Hi Jon

The shape of a stela - its semi circular top, for example - might determine whether the sculptor had the physical space to write the phrase 'ma heru' (signifying 'one who is deceased') with 7 glyphs and a determinative, or with 4 glyphs, three or just two.

As I explained, there were some spelling conventions but aesthetic considerations also played a part in the choices made by scribe or sculptor.

Maybe you should read up on it. Being "blissfully ignorant" of hieroglyphs and the conventions of Egyptian writing systems does not help one to make informed contributions to a discussion and blinds you to some of the flimsy counter-arguments being presented by some on this thread.

I, nor anyone else, has any idea of how this language should 'sound'; however, linguists have cracked the 'code' and have been able to present a meaningful understanding of the grammar of this language.

So, by way of hypothetical example, if a person was to argue that 'Khfw' is actually 'Khwf', and you also happen to know the sound that modern scholars have ascribed to that glyph in order to crack the code (irrespective of the fact that none of us know what the 'sound' might originally have been when made by an Ancient Egyptian) and you also know how to read lateral inscriptions, then you can decide for yourself the rigour of such an argument.

:)



Post Edited (19-Jul-14 12:11)