You may have read recently about the fascinating new archaeological discoveries in Egypt: Cleopatra’s tomb, a new cache of mummies in the Valley of the Kings, ancient gold jewelry in Luxor. Equally wondrous findings, however, are being carried on every day, not in the sands of ancient Egypt but in the dusty storage bins of museums around the world: ancient papyrus documents that record the words and deeds of millenia ago.

The ancient Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphs, pictographic representations of the sounds of their language. It is these hieroglyphs which bring us back to Orange County. Saturday, May 16, the Orange County Chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE-OC) will present for the first time a workshop on the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs at the Heritage Park Library in Irvine. The workshop will be presented by Dr. Elizabeth Waraksa, whose impressive credentials include a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies (Egyptian Art and Archaeology) from Johns Hopkins University, a fellowship at UCLA’s Young Research Library for a Web portal of resources relating to the ancient Near East and Egypt. She is also assisting with collection development, providing reference and instruction, and together with the Digital Library Program, working on the all-digital UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology.

OCAC spoke with Robin Young, President of ARCE-Orange County Chapter, about the Chapter and also with Dr. Waraksa about the upcoming workshop.

William Dean (WD): Robin, can you give us a little background about ARCE in Orange County? Is there a lot of enthusiasm and support for ancient Egyptian studies in our area?

Robin Young (RY): ARCE OC is the largest of 12 regional chapters of the American Research Center in Egypt, based in Cairo and San Antonio, Texas. Our membership covers six Southern California counties, and we are proud to number quite a few Egyptologists among our membership.

Our chapter was founded in 2002, and over the years has hosted many big names in Egyptology, notably Dr. Zahi Hawass and Dr. Mark Lehner. Every month, we offer a free lecture, normally at the Norma Kershaw Auditorium at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, one of our partners. Many of our speakers are featured in specials on the Discovery and National Geographic channels on TV. Between one to two hundred persons attend each month. Our mailing list numbers about 1100 persons with a wide demographic spread.

Roughly twice a year we host special seminars, classes or visits to museums accompanied by an Egyptologist. Our hieroglyphs class on May 16 is being held at the Heritage Park Library in Irvine because we can set up tables so the students have plenty of room to draw the figures of the hieroglyphs. On December 5, at the Bowers, we are offering a seminar by two of the foremost Eighteenth Dynasty experts, Drs. Donald and Susan Redford, Interpreting Amarna, the Reign of the Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten.

In January of 2010, the chapter is operating a tour to Egypt, with emphasis on visiting special archaeological sites not normally open to the public.

Membership in ARCE supports excavation and preservation of Egyptian antiquities.

There is huge interest in Southern California for Ancient Egypt. Several million people attended the King Tut exhibit in Los Angeles a few years back, and the Bowers enjoyed record attendance with the British Museum show which closed in early 2008. Ancient Egypt remains part of the curriculum in California schools, and many people continue that interest throughout their adult lives.

WD: Dr. Waraksa, it seems that interest in the culture of ancient Egypt is constantly being “re-born” through various means, including new archaeological finds as well as popular culture such as movies and documentaries.. What are some of the challenges presented to “keeping it real” and dispelling some of the myths and inaccuracies portrayed by “Hollywood”?

Dr. Elizabeth Waraksa (EW): You are absolutely right that all of the new archaeological finds reported in the news keep interest in ancient Egypt running high; the news coverage is also a useful reminder that only a fraction of what remains from ancient times has been uncovered. Popular culture definitely adds to the high level of interest. For Egyptologists, all of this coverage is largely boon, because it opens up opportunities to talk and teach about ancient Egypt to folks who have already encountered aspects of the culture online, in the paper, on television, or in the movies. As you say, it can sometimes be challenging to counter popular opinion – I often have to assure people that scarab beetles are not flesh-eating bugs after all! – but most often I regard inquiries about ancient Egypt as opportunities not only to correct a mis-stated or exaggerated fact, but to direct interested folks to a more nuanced – and sometimes, more interesting! – understanding of the culture.

WD: What are some of the most fascinating and surprising things still being learned about Egyptian hieroglyphs?

EW: Some of the most fascinating recent discoveries have been “lost” beginnings to well know texts written on papyri. For example, in 2003 Richard B. Parkinson of the British Museum published the previously unknown beginning of a piece of ancient Egyptian literature known as “The Dispute Between a Man and His Ba.” Many museum and other Egyptian collections still contain a significant number of as-yet untranslated texts, so there will no doubt be more discoveries to come.

WD: When you present a workshop such as this, how do you — briefly — connect the culture of ancient Egypt with the pictographic writings? Are they strongly linked?

EW: It is absolutely crucial when teaching the Egyptian language to discuss exactly what the glyphs represent, because each sign is intimately related to the Egyptian worldview. Among the most common hieroglyphs are everything from a simple house plan to parts of the human body to the flora and fauna of the country – not to mention all of the signs associated with water, constant reminders of the Egyptians’ dependence on the annual flooding of the Nile. The signs used to write the Egyptian language are taken straight from daily, as well as religious, life in ancient Egypt, and I think that one of the most engaging parts of the language for beginners is learning to recognize and distinguish between the glyphs.

WD: Do you recommend attendees “brush up” on their studies or is the workshop directed toward both aficionados and the general public?

EW: This is the first time I am offering this workshop for the ARCE-OC group, and it is open to both ARCE-OC members and members of the public. No prior knowledge of the language is necessary, although I know that many people will have either taken formal courses, or performed some self-study, before taking the class, so deep is their interest in ancient Egypt. I always look forward to introducing newcomers to this fascinating – if sometimes daunting! – language.

WD: How did you initially select this area of study yourself? What inspired you to become an expert in Egyptian hieroglyphs and what are some of the personal rewards you’ve gained from such studies?

EW: I became interested in Egyptology all the way back in seventh grade, when my Social Studies class completed a unit on the ancient world and I learned about the pyramids at Giza and Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s tomb. From that moment on, I was hooked. For the rest of middle school and throughout high school, I wrote as many ancient Egypt-themed essays as I could – for example, in an essay for my high school Latin class, I compared Cleopatra and Livia. I also specifically researched colleges that offered a major in archaeology. Most fortunately, I was accepted to the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for college, and then for graduate school. I believe that I held onto that initial feeling of wonder and curiosity throughout my studies, which made them thoroughly enjoyable.

During my doctoral studies at Johns Hopkins, I was fortunate enough to be able to teach the year-long course, Introduction to Middle Egyptian (hieroglyphs) for five years. My students were both undergraduates and fellow graduate students, and I enjoyed every minute. Especially rewarding were the days when, after some weeks of study, my students and I would visit a local museum so that they could apply their newly-acquired language skills by reading Egyptian texts inscribed on actual monuments. Also personally rewarding for me during graduate school was the opportunity to excavate at the Temple of Mut, part of the Karnak temple complex in Luxor, with the Johns Hopkins Expedition. Not only was it a daily thrill to be excavating at a temple precinct, but my dissertation project on ceramic female figurines also sprung from that experience, which made me all the more dedicated to my topic.

By the way, if your readers would like to learn more about the ongoing Johns Hopkins Expedition to the Temple of Mut, they can visit the online dig diary, Hopkins in Egypt Today, at http://www.jhu.edu/egypttoday.

The workshop will be held at the Heritage Park Library, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, on May 16. Contact the ARCE-OC at their website: http://www.arce.org/chapters/orangecounty/events/u89 for more information.

1.  Phonetic guide to hieroglyphs
2.  Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs carved in stone
3.  Dr. Elizabeth Waraksa surveys an archaeological dig in Egypt (Photo courtesy of John Hopkins University)