Scribal Stories

What started three years ago as a desire to enrich a trip to Egypt quickly evolved into Bob Mathas’ passionate pursuit. Bob began with foundational online learning, which transformed his initial travel experience by allowing him to recognize key symbols and make his trip much more fulfilling. He then transitioned to more advanced studies, seeking to delve beyond basic, formulaic texts like the offering formula, to understand more diverse Egyptian texts and gain practice. This progression sign...

Jen shares her remarkable transformation from a childhood fascination with ancient Egypt and its hieroglyphs to actively reading and understanding complex texts today. She recounts how she moved beyond simply recognizing individual glyphs to confidently dissecting and translating ancient Egyptian as a living language -- reading texts like stelae, tomb walls, the Book of the Dead, historical texts, and stories, like the Shipwrecked Sailor. Jen shares how she's reached a level a personal achiev...

Ed Smith-Rowland has journeyed from a lifelong passion for ancient Egypt to confidently reading hieroglyphs. Ed shares his transformation from struggling with a dense grammar textbook and getting "bogged down" in memorization after just a couple chapters, to now reading a wide variety of ancient Egyptian texts -- everything from temple and tomb walls to letters and literature to heart scarabs and the Book of the Dead. He discusses how a structured approach and small, consistent daily practice...

Marianna Sanborn went from studying 6-8 hours per day – and getting nowhere – to making huge progress with hieroglyphs by slowing down and studying in small pockets of time. Marianna's passion for hieroglyphs ignited when she witnessed a museum guide reading hieroglyphic texts on a sarcophagus. Marianna said, “I want to do that!” She was so inspired that she got a Masters Degree in Egyptology! But, after completing her M.A., she had little to show for it in the hieroglyphs department. She too...