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Book Recommendations Video

Video – Hieroglyphic Dictionaries Recommendations

Dictionaries Books Reel 

Hi ๐“‰”๐“‡Œ๐“€ everyone! Iโ€™m back with another book ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› recommendation! These are four ๐“ฝ hieroglyphic ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช dictionaries that I really like and use all the time! I would definitely recommend these dictionaries if youโ€™re studying hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! 

The two ๐“ป dictionaries by Bill Petty are easy to get because they are still in print, however, the Budge dictionaries are old and youโ€™ll probably have to get them second hand! My Nonno gave me the Budge dictionaries over 20 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž† years ago and whatโ€™s wild is they were old books 20 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž† years ago! 

Thank you ๐“‹ด๐“๐“ฏ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข to my friend ๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“€€๐“ @elianubis for sending me this beautiful ๐“„ค shirt as a gift! I love it!!ย 

Here are affiliate links, where you can purchase the books that I recommended in the video! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps to keep my website and educational content free for all!

English to Middle Egyptian Dictionary

Hieroglyphic Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Middle Egyptian Languageย 

Budge Dictionary Volume 1

Budge Dictionary Volume 2

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Blog Video

Video – Stela of Hatshepsut Replica

This is a replica of the Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช Stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ at the Musei Vaticani that my Nonno gave to me over fifteen years ago. I love this piece so much because the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช on it are so accurate compared to the original stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ!

This is one of my most prized possessions because my Nonno have it to me. He brought this for me before we got to see the stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ together, because he knew I would absolutely love it, and I do! 

Let me know if you guys enjoy seeing my little collection of Egyptian replica pieces that my Nonno has given me!

Here is one of my posts about this beautiful ๐“„ค stela ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ!

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Blog Video

Video – Replica Statue of Rameses II

This little replica of the Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ from the Museo Egizio in Torino was given to me by my Nonno, and I love it so much!

You can read more about this beautiful ๐“„ค statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ in my post about it!

Here is a picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ to show you where Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ (and a replica ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figure, also from the Museo Egizio) sits on my bookshelf!

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Book Recommendations Video

“Book of the Dead” Recommendation – Video

This book was essential to me learning hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช as a child.  My Nonno gave me this book – it was his long before it was mine. I loved the cover because Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ข was on it (and he’s my favorite), but what I didn’t know was how much this book was going to teach me. 

I will be very honest – I never sat down and intensely studied Egyptian grammar. I never really learned too much Coptic either.  I used this book to learn the relationships between symbols and Egyptian words/phrases and it kind of just โ€œclickedโ€ for me.  The Book of the Dead is very repetitive, which is very helpful when learning. I also have many other books on reading hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช which were extremely helpful, but this book was probably the best one. 

In my opinion, you can sit down and study vocabulary all you want, but unless you are actively engaging in the material and reading real Egyptian texts, you aren’t going to learn. I still use this book as a reference very  often!

I also have a book ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› that is the complete Papyrus of Ani ๐“„ฟ๐“ˆ–๐“ผ๐“‡Œ๐“€€ in pictures ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, and I would use both books side by side so I could actually see the real papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› as I was reading and learning the symbols.

If you want to learn hieroglyphics ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช, diving right into Egyptian religious text is the best way to do it (in my opinion – remember, I am completely self taught)!

This video shows my honest opinions! However, I am an Amazon Associate and if you use my links to purchase the books I recommended, I will earn a small commission. This helps me keep my website and educational materials free for everyone!

Here is the Book of the Dead Affiliate Link!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Book Recommendations Video

Hieroglyph Book Recommendation – Video

Hi ๐“‰”๐“‡Œ๐“€ everyone! Today ๐“‡๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ I am here with two ๐“ป book recommendations if you want to learn to read hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช too! The first book is โ€œHieroglyphs for Complete Beginnersโ€ by Bill Manley and the second book is โ€œHow to Read Egyptianโ€ by Mark Collier and Bill Manley!

This video shows my honest opinions! However, I am an Amazon Associate and if you use my links to purchase the books I recommended, I will earn a small commission. This helps me keep my website and educational materials free for everyone!

Here are the affiliate links:

โ€œHieroglyphs for Complete Beginnersโ€

โ€œHow to Read Egyptianโ€

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Video

The Sarcophagus of Senemut

This large quartzite oval (that has been reconstructed from over 1200 pieces) is the Sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ of Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ!ย 

There are many interesting things about this sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ! For one, it is actually painted ๐“ž๐“œ red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ so it looks more like red quartzite, which is more valuable! Another, is that it is extremely similar to Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช second sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ in terms of composition/rock type, so they must have been quarried at the same time!

The inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the sarcophagus are from various chapters of the Book of the Dead, and many deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน such as Nut ๐“Œ๐“๐“‡ฏ๐“€ญ, Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ, Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡, and Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ all make appearances along with the usual dedications that the deceased would make to these deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน. Unfortunately due to the state the sarcophagus ๐“ŽŸ๐“‹น๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Šญ was found in, many of the inscriptions ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ are now fragmented, but Egyptologists can put together the pieces!

Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ, although not of noble birth, became an extremely important figure during the reign of Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช  Senemut ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ was Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช closest advisor, the tutor for her daughter Neferure ๐“‡ณ๐“„ค๐“„ค๐“„ค, and the architect responsible for building her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari ๐“‚ฆ๐“‚‹๐“‚ฆ๐“ฅ๐“‰. Some of Senemutโ€™s ๐“Œข๐“ˆ–๐“…๐“€ผ many titles appear on the sarcophagus as well, such as Steward of Amun, Chief Steward of the King, Overseer of the Treasury, Granary, Fields, Cattle of Amun, a Controller of Works, and so many more!

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Video

Canopic Jars (Video)

The Four Sons of Horus were an integral part of ancient Egyptian religion – usually in a funerary aspect. 

During the process of mummification ๐“‹ด๐“‚ง๐“๐“…ฑ๐“Ž (which took about 70 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† days), the embalmers removed the internal organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ and placed them in Canopic Jars. Each of the four ๐“ฝ jars was for one of the major internal organs ๐“‡‹๐“‚ง๐“‚‹๐“„น๐“ฆ and each jar had a different head which represented one of the four Sons of Horus.

Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘๐“€ญ (falcon head) held/protected the intestines ๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฎ๐“„ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ผ. 

Hapi ๐“Ž›๐“‘๐“Šช๐“‡Œ๐“€ญ (baboon head) held/protected the lungs ๐“Šƒ๐“Œด๐“„ฅ๐“…ฑ๐“„บ

Duamutef ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘๐“€ญ (jackal head) held/protected the stomach ๐“‚‹๐“„ฃ๐“ป

Imseti ๐“‡‹๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“ฟ๐“€ญ (human head) held/protected the liver ๐“…“๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„น๐“ธ๐“ธ๐“ธ

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Video

Statue of Imhotep (Video)

My Nonno always made a point to make sure we saw Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช in every museum that we went to. It was part of the fun of going to the museum!! After seeing โ€œThe Mummyโ€ for the first time when I was about ten ๐“Ž† years old, I had already known about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช for years from a historical perspective!!

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช, meaning โ€œHe who comes in peace,โ€ was a non-royal man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค who became deified (reached godly status).  This is a very rare occurrence, as it was thought by the Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช that the Pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป was the only god ๐“Šน on the Earth ๐“‡พ๐“‡พ.  Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช was not deified in his lifetime – it was about 2,000 ๐“†ผ๐“†ผ years after his death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ that he began to be worshipped ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข as a god ๐“Šน.  

Not much is known about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช from his lifetime – much information about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is from Demotic texts or stelae ๐“Ž—๐“…ฑ๐“†“๐“‰ธ๐“ช that were written thousands of years after his death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. 

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is famous for being an incredible architect and is credited with designing Djoserโ€™s ๐“‚ฆ Step Pyramid (aka the first ever pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด) at Memphis ๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹๐“‰ด๐“Š– (modern day Saqqara). He was also a physician! 

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is always depicted as a man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค seated in a chair, usually with a piece of papyrus ๐“…“๐“‘๐“๐“› in his lap. Much like the god ๐“Šน Ptah ๐“Šช๐“๐“Ž›๐“ฑ(who he is said to be the son ๐“…ญ of), he wears a cap on his head. Once you are able to remember what Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช statues ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ๐“ช look like, you will be able to recognize them in any museum that you go to! 

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Video

Blue Faience Tiles from Djoser’s Step Pyramid (Video)

These blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ tiles decorated the lower levels of Djoserโ€™s ๐“‚ฆ Step Pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด Complex. There were over 30,000 tiles used!!! The tiles were meant to represent various types of reeds that covered the walls of Djoserโ€™s ๐“‚ฆ palace. 

I have always been obsessed with anything having to do with the Step Pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด solely because of Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช. My Nonno always spoke more about Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช than Djoser ๐“‚ฆ! My Nonno always pointed these tiles out to me in the museum. While to most people, the tiles look somewhat insignificant compared to beautifully ๐“„ค carved reliefs and statues ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ๐“ช, my Nonno always said that these types of tiles were important because they were really only found in the Step Pyramid ๐“‹๐“…“๐“‚‹๐“‰ด and one of Djoserโ€™s ๐“‚ฆ other buildings at Saqqara. The tiles were pretty much a โ€œuniquely Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šชโ€ thing according to Nonno! 

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Video

Head of Tutankhamun (Video)

To celebrate the 100 ๐“ฒ year anniversary of the discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ (11/4/1922), here is a closer look at the head of a statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ of Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“! 

While to most this statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ head may seem anti-climatic after seeing the Temple of Dendur, I have always loved it because it is a portrait of Pharaoh Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“. As a kid, seeing King Tut in the MET was just SO COOL. I still think itโ€™s cool – even though Iโ€™m an adult, I still canโ€™t shake the child-like fascination I have with Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“

This limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰ statue ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“€พ was made during Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ reign (18th Dynasty), and it shows that Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ brought back the old religion and traditional styles of Egyptian art and sculpture. 

The hand ๐“‚ง๐“๐“บ that can be seen on the back of Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ head is the hand ๐“‚ง๐“๐“บ of the god ๐“Šน Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ. Since Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ (king of the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน) is touching Tutankhamunโ€™s crown, it can be interpreted that Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“€ญ approved of Tutankhamunโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“ reign.