Hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphs: Studies in Ancient Hieroglyphic Writing

Orly Goldwasser — 2023-08-08

With this first issue we are very pleased to introduce Hieroglyphs, an internationally peer-reviewed e-journal that aims to promote the academic study of hieroglyphs from both an Egyptological and a comparative perspective.

An Egypto-Grammatology

Dimitri Meeks — 2023-08-08

Grammatology as a field of study in Egyptology, though having by now quite old roots, remains difficult to define. It is commonly confused with palaeography. The latter, however, is limited to the formal aspects of a hieroglyph and its variations. Setting aside the theories developed by Ignace Gelb and Jacques Derrida, Egypto-grammatology addresses all cultural aspects of the writing system and its components. The present article summarises the main difficulties the grammatological process should address and gives some examples of what one can expect from it. Relying first on philological, lexicographical and palaeographical analyses in a diachronic perspective, the aim of Egypto-grammatology is to recover what was the cultural meaning of a hieroglyph for the ancient Egyptians. To reach this goal, it uses all possible information given by iconography and archaeological remains and, whenever possible, the theological signification embedded in the hieroglyphic image. This approach makes it possible to identify correctly what a hieroglyph represents and thence to give it its proper place in a taxonomic system. Ultimately, Egypto-grammatology brings into the validity of some principles and limitations imposed by the Unicode Standard for the implementation of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The Scribe’s Outfit 𓏟 in the Deir el-Medina Pseudo-script

Ben Haring — 2023-08-08

The sign for ‘scribe’ that occurs among identity marks on Deir el-Medina ostraca and other artefacts from the Ramesside Period (ca. 1290–1070 BCE) shows a remarkable graphic diversity. Its basic forms were inspired by hieroglyphic writing on the one hand, and by cursive (hieratic) writing on the other, and both forms appear to have enjoyed equal popularity in similar contexts. In addition to the information it provides on the reception of hieroglyphic and hieratic writing among semi-literate administrators, the sign is evidence for the existence of one ‘senior scribe’ at Deir el-Medina.

Hieroglyphs in the Renaissance: Rebirth or New Life? (Part 1)

Jean Winand — 2023-08-08

This paper (the first of a series) deals with the reception of Egyptian hieroglyphs in the Renaissance. Humanists and artists were not much interested in deciphering the ancient Egyptian writing, which was increasingly revealing itself in the monuments that were rediscovered in the 15th and 16th centuries, mainly in Italy. Stimulated by the (neo-)Platonic vision of a purely symbolic mode of expressing ideas, and comforted in this by the edition of the Hieroglyphica, attributed (probably wrongly) to Horapollo, they created their own system of writing, which was first put in practice in Francesco Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia (Venice, 1499). After a general introduction, this paper presents the available documentation in a principled way, by sorting out the data according to their semiotic functions, whose mechanics will be dealt with in the second part of the study.

Exploring the Hieroglyphic Sign After Champollion

Nathalie Beaux — 2023-08-08

Through a review of the approaches and achievements of our two hundred years of study into Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, we will first explore the analysis and classification of signs, the list of signs and palaeogra- phies, as well as the relations of the hieroglyphic signs with representation, with an emphasis on the use of the figurative dimension of the sign.We will then study the expedients employed by writing in order to achieve a high degree of effectiveness for the sign: its colour, shape, mobility, smell and combination of different elements or its association with other signs. The question will be asked whether a sign needs to be read or visible in order to be effective. At last, the performative value of Egyptian writing, its origin and its use will bring to light the role that writing indeed plays in maintaining the harmony of creation.

Hieroglyphic Complexity at Esna

David Klotz — 2023-08-08

Exploration of various types of scribal innovation (particularly in the arrangement of hieroglyphs), as evidenced in Roman period inscriptions from Esna, compared to similar practices in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. Beyond the much-discussed phenomenon of unetymological spellings, particular attention is paid to the reduction of chief divinities’ names to sportive bigrams and trigrams, which could be rearranged to express theological constellations.

Graphetic Compounding in the First Intermediate Period

Philipp Seyr — 2023-08-08

This paper details the circumstances by which ‘composite hieroglyphs’ developed and the factors that may have influenced their subsequent evolution. It is organized into two complementary sections. In the first sec- tion, I offer a fine-grained contextual analysis of the sign ḥtr.wy “span (of one pair of oxen)” and its variants in the First Intermediate Period. This analysis suggests two possible scenarios for the development of this sign, an inductive local one (scenario a) and a deductive global one (scenario b). In the second section, I describe the process by which composite signs decomposed within the same period and propose distinguishing ‘compound splitting’ from ‘component merging.’ The results of this systemic approach are used to assess the probabilities of the two scenarios envisioned for the case-study and to plead in favour of the inductive local position.

A Brief Note on the Cretan Hieroglyphic Signs 044 [sign] and 056 [sign]

Willemijn Waal — 2023-08-08

This paper builds further on the persuasive proposal of Ferrara & Cristiani 2016 that the Cretan Hieroglyphic sign 044 [sign] represents a seal of the “Petschaft” type. Drawing a comparison with the better under- stood Anatolian Hieroglyphic material, it tentatively proposes that on seals this sign may have functioned as a logogram with the meaning ‘seal’, and that the Cretan Hieroglyphic sign 056 [sign] may have been used in a similar manner.

The Social Lives of mdw-nṯr 𓊹𓌃𓏪

Niv Allon — 2023-08-08

This paper explores the discourses surrounding mdw-nṯr and the contexts in which they appear. Having been translated as both “hieroglyphs” and “god’s words,” it purportedly reveals the Egyptians’ attitude toward this script throughout Egyptian history. By analyzing its attestations from the Old to the New Kingdoms, this paper highlights shifts in discourses surrounding mdw-nṯr, especially in how it was employed and by whom.

The Egyptian Hieroglyphic Sign for the Sky 𓇯

Philippe Collombert — 2023-08-08

After refuting previous interpretations, it is argued that the Egyptian hieroglyphic sign for the sky 𓇯 represents the two closed lower hinges of a door. The sky itself, infigurable by nature, would therefore only be represented by the entrances through which it could be reached. This hypothesis fits perfectly with the standards of the Egyptian iconographic and scriptural repertoire from the earliest periods, when the sign first appeared, while at the same time echoing the sign [hiero] that represents a concrete element of the material world, the door hinge. It also resonates with conceptions of the Egyptian imaginary world as revealed in ancient texts (the famous motif of the “doors of the sky”).

Anatolian Hieroglyphic Writing and Meta-Writing

Annick Payne — 2023-08-08

This contribution discusses the writing of the name of the goddess Kubaba. In its fullest form, her name is marked with the classifier for “god” next to full phonetic writing of Kubaba as ku-pa-pa-. Curiously, most spell- ings include a bird sign (AVIS) after the first syllable, ku. This paper addresses the spelling, which seems to break with the current understanding of how Anatolian hieroglyphic writing functioned. It is argued that this particular writing exceeds the recording of linguistic content with the bird sign, which is to be understood as meta-writing, i.e., a visual comment on the writing.

The Proto-Semitic Origin of Tāw and its Meaning

Gebhard J. Selz — 2024-01-15

This article is based on Gardiner’s “acrophonic” and Goldwasser’s “illiterate” hypotheses for the origins of the evolving Proto-Semitic alphabet. It demonstrates that the letter name Tāw originates from the custom of marking/branding animals, a non-linguistic system indicating rights of disposal attested from the 3rd millennium BCE in southern Mesopotamia and still extant with today’s Bedouins in the Levant. This custom is perceived as the point of departure for the evolving concept as an (alphabetical) letter in the 2nd millennium. It is further shown that the culturally determined ancestry of the letter Tāw is reflected also in the sources of the Hebrew Bible, thus providing important insights for Biblical exegetical research.

Stéphane Polis — 2023-08-08