1. Hieroglyphics

2. HIEROGLYPHIC ALPHABET

3. The hieroglyphs
The problem with pictures, though, is that not everybody agrees on what they mean.
There were a few different types of hieroglyphs. Some stood for entire words, others were used for individual sounds, and still others represented groups of sounds or syllables.

4. HIEROGLYPHIC ALPHABET

5. Hmmm…two birds standing by a rock have a hole to jump in if trouble happens by. That might make sense, but it's not quite right.
The pictures simply mean "water."

6. Hieroglyphic writing is phonetic...
That means symbols stand for certain sounds (unlike the English alphabet where some letters have many sounds or can be silent).

7. Phone sounds like F + long O + N. You don't hear the P, H, or E.
Our spelling is more complicated than it needs to be.
Like, why do we spell phone with a PH when we have a perfectly good F just going to waste? And why bother with C when we already have K? Why have double letters (like the M's in rummy) when we only pronounce it once?
Phone sounds like F + long O + N. You don't hear the P, H, or E.

8. Determinatives
Determinatives were added at the ends of words to give the reader a hint about the general meaning.
You could use these determinatives to clarify the meaning of F-R-T:

9. Life and Death Death viewed as a new beginning
Life and death was measured in accordance to Ma’at: the goddess and symbol of equilibrium of the universe
and the king had to rule according to her principles
Death viewed as a new beginning
Afterlife common to all, regardless of social status (preparation varied as well as goods stored in tombs)
2 Common Principles: 1) body preservation in a lifelike form 2) the deceased must have items necessary for life in the afterworld
Personal belongings were usually placed in the tomb to make the Ka (soul) more at home and to assist the dead in their journey into the afterlife.
Text was read from the 'Book of the Dead' which was a collection of spells, charms, passwords, numbers and magical formulas for the use of the deceased in the afterlife.
MA’AT -symbol of the equilibrium
of the universe
Ka (one’s own spiritual duplicate; stored in heart and at death was separated from body. The ka would inhabit the tomb to be near the body)
Ba (non physical element unique to each person such as one’s personality)
Akh (form that the mummy takes to exist in afterworld)
Ma’at (truth, order and justice- essential to achieve harmony with gods and entry to the aftelife)
Book of Dead was intended to guide the dead through the various trials that they would encounter before reaching the underworld. Knowledge of the appropriate spells was considered essential to achieving happiness after death

10. What did the Book of the Dead tell you about?
The Book of the Dead told the dead person about the landscape of the netherworld through which they would journey, the gods and hostile creatures they would meet and the final judgement to decide if they would enter the afterlife.
Book of the Dead of Anhai
Sheet from the Book of the Dead of Anhai. EA
From Thebes, Egypt. 21st Dynasty, around 1050 BC.

11. Weighing of the heart vs Ma’at Judgment of scale record of the outcome
This scene depicts what occurs after a person has died, according to the ancient Egyptians.
panel of 14 judges
Ka (soul /spiritual duplicate), ba (personality) ankh (form mummy took in afterlife / the key of life)
Weighing of the heart vs Ma’at
Judgment of scale
record of the outcome
This scene depicts what occurs after a person has died, according to the ancient Egyptians.
Beginning with the upper left-hand corner, the deceased appears before a panel of 14 judges to make an accounting for his deeds during life. The ankh, the key of life, appears in the hands of some of the judges.
Next, below, the jackal god Anubis who represents the underworld and mummification leads the deceased before the scale. In his hand, Anubis holds the ankh.
Anubis then weighs the heart of the deceased (left tray) against the feather of Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice (right tray). In some drawings, the full goddess Ma'at, not just her feather, is shown seated on the tray. Note that Ma'at's head, crowned by the feather, also appears atop the fulcrum of the scale. If the heart of the deceased outweighs the feather, then the deceased has a heart which has been made heavy with evil deeds. In that event, Ammit the god with the crocodile head and hippopotamus legs will devour the heart, condemning the deceased to oblivion for eternity. But if the feather outweighs the heart, and then the deceased has led a righteous life and may be presented before Osiris to join the afterlife. Thoth, the ibis-headed god of wisdom stands at the ready to record the outcome.
Horus, the god with the falcon head, then leads the deceased to Osiris. Note the ankh in Horus' hand. Horus represents the personification of the Pharaoh during life, and his father Osiris represents the personification of the Pharaoh after death.
Osiris, lord of the underworld, sits on his throne, represented as a mummy. On his head is the white crown of Lower Egypt (the north). He holds the symbols of Egyptian kingship in his hands: the shepherd's crook to symbolize his role as shepherd of mankind, and the flail, to represent his ability to separate the wheat from the chaff. Behind him stand his wife Isis and her sister Nephthys. Isis is the one in red, and Nephthys is the one in green. Together, Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys welcome the deceased to the underworld.
The tomb-owner would continue after death the occupations of this life and so everything required was packed in the tomb along with the body. Writing materials were often supplied along with clothing, wigs, and hairdressing supplies and assorted tools, depending on the occupation of the deceased.
Often model tools rather than full size ones would be placed in the tomb; models were cheaper and took up less space and in the after-life would be magically transformed into the real thing.
Things might include a headrest, glass vessels which may have contained perfume and a slate palette for grinding make-up.
Food was provided for the deceased and should the expected regular offerings of the descendants cease, food depicted on the walls of the tomb would be magically transformed to supply the needs of the dead.
Images on tombs might include a triangular shaped piece of bread (part of the food offerings from a tomb). Other images might represent food items that the tomb owner would have eaten in his lifetime and hoped to eat in the after-life.
Life was dominated by Ma'at, or the concept of justice and order. Egyptians believed there were different levels of goodness and evil. Egyptians believed that part of the personality, called the Ka, remained in the tomb. Thus elaborate and complex burial practices developed.
The removed internal organs were separately treated and, during much of Egyptian history, placed in jars of clay or stone. These so-called Canopic Jars were closed with stoppers fashioned in the shape of four heads -- human, baboon, falcon, and jackal - representing the four protective spirits called the Four Sons of Horus.

12. Mummification
Mummification focused on Egyptian belief of the importance of preserving the body
Afterlife would be spent enjoying best of life experiences
Body wrapped in linen coated with resins and oils
Middle Kingdom became customary to place a mask over the face
Removal of organs (lungs, stomach, intestines, liver) in Canopic Jars were closed with stoppers fashioned in the shape of four heads -- human, baboon, falcon, and jackal - representing the four protective spirits called the Four Sons of Horus.
brain was sucked out of the cranial cavity and thrown away because the Egyptian's thought it was useless.

13. What was the mummy for?
While the dead person travelled through the netherworld as a spirit (ba) their preserved body (mummy) remained in the tomb. The mummy had to be kept safe so that the ba could reunite with the body.
Mummy and ba bird from the Book of the Dead of Ani
Mummy and ba bird from the Book of the Dead of Ani. EA
From Thebes, Egypt. 19th Dynasty, around 1250 BC.