Understanding why ancient Egypt has to invent some form of writing; central to this introduction is a study of the Narmer Palette; its writing sets standards and conventions that would be followed for 3,000 years.

Learning the hieroglyphic alphabet; how to write and position each hieroglyph, including a stylized hand, a horned viper and two hieroglyphs for which English does not have a letter; transcribing one's name from English to ancient Egyptian.

Exploring how hieroglyphs and the ability to read them are rediscovered during Napoleon's invasion of Egypt; considering the birth of Egyptology; the role of ushabtis, statues of servants that are buried with prominent Egyptians.

How several key discoveries show how to decipher hieroglyphs the right way; how they shape an understanding of ancient Egypt; a bilingual obelisk that extends the Egyptian alphabet; the "Hall of Ancients", which contains a long list of pharaohs.