Egyptologist Ilona Regulski Demystifies Hieroglyphics in New RobWords Video

In a recent video featured on the YouTube channel RobWords, Rob Watts visits Berlin's Neues Museum to engage with Egyptologist Ilona Regulski, who provides insights into the basics of deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Regulski, affiliated with the museum, explains that hieroglyphs are typically read vertically, while the horizontal orientation can vary between left-to-right or right-to-left, depending on the orientation of figures, like humans or animals. She points out that names may be presented in blocks, read top to bottom, unless they include a divine sign, which is elevated. The video dispels the myth that hieroglyphs are solely pictorial; many symbols represent sounds akin to letters in our alphabet. For instance, a mouth shape corresponds to 'r', a loaf of bread to 't', a horned viper to 'ph', and an owl to 'm'. Regulski emphasizes that these signs can be combined to convey sound and clarify meaning, highlighting that hieroglyphic writing lacks vowels, leaving pronunciation a subject of ongoing scholarly debate. This video is part of RobWords' exploration of language and history and follows earlier Open Culture features with Regulski on hieroglyphs and the Rosetta Stone. Colin Marshall, based in Seoul, authored the piece, focusing on cities, language, and culture.