Notes on Hieroglyphics and Interpretation 8/31

I am attaching some materials from our class on Ancient Egyptian literature here, including the two readings, along with some supplementary material about the Egyptian language (handout from class plus more).

Please keep in mind the two questions I proposed in our class:

  1. To what degree must ancient texts like these remain mysterious? Can we ever really know what they meant?
  2. To what degree is every act of interpretation (or a translation) actually a re-creation? Does the interpreter/translator create a new work of art?

Egyptian Love Poems

The Turning Sky _ Susan Brind Morrow

Easy Hieroglyphics