For nearly two thousand years, Egyptian hieroglyphs remained an unreadable mystery. This course tells the remarkable story of how the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and the work of generations of scholars culminated in Jean-François Champollion's successful decipherment in 1822. Along the way, participants will explore the history of translation, linguistics and archaeology while discovering how the ability to read hieroglyphs transformed our understanding of Ancient Egypt. Ideal for anyone interested in language, archaeology, history or the power of human curiosity.

DELIVERY MODE

Hybrid (Face to face and online simultaneously)

COURSE RESOURCES

• R.B. Parkinson, 'Cracking Codes: the Rosetta stone and decipherment', (University of California Press, 1999)
• P. Wilson, 'Hieroglyphs: a very short introduction' (Oxford University Press, 2004)
• O. el-Daly, 'Medieval Arabic Reception of Egyptian Hieroglyphs' in UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.5070/G9.4339

COURSE OUTLINE

• A brief history of Egyptian hieroglyphs
• From symbols to sounds: a turning point
• The Rosetta Stone: discovery and importance
• Decipherment in practice: how did it happen?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Recognise important scholars and developments in the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs
• Understand the process of deciphering a lost language
• Consider how language facilitates cross-cultural understanding