Hieroglyphs and Hypotheses
By Emory Taylor

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A note about quotes.
Quotes are referenced such as 23/4/7-9 where 23/ is the page number, and 4/ is the paragraph number, and 7-9 are the sentences. So this quote reference indicates the the quote can be found at page 23, paragraph 4, sentences 7-9 of an indicated book.

Egyptologists have developed theories about ancient Egyptian civilization. Often, some people forget, or do not realize, that much of what we read about ancient Egypt is, in fact, theory. Any Egyptologist, or archaeologist, will tell you that much of what we know about ancient Egypt is theory.

Religion In Ancient Egypt --- Shafer
xi/1/1-2 "Egyptology is a dynamic field. Ongoing archaeological and epigraphically investigations continuously produce fresh data, some of which point the way to reformulation of previously held hypotheses about ancient Egyptian life, thought, and history."

These replica rolex watches theories are not just based on the evidence (artifacts) because the evidence (artifacts) must be interpreted: the basis of these theories is the interpretation of the artifacts. How the evidence is interpreted is of great importance. The evidence is not always interpreted the same way by different individuals, which gives rise to competing theories, even within the field of Egyptology.

Much of what we...know...about ancient Egypt is based on hieroglyphic writing, that is based on interpretations of the hieroglyphic writing.

Dr. Ramses Seleem, a graduated from the Cairo University, who has a Ph.D. in Egyptian history, and is a teacher of Egyptology, in his book, The Illustrated Book Of The Dead, says the following.

44/3/1 "The fact that the ancient Egyptian language uses symbols and not letters means that it cannot be translated in the way we translate English into French, for instance."

45/2/1 "A sentence, therefore, which says, 'I have eaten with my mouth and chewed with my jaw,' does not express its true meaning in this literal translation. The symbolic meaning of eating with the mouth is that one digests what one eats; the symbolic meaning of chewing with the jaw is that one comprehends what one learns. The true translation of this text, therefore, should be, 'I digest what I learn and adsorb what I comprehend."

Is there any merit of Dr. Seleem's statement of 44/3/1 ("The fact that the ancient Egyptian language uses symbols and not letters means that it cannot be translated in the way we translate English into French, for instance.")?

Sociology A Down To Earth Approach --- Henslin
38/1/2-4 "A symbol is something to replica ic berlin sunglasses which people attach meaning and which they then use to communicate. Symbols are the basis of culture. They include gestures, language, values, norms, sanctions, folkways, and mores."

40/2/ "The primary way in which people communicate with one another is through language -- a system of symbols that can be put together in an infinite number of ways for the purpose of communicating abstract thought. Each word is actually a symbol, a sound to which we have attached a particular meaning so that we can then use it to communicate with one another. Language itself is universal in the sense that all human groups have language, but there is nothing universal about the meanings given to particular sounds. Thus ... in different cultures the same sound may mean something entirely different -- or may have no meaning at all."

40/4/1- "Language allows humans experience to be cumulative. By means of language one generation is able to pass significant experiences on to the next and allow that next generation to build on experiences it may not itself undergo."

40/6/1 "Language provides a social or shared past."

40/7/1 "Language provides a social or shared future."

41/1 "Language allows shared perspectives or understanding. Our ability to speak, then, allows us a social past and future; these two vital aspects of our humanity represent a watershed that distinguishes us from animals. But replica breitling chronomat uhren speech does much more than this. When humans talk with one another, they are exchanging ideas about events, that is, exchanging perspectives. Their words are the embodiment of their experiences, distilled and codified into a readily exchangeable form, mutually intelligible for people who have learned that language. Talking about events allows people to arrive at the shared understandings that form the essence of social life."

41/3/1 "Language allows complex, shared, goal-directed behavior."

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
41/3/3-5 "...Sapir and Whorf concluded that the common sense idea that words are merely labels that people attach to things was wrong. They developed the hypothesis that thinking and perception are not only expressed through language but actually shaped by language. Because language has embedded in it a way of looking at the world, learning a language involves learning not only words but also a particular way of thinking and perceiving ..."

41/4/2 "The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis reverses common sense: It indicates that rather than events and objects forcing themselves onto out consciousness, it is our very language that determines our consciousness, and hence our perception, of objects and events." 41/5/4 "...if you learn to classify students as 'dweebs,' 'dorks.' 'nerds.' 'brains,' and so on, you will perceive a student who asks several questions during class or remains after class to talk about a lecture in an entirely different way from someone who does not know these classifications."

42/3/1 "Learning a language means not just learning words but also acquiring the perceptions embedded in the language."

42/4 " In short, our entire way of life is based on language, although, like most aspects of culture, its linguistic base is usually invisible to us."

As you should be able to tell, there is great merit to Dr. Seleem's statement of 44/3/1 ("The fact that the ancient Egyptian language uses symbols and not letters means that it cannot be translated in the way we translate English into French, for instance.").

Much of what we know of ancient Egyptian religion is from religious text such as the Pyramid text, the Coffin text, and the Book of the Coming Forth by Day (often called the Book of the Dead). These religious text are written in hieroglyphs. So the meanings of the symbols of the hieroglyphs is of great importance in correctly interpreting what these religious text state.

Myth Symbol and Ancient Egypt --- Clark
26/1/3-5 "When we speak of Ancient Egypt we are not thinking of the unchanging world of the present but the great world of the pharaohs and the priests, scribes and artists who supported it. And this world, in spite of foreign invasions and political domination by Greeks and then by Romans, remained more or less intact until the third century AD. It was Christianity that killed it, in all its aspects. The inevitable conclusion is that Egyptian religion was the heart of the civilization. When that lost its nerve or was superseded the rest fell apart."

26/2/1 "Any religion is a complex thing; Egyptian religion was especially so, partly because of the rich diversity of the civilization but even replica rolex datejust ii Orologi more because it penetrated and informed every aspect of life."

It should be apparent that in order to gain understanding of ancient Egyptian civilization, we must correctly interpret the religious text, and in order to do this we must know the meanings of the symbols of the hieroglyphs. As Dr. Seleem said, 44/3/1, "The fact that the ancient Egyptian language uses symbols and not letters means that it cannot be translated in the way we translate English into French, for instance."

Religion In Ancient Egypt --- Shafer
9/1/6 These [Pyramid Text] funerary inscriptions contain enough descriptive, narrative, and conversational data to allow scholars to form theories about the concepts of divinity during pharaonic times and to offer hypotheses about the concepts in use in the even more distance past.

9/3 Many modern examinations of godhood in the earlier periods of Egyptian civilization have been based primarily on theories developed from materials of the later time periods. In view of the conservative nature of the Egyptians in general and the archaic style of religious text in particular, such analyses have much merit. One must not forget, however, that these late sources, although more abundant than earlier ones, were far removed from the time the original ideas were formulated and may contain errors or misconception that were compounded as they were handed down.

Added to this are errors or misconceptions of the individuals attempting to interpret the ancient text. For example, it has long been held as fact that the ancient Egyptians believed in many gods.

Many people, enen Egyptologists, believwe the ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, believing in many gods.

Egyptian Religion --- Budge
17/1/1 "A study of ancient Egyptian religious texts will convince the reader that the Egyptians believed in One God, who was self-existent, immortal, invisible, eternal, omniscient, almighty, and inscrutable; the maker of the heavens, earth, and underworld; the creator of the sky and the sea, men and women, animals and birds, fish and creeping things, trees and plaints, and the incorporeal beings who were the messengers that fulfilled his wish and word."

29/4/2-4 "...mention must be made of the neteru, i.e., the beings or existence’s which in some way partake of the nature or character of God, and are usually called 'gods.' The early nations that came in contact with the Egyptians usually misunderstood the nature of these beings, and several modern Western writers have done the same. When we examine these 'gods' closely, they are found to be nothing more or less than forms, or manifestations, or phases, or attributes, of one god, that god being Ra the Sun-god, who, it must be remembered, was the type and symbol of God."

Awakening Osiris --- Ellis
21/2 "The Egyptian word which we have translated as 'god' is neter, as in the 'neterworld.' But the word god, though common to us, seems imprecise when applied to Egyptian religion. Neter refers primarily to a spiritual essence, or principle. Our word 'nature' may derive from it through the Latin. The multitudes of neters, then, represent the multitudinous natures of supreme being. As John West pointed out in his book, Serpent in the Sky, the various religious centers of Heliopolis, Memphis, Hermopolis, and Thebes, for example, were not advocating different gods. They were advocating different aspects of god.

21/3 "From the mouth of one supreme god came what is known as the Great Ennead, or the nine gods (neters) of the one. In Heliopolis these were: Temu, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. In Memphis, Path and Hathor play major roles. In Hermopolis, Thoth is elevated. Ra, as a principle of light, eternity, power and rebirth, attained prominence nearly everywhere."

It should be apparent that I have given an example of how we often forget, or do not realize, that much of what we read about ancient Egypt is theory. The misconception that the ancient Egyptians believed in many gods continues to hold sway over many people, perhaps because they forgot, or did not realize, that much of what we read about ancient Egypt is, in fact, theory.

Just who were the early Egyptologists who developed theories about ancient Egypt, theories which are now being challenged, theories which individuals like Dr. Seleem believe are based on too literal interpretations of the religious text and, therefore, are misleading. Were these early Egyptologists Christians? Remember what Clark said in his book "Myth Symbol and Ancient Egypt."

26/1/3-5 "When we speak of Ancient Egypt we are not thinking of the unchanging world of the present but the great world of the pharaohs and the priests, scribes and artists who supported it. And this world, in spite of foreign invasions and political domination by Greeks and then by Romans, remained more or less intact until the third century AD. It was Christianity that killed it, in all its aspects. The inevitable conclusion is that Egyptian religion was the heart of the civilization. When that lost its nerve or was superseded the rest fell apart."

The Illustrated Book of the Dead --- Seleem
53/1/2 [The introduction to the Book of Hunefer] "refutes the misconception commonly held by modern Egyptologists that the Egyptians were polytheistic, although the pioneers of Egyptology, such as Champoilion, Maspero, and others, did recognize that the Egyptians embraced only one God. Many of today's Egyptologists have been influenced by the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which in general maintain that the Egyptians were heathen and polytheistic, a view that arises from a lack of understanding of the Egyptian spiritual doctrine."

Are mainstream theoris about ancient Egypt based on correct interpretations of the artifacts? Or, are the mainstream theories about ancient Egypt based on interpretations influenced by other religions and cultures? Have ulterior motives been at work? What do the ancient Egyptian religious text, written in hieroglyphs, really state? What are the perceptions embedded in the language written in hieroglyphs? I believe these questions need to be addressed, but for now it is enough if you acknowledge that much of what we...know... about ancient Egyptian civilization is theory, based upon interpretations of the artifacts, and that different individuals do not always interpret the artifacts the same, and that theories, unlike the hieroglyphs, are not written in stone: they are subject to change, as Byron Shafer stated, xi/1/2, "Ongoing archaeological and epigraphically investigations continuously produce fresh data, some of which point the way to reformulation of previously held hypotheses about ancient Egyptian life, thought, and history."

Religion In Ancient Egypt --- Shafer
Shafer, Byron, 1991, Religion In Acient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice. Edited by Byron E. Shafer. Contributors John Baines, Leonard H. Lesko, David P. Silverman, Cornell University Press, ISBN 0-8014-9986-8.

The Illustrated Book Of The Dead
Seleem, Dr. Ramese, 2001, The Illustrated Egyptian Book Of The Dead: A New Translation with Commentary, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York. ISBN 0-8069-2659-7

Sociology A Down To Earth Approach --- Henslin
Henslin, M. James, 1995, Sociology: a down to Earth approach, Simom & Schuster Company, Massachusetts ISBN 0-205-16158-8

Myth Symbol and Ancient Egypt --- Clark
Clark, R.T. Rundle, 1959, reprinted 1991, Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt, Thames and Hudson Inc, New York

Egyptian Religion --- Budge
Budge, Sir Wallis, MCMLIX, Egyptian Religion: Egyptian ideas of the future life, Bell Publishing, New York

Awakening Osiris --- Ellis
Ellis, Normandi, 1988, Awaking Osiris: a New Translation of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Phanes Press