Original meanings of Egyptian Hieroglyphs - Are they different to what we have been told ?

I was concerned that earlier “translators” may have not quite ‘got it right’, so in order to take a fresh look, I conducted studies of my own on June 12th 2006.

I focused upon what hieroglyphic symbols actually depict, and using these meanings, found the original intended meanings – written by an Egyptian scribe, over three thousand years ago.

The results were totally unexpected.

I have revisited my 2006 investigation, and rechecked it.
Here is my February 24th 2007 report. © Eddy Pengelly 2007

In the book entitled Egyptian Language - Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics by Sir E.A. Wallis Budge, I found in the Book of the Dead, chapter CXXV section, numbered as column 24, written in hieroglyphs (reproduced below), a series of glyphs translated as “tablet of crystal”.



This had been translated by Budge by rendering 1+2 as 'tablet', 3 as 'of', and 4+5+6+7 as 'crystal' - with the last three circles taken to be grains of sand - thus the concept of mineral, as in 'crystal'.


I have to ask “Why has he,
1) apparently ignored glyphs 4, 5 & 6,
2) overlooked the fact that glyph 1 means the colour green, and
3) glyph 4 is actually made up of three separate symbols ?”

This at least refers to a green tablet of crystal.

I decided to check for myself the meanings of these glyphs, so I consulted Gardiner’s Egyptian Grammar book again plus other Egyptian translating resources.

This is what I derived for the various glyphs

1 the colour green
2 a depiction of an open papyrus sheet, indicating the writing medium of the day. (now, paper – books – cd-roms)
3 (n35) to introduce a qualifying noun
4 (n1) sky + (z9) 'break' or ‘an action involving something encountered’ x4 + sheeting or falling rain x4
5 (n35) genitive adjective (used between a noun and an adjective epithet) denoting source or origin: ‘belonging to’.
6 a depiction of a ‘circle with a flat bottom’
7 (n33) ‘grains of sand’ or ‘substitute plural strokes’

So reading left to right gives “The green writing medium. Four lots of something encountered which break falling from the sky. Belonging to (ie. is one of) the three flat circles”.

Putting this into English: subject, source, epithet derives
“The green writing medium is one of the three flat circles: Four lots of something encountered which break falling from the sky”.

You may not understand the meaning nor context of this message at the moment, but the above words are what the glyphs are saying.

I am often asked whether I have any evidence to support my translation/interpretation.

Yes. I have written a report in my Egyptian Section of work concerning this topic. See my Hieroglyphs Example 3. (currently via the given link at the end of this post)

My initial point was that, the first translation given by Budge was “Tablet of Crystal” for all the hieroglyphs, while it is obvious that, at the least, it was a “Green” tablet (ie. green stone) – with the remaining glyphs describing aspects of this green scroll (green stone).

It has been pointed out to me that “the second sign is in fact O39…which is the determinative for ‘stone’, rather than a roll of papyrus.”

My reply to this is that it is just someone’s opinion (from several centuries ago) that has been deemed to be the correct interpretation.
To me, the glyph looks more like a spread out papyrus scroll than a stone. A stone is usually small and roundish. A tablet invokes a feel of being more rectangular in shape (vertically). This glyph looks like the papyrus sheet I saw in the local museum.

In regards to descriptions of storage mediums for written words throughout the ages, chronologically we find: tablets of stone, papyrus reed, then paper, then floppy disk, then compact disk, then flash sticks (memory cards).

In various ancient texts “stones” have been described and given different names by different groups, such as; Tablets of Ashurbanipal, Wheel, Ball, Silver Wheel, Winged Disk, Magic Circle, Cauldron of Inspiration, rings, the Liahona Compass, compressed stone, naval stone, omphalos stone, Tables of Testimony, Decrees of Civilization, gold Plates, and Wheel of Life.

In this particular Egyptian text, the colour of the stone is given, being green – with further identifying features documented.

I expand upon these features in my “Hieroglyphs Example 3”. It may be found via this link:

(After that section, I have provided a further link to my new Egyptian site that is not yet open to the public.)

Hi Eddy,

I read your post and also your work on the link you provided. I applaud your efforts for always searching for other possible meanings to ancient texts but one important thing that I think you are failing to do is to validate your ideas of possible meanings of certain glyphs by finding other expamples of your theories in numerous texts. You can't just take a glyph from one inscription and say because it looks like such and such and happens to be next to such and such so they must mean so and so. You need to prove your idea out, multiple times for your theories to hold any water. For instance , your theories on specific glyphs resembling computer hardware lack any kind of proof if you can't give multiple examples in a proper context. Yes, alone these glyphs may resemble a computer mouse and cable and a keyboard. But I am confident you will not be able to show me in any line of ancient inscription these two glyphs that even fall next to each other let alone in any context that would give a meaning of a tool used for processing data.

Also, just a word of advice, any serious scholar of heiroglyphs will tell you, Budge's work has many incorrect translations and should be carefully scrutinized and must be checked against and compared to others if even beginning to use him as a citation. In fact many refuse to even acknowledge him as a viable source. That is not to say that his work is not usable, only that one must be very cautious of using his translations ( as well as transliterations) especially when going against the grain with trying to prove other possible meanings to glyphs, as you are.

BTW, I am also on Glyphdoctors as maa-xrw and helped you with an inscription some time last year.

Did you follow the link to the main Egyptian website ?
There it provides some “multiple other examples” of which you speak.

I will be releasing a 90 page report on my other Egyptian findings later in 2007. It provides further evidence.
Not only does it show where accounts of cd-roms are documented in Egyptian texts and stories, but where specific contents and imagery from particular cd-roms are documented. ie. the stories about certain Egyptian gods are direct accounts of particular images from cd-roms. (3 in total).

Egyptian texts are just one of many Middle Eastern ancient texts that document computer technology and compact disks. Reports on these will also be tabled later in 2007.

Hey Eddy,

I did follow the link and saw the cropped image of a papyrus inscription where it states in the right column there are images that resemble computer hardware and in the left column there is a glyph that resembles a computer mouse. Without even touching on the subject of whether the egyptian could possibly have such technologies, I see 2 very obvious flaws with your example.

1) The image is cropped and thus the whole lines of text are not visible to translate making it very convenient to press your theory.

2) You are relating heiroglyphs in the left column with hieroglyphs in the right column and anyone who is practiced in even the most basic princliples of reading hieroglyphs knows that you read from the direction that the glyphs face and when in vertical cloumns you read from top to bottom. So the glyph in the left column you claim to be a computer mouse cannot be directly associated to the glyphs in the right column you claim to be various other computer hardware.

Clearly you are pulling hieroglyphs that resemble modern technologies and taking them out of context to fit your theory.

1) 1) “The image is cropped… making it very convenient to press your theory”

Your use of the word “cropped” infers a somewhat malicious intend on my behalf. This was not my intention.
I have presented just a brief extract from columns 1 & 2. A full commentary translation and a complete hieroglyphical transliteration may be found on pages 71-77 and 96-104 of my Report.

2)
The content examples from the two columns (the computer parts, and the mouse & cable) are coincidental. They just happen to be next to each other horizontally in the first two columns of the Papyrus of Ani. I was not directly relating hieroglyphs in the left column with hieroglyphs in the right column. The extracted examples both just happen to be explaining computer parts.
It was you who assumed I was trying to relate the two brief examples.

Here is my full translation of columns 1 & 2 from Plate I Papyrus of Ani (with the extracted examples bolded).
Column one literally derives:
To speak: the Star scroll and the LA Disk of the sitting male 'god' (ie. computer operator). The Compact Disk: It's underside shines. The Compact Disk: Its protruding cradle, flat in the computer box. To the East is located a foreign desert area. The screen is half water and half sky. The red town dots of EGYPT produce a blossoming presentation. To see the controlling throne of the computer operator, use: his tools (mouse & cable, keyboard & cable, and 'bowl'); raise up the protruding cd-tray which is flat under the screen of water; Raise up and unfurl three times from the bowls of the three plastic cases; [click] the Vulture over the third water picture. In two blooming presentations, a man…to narrate.

Column 2 literally derives:
…to narrate. His flowering reed is a serpent shaped staff with a head like a basket. The enemy slaughter: To go to the second animation presentation, use the object depicted, being a mouse & cable. This flowering reed also has a beetle's shape - and makes things transform on the screen.
The operator's staff invokes the fighting enemies in the desert.
The third presentation produces the primordial sunrise.
Take hold of the shiny compact disk's holding container. Opened by hand, the compact disk enclosure is a box.

My Report then provides explanations for each translated sentence, a findings statement, and a final conclusion.

Findings:
The hieroglyphics in columns 1 & 2 of Plate 1 from the Papyrus of Ani have pictorially described; the contents of three cd-roms and the fact that they all have narrations; the appearance and form of a compact disk; the shape and characteristics of a computer's mouse & cable plus a depiction of it; where a disk is placed within a computer; which specific icon on the Ancients cd-rom is selected to return us to the Windows File Manager screen; a detailed description of a plastic cd-case and its holding bowl; and the fact that two cds have a male narrator.

Conclusion:
The hieroglyphs on the papyrus of Ani - Plate 1, columns 1 & 2, when mainly taken as pictorial representations of what was seen, describe various computer apparatus and the imagery from three cd-roms.


I have also conducted a text translation from Plates VII & VIII of the Papyrus of Ani.

Conclusion:
The associated translated English text to Plates VII & VIII of the papyrus of Ani is describing certain imagery that is seen when particular icons are visited as one journeys through the Etruscan and Egyptian sections of the Ancients cd-rom, and also mentions some features of the RedShift2 and Grolier Encyclopedia cd-roms.

It appears that Ani was the person operating the computer, and that this papyrus is an account of what he viewed when he did so. It even documents the taking out and putting in of different cd-roms, and by description, the Ancients, RedShift2, and Grolier cd-roms are described to as "the "water of heaven", "the weeping Eye (of Ra)", and the "Green Lake" - respectively referring to the 'Sea and Sky of the Voyage screen', the 'animated Eye logo', and the 'green colour of the disk'.


You stated “Clearly you are pulling hieroglyphs that resemble modern technologies and taking them out of context to fit your theory.”

No. Comprehensive investigations have been employed on several Plates from the Papyrus of Ani.
Your given conclusion and comments are based upon just two brief examples that appear on my website.

I suggest that you reserve your final judgement until my Report becomes available and you have read all of it – in context.

Thank you for your comments, as this helps me see where I may need to improve the presentation of my findings (before I release my final Report).