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.
Wondering how it is possible for a language used by the world's greatest civilization to become lost; charting the rise and fall of ancient Egypt's kingdoms; investigating the ways Christianity replaces hieroglyphs with Greek letters.
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.
With the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, the process of deciphering hieroglyphs begins; early attempts are thrown off by what Professor Brier calls the "Big Mistake"; why so many scholars make the error of treating hieroglyphs like picture writing.
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.
Bob Brier
Host
