Literature Review #4

 


Citation: Westerfeld, Jennifer Taylor. Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the Late Antique Imagination. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019.

Summary: In Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the Late Antique Imagination, by Jennifer Westerfield, she talks about how the notion and idea of the Egyptian Hieroglyph was used in antique writing and how it was portrayed to the public during this time. She also gives details about the origins and purposes of these hieroglyphs.

Authors: Jennifer Westerfield is a professor of ancient history at the university of Louisville, so she must know a good amount about this topic.

Key Terms: Hieroglyph, Thoth

Quotes:  “writing in Egypt was the invention of the god Thoth, identified with Greek Hermes and Roman Mercury.”(35-36).

“... the name of the god himself was Theuth(Thoth). He it was who invented numbers...and, most important of all, letters.”(36).

"The term “hieroglyphic” is not a native designation for the Egyptian writing system but rather a term applied to that system by Greek visitors to Egypt. 3 The Egyptians themselves referred to hieroglyphs as mdw ntr , “god’s words,” a term that refers not to the sacral use of the script, but that rather reflects the long-standing belief that writing was the creation and gift of the god Thoth."(16)

Value: This book will help me discover viewpoints on the Egyptian Hieroglyphs and help me determine stories about the origins and usages of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs as presented in antique literature.


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