Ancient Egyptian Glossary

The mysteries of ancient Egypt have confounded and fascinated other cultures for years. Along with their numerous societal and technological advances, the Egyptians created their own system of written communication. Hieroglyphics were used to represent various ideas and thoughts. These symbols have letter, word, or phrase meanings that are still of interest to people today.

If you have become an amateur Egyptian expert, having access to several ancient Egyptian glossaries can prove helpful. You may not find literal translations to words you seek in hieroglyphics, but you will be able to piece together the main idea or meaning of the group of symbols.

An ancient Egyptian glossary can also prove useful by providing you with historical context when a person or event is referenced within another text. You can look up the word in an online glossary and not have to wonder the significance of the reference.

Before you begin to look up words in an ancient Egyptian glossary, it is important to familiarize yourself with how the dictionary is set up. For example, it may be set up for you to do simple word translation searches. Or, you may have to search symbol groups in order to find the word you need.

Familiarizing yourself with the Egyptian alphabet and phonetic signs can increase your understanding of various parts of Egyptian written communication. While pronouncing them may be difficult, you should be able to use the alphabet and phonetic signs to help garner more meaning from the results of your glossary search.

The following glossaries offer hieroglyphic translations and other information regarding Egyptian writing and words.

• Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary: Use this website to search from Egyptian to English or vice versa. You can also use the links provided on the homepage to learn about the Egyptian alphabet, phonetics, pronunciation, and grammar. While the dictionary is not comprehensive, it is a good site for beginners.
• Computerized Hieroglyphics Flashcards: This website allows for the downloading of programs that will provide the student with meanings, transliterations, and Gardner's Notations. The more extensive version of the program seems to be noteworthy; however, downloads are at your own risk.

Egyptian Glossaries

For those who are simply interested in the culture of ancient Egypt, but not the writings, you can use glossaries to look up words that you come across in writings or other studies. Additionally, glossaries can provide historical context and background for these words to help you further comprehend the foreign culture.

• Ancient Egypt from A to Z: Search by letter to find out the meaning of a word you are seeking. Clicking on "Pepi I" under "Pyramid" results in a short explanation of who he was, along with an explanation and diagram of the structure built in his honor. Links are within the definitions, and you can find out further information by clicking on links in the bottom of the page marked "More."
• Glossary from Ancient Egypt Webquest: Use this very short glossary for helping younger students and beginners learn the basic terms they will come across in studying Egypt. The homepage also provides a fun learning exercise.
• Tour Egypt Glossary: Scroll through the words to find what you need. For example, clicking on "Ka" results in a short explanation about one sentence long. Photos or diagrams are not available. This is a great quick reference guide, but does not provide the detail you need for extensive research.
• Egyptian Glossary: Use this short glossary to find out the meanings of various Egyptian words that are most frequently used. It is short and to the point, with no illustrations.

Just for Fun at yourDictionary

Regardless of whether you are interested in ancient Egyptian writings for academic or personal interest purposes, you will enjoy using yourDictionary's feature "Write your Name in Exotic Alphabets!" The default search is for Egyptian hieroglyphics from the UPenn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. Use the links below the main search box to find other links for generating your name in Egyptian hieroglyphics.

While writing your name in hieroglyphics is fun, there may be some disagreement on the translation. For example, typing "Amy" into the default search produces the following symbols: an arm, owl, bird, and two feathers. However, using another search produces a bird, owl, and two feathers. If you see discrepancies, you'll need to decide for yourself which is the preferred way for writing your name or simply use the symbol arrangement you come up with most often.