. I started on chapter 1 but got stuck on what I thought was a difficult concept. After completing Manley’s Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners, this book seemed much more approachable. In May of 2017, I started studying with a free online group called GlyphStudy. As of May 2018, I've completed all the exercises in the book. Language study with a group is more motivating than going at it alone. Collier and Manley's book is not a full grammar but it does teach a lot of vocabulary, various verb forms, cartouches, and focuses on the offering formula. This book is well worth your time. Most of the translation material comes from the British Museum, some of it not on public display. You translate several stela and other objects in the book. Specifically translated are: the roasting scene from the rock tombs at Meir, the Abydos king list, BM EA 586, BM EA 567, BM EA 162, BM EA 585, BM EA 101, BM EA 581, the fishing and fowling scene from Senbi at Meir 1 pl 2, the coffin of Nakhtankh BM EA 35285, BM EA 571, BM EA 1671, BM EA 614, BM EM 143 Stela of Nakhti, and others. If you are interested in translating items you will likely see in museums but don't want to do a full college-level grammar than this book is great. It provides an answer key in the back which is a helpful way to check your work. I still think Manley's other title is where I would start from scratch, but this is the best next step.

[Alb85]

Tradurre i geroglifici è un’attività tutt’altro che facile. Leggendo questo libro ho scoperto un sacco di informazioni che non conoscevo su questa antica scrittura, ad esempio che:
- i geroglifici non sono usati per scrivere solamente le consonanti. La convenzione adottata normalmente consiste nell’inserire una “e” tra ogni consonante tranne in casi particolari dove si usano le altre vocali.
- I geroglifici si leggono partendo dalla direzione verso cui sono rivolti la parte anteriore o il volto dei vari segni, e dall’alto verso il basso.
- Le parole nella scrittura geroglifica non hanno una sola grafia corretta, ma sono piuttosto “elastiche” e possono essere abbreviate o allungate tramite l’inserzione o l’esclusione di complementi fonetici.
- I geroglifici sono scritti in gruppi, conciliando le considerazioni di carattere estetico con i limiti dello spazio fisico a disposizione, attraverso l’utilizzo di diverse combinazioni di segni. Per questi motivi le parole possono essere scritte in modi diversi.

Il libro è denso di contenuti ma allo stesso tempo è compatto. Viene spiegato come tradurre le iscrizioni presenti in molti monumenti del British Museum. Ogni capitolo comprende esercizi per facilitare l’apprendimento. Il formato digitale è molto ben curato. Non è un libro da leggere in pochi giorni ma richiede molto tempo e concentrazione.

L’unico difetto è che vengono utilizzati termini tecnici senza spiegarne il significato, come ad esempio: traslitterazione, segni di interpunzione, segno diacritico, cartiglio, e latinizzazioni.

[David Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent introductory book. The first couple of chapters give you a good bird's eye view of the landscape and, from there, it's just a matter of focusing on the details of learning vocabulary and getting used to words in context.

Another book I looked at was _Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics_ by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. Originally appearing in 1889, that book was undoubtedly groundbreaking in its time. However, just in the past 30 or 40 years, language teaching and reference materials have come a long way. And that's as true of ancient languages (Egyptian, Latin, etc.) as it is of modern languages.

Bill Manley's _Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners_ seems like another promising book, although I haven't had much of an opportunity to delve into it deeply yet.

[Tracey Steele · Rating 1 out of 5]

Would not recommend at all. I am an Egyptology student with intermediate knowledge of the language. I forgot I had this book and thought that I would use it to compliment my studies.
It is so hard to understand. It is terribly written and laid out. The transliterations are incorrectly given. Take 'house for example. They say the translit is pr when it is actually pr.w
They miss all of the additional notations. They do not explain the endings very well for plural, adjectives, pronouns and such. They just throw them in there and hope for the best.

If you want to learn words and about the offering formula, this is good. Otherwise its a load of rubbish

[David Waldron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compact and highly effective introduction to Middle Egyptian for non-specialists. While the authors might have done well to devote a bit more attention in the later chapters to the language's complex verb forms, I'm quite impressed with the progress I was able to make. As one might expect, the book focuses quite tightly on Middle Kingdom funerary inscriptions. These are among the texts most likely to be encountered in museum collections. I would say that, although the authors have done an excellent job, mastering the material requires a good deal of dedication on the part of the reader.

[Nura Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Semplicistico, utile per "un'infarinatura", ma carente sotto molti punti di vista.

[Mohamed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very important

[Mariana Isabel Vicente · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very simple to undesrtand, great for beginners and anyone who wants to remember the basic rules of hieroglyphic writing.

[Sharon Hague · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book and one we shared at the University of Manchester!

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up on learning hieroglyphics so stopped using the book.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice for reference, I didn't do all the exercises.

[Mark A.]

""

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually could not finish this book, but it is not the fault of the authors. What they have attempted here is both remarkable and praiseworthy. The half of the book (little more than half, but it's not important) I did read was well presented and interesting. This is only applicable to me personally, but I think I would have been more successful using this as a textbook for a class about hieroglyphs.

Learning this information on a library loan with a deadline is not conducive to actually getting through it. Add to this the lack of auditory assistance for pronouncing the ancient language and it becomes exceedingly difficult, at least for me. I don't like giving up on a book, and cannot rate it above a three since I didn't finish, but in better circumstances, I think this would be a very handy teacher and reference tool for learning ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The review system is a little bit difficult to use here.

This book is an excellent and concise resource for anyone interested in learning the logic and means by which written word was communicated. Although I only did the exercises in the beginning chapters, the structure was still attainable without requiring me to be a linguist.