Learn Hieroglyphs with Fefi

The Museum is open with updated hours, Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm, required free timed tickets to encourage social distancing, and increased health and safety procedures including required cloth masks. Learn more about these updates at ncartmuseum.org/covid19. Museum from Home programming continues, including the NCMA Virtual Exhibitions Subscription and virtual events.

O you who live upon the earth, greetings! My name is Ni-ankh-Snefru, but since that’s quite the mouthful, everybody calls me Fefi. If you have visited the Museum before, you may have heard of me:

Egyptian, False Door of Ni-ankh-Snefru (Called Fefi) (large detail), circa 2321–2278 B.C.E., white limestone with traces of paint, H. 63 1/2 x W. 44 1/2 x D. 4 1/2 in., Purchased with funds from the North Carolina State Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest) and funds from the bequest of Elsie M. Kramer, the bequest of W. R. Valentiner, and Mrs. William Gage Brady, by exchange

I’m the nobleman who owned the False Door now displayed in the Egyptian galleries. While this false door (a sculpture representing a door, which linked this world and the next) was originally the focal point in my tomb chapel and allowed my ka (life force) to magically partake of offerings of bread and beer, I have decided to use its inscriptions to show you how to read a few hieroglyphic signs. The hieroglyphs carved on my door are perfect for that—they are large and legible.

There are few things you should know before I actually start. First of all, the symbols used to write the ancient Egyptian language are called HIEROGLYPHS (not hieroglyphics). Second, the ancient Egyptian writing system uses both phonograms and ideograms, which means that the hieroglyphs represent either a sound or an idea (and sometimes both!). You should also know that Egyptians very seldom wrote vowels, mostly just consonants (a bit like Hebrew and Arabic), and because of that we don’t know exactly how the words were pronounced (although the pronunciation of some words is known from Coptic, the language of Christian Egypt). Egyptologists will add the letter “e” between consonants to facilitate pronunciation. It’s merely a convention. Nobody speaks Egyptian anymore.

If you’re interested in hieroglyphs and the fabulous artifacts in the Egyptian collection, watch for my upcoming posts. I’ll share my knowledge of what Egyptologists know of ancient Egyptian and hieroglyphs.

Fefi was the overseer of the pyramid complex of King Pepy I at Saqqara; he was also a lector priest, nobleman, and scribe. With plenty of free time in his afterlife, Fefi blogs about hieroglyphs in the NCMA’s Egyptian collection.

Comments (6)

Laurie - Reply

May 27, 2015

What a great idea, Fefi! I hope you’re not too rusty after 4,000 years! It’s been a while since you were a scribe …
Rhonda Wilkerson - Reply

May 28, 2015

thanks for sharing Fefi. I look forward to more! Helped me correct a few mistakes in my understanding of how to talk about this door. If you have time check out the oba's door in the African Gallery.
Ken Fortier - Reply

May 28, 2015

Yes, but keyboard is much easier than papyrus and vowels make it a cinch!
Velvet Rattelade - Reply

May 28, 2015

How fun!! I'm looking forward to learning the meanings and being able to incorporate some hieroglyphs in my personal art to add some of my thoughts. Yay!
Alida - Reply

May 29, 2015

Welcome back to our world, dear Fefi! I so look forward to learning more from you and thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Pat Reese - Reply

June 10, 2015

Please keep me informed and give me plenty of time to plan a journey to Raleigh as I am in Greensboro, but this topic has always interested me and I have been to Egypt in the 1980s.

All comments are subject to approval and must abide by community guidelines, including being free of violent, hateful, or profane language. We encourage discussion of our artwork in a respectful manner.

Name*

Email*

Website

Your Comment*

Stay Up-to-Date

Don't miss a beat. Sign up to receive updates and special offers.

Viper, Viper, Leaf, Nobleman

Jun 24, 2015

Learn hieroglyphs with the NCMA's ancient Egyptian scribe, Fefi: Start by reading his own nickname.

{parent:exp:playa:children field="article_author" var_prefix="article_author"}Viper, Viper, Leaf, Nobleman{/parent:exp:playa:children}
1435153440
12,206
3

Name or Nickname? That Is the Question!

Jul 7, 2015

Fefi's third lesson in hieroglyphs shows you how to read his friend Khnumti's name.

{parent:exp:playa:children field="article_author" var_prefix="article_author"}Name or Nickname? That Is the Question!{/parent:exp:playa:children}
1436290440
12,206
3