Towards a Pedagogy of Ancient Egyptian Language and Hieroglyphs

This paper discusses the challenges of teaching the Middle Egyptian language and Egyptian hieroglyphs to adult anglophone learners outside university settings. These challenges include the lack of L1 speakers; the large volume of signs in the script; the difficulty in reconstructing pronunciation due to the paucity of written vowels; and the lack of accessible learning tools such as readers and textbooks for the intermediate stage. As spoken proficiency in this extinct language is not a feasible goal, it is argued here that teaching should revolve around achieving reading competence. The paper advocates for a pedagogical approach that centres on using vocabulary, including variant spellings, as the fundamental building blocks of learning. This entails reading words, sentences and paragraphs of increasing complexity, which over time aids memorisation of vocabulary and builds confidence. Grammar and syntax can be gradually introduced and contextualised by reading practice sentences. It is also argued here that producing digitised versions of ancient Egyptian texts using hieroglyphic font software such as JSesh allows for the creation of practice texts in a standardised and legible format. This, in turn, makes it possible to use pedagogical aids such as adding spaces between words and adding signs omitted by the ancient scribes. Finally, it is argued that learning vocabulary and grammar is enhanced by discussions of the wider semantic and cultural meaning(s) of the ancient text in question.