Voices of Ancient Egypt
Welcome to Voices of Ancient Egypt — the podcast for people who don’t just want to learn about ancient Egypt, but want to understand it at a deeper, more meaningful level.
Your podcast host, Melinda Nelson-Hurst, Ph.D., is an Egyptologist with years of experience teaching at the university level, working in Egypt, and training students around the world to read real ancient Egyptian texts. She’s spent decades studying this civilization in a traditional academic setting so you don’t have to — and so you can access knowledge that’s usually locked behind academic walls.
With a blend of solo deep-dives and conversations with experts and everyday Egyptophiles, this podcast brings ancient Egyptian history, beliefs, and language to life — and shows you how learning hieroglyphs is possible, no matter your age, background, or schedule.
Whether you want to read hieroglyphs in museums, on social media, or on your next trip to Egypt, you’ll find the tools, stories, and encouragement to make it real.
Let’s hear the voices of the ancient world — together.
Voices of Ancient Egypt
From Bogged Down Trying to Memorize Signs to Reading Whole Egyptian Texts with Ed Smith-Rowland
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Ed Smith-Rowland has journeyed from a lifelong passion for ancient Egypt to confidently reading hieroglyphs. Ed shares his transformation from struggling with a dense grammar textbook and getting "bogged down" in memorization after just a couple chapters, to now reading a wide variety of ancient Egyptian texts -- everything from temple and tomb walls to letters and literature to heart scarabs and the Book of the Dead.
He discusses how a structured approach and small, consistent daily practice have allowed him to read a wide variety of ancient Egyptian texts and connect directly with their history and philosophies, and even moving into more complex literary and hieratic texts.
In this episode, you will learn:
• Overcoming initial learning hurdles: Discover why traditional, self-study methods with thick grammar textbooks can be challenging and what to do instead.
• The power of a text-led approach: Learn how reading actual texts and common formulas, such as offering formulas and appeals to the living, accelerates understanding beyond rote memorization.
• Cultivating a daily learning habit: Hear how a consistent practice of 30 minutes per day, described as "slow and steady wins the race," proves more effective for vocabulary and word recognition than cramming.
• Achieving reading fluency: Learn how Ed progressed from basic texts to confidently reading most of a stela, and moving into more complex literature like "The Shipwrecked Sailor" and even the hieratic script.
• The benefits of finding a supportive community: Explore how an online group can foster camaraderie, shared encouragement, and learning from diverse questions without the pressure of competition.
• Personalized learning within a group setting: Discover how you can engage at your own pace, "choosing your own adventure" in a non-competitive environment that supports individual learning styles.
• Deeper contextual understanding: Learn how reading original Egyptian texts has taken Ed's understanding beyond language and into the social context of monuments, titles, and family dynamics, enriching his overall understanding of ancient Egyptian history, culture, and philosophy.
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I’m hosting a FREE class called Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs Fast-Track!
In this class, you’ll learn the 4 steps you need to take to learn to read the most common hieroglyphs you'll see in museums and on trips to Egypt!
We meet on Zoom on Tuesday, May 12 at 1:00pm EDT | 10:00am PDT.
(If you can't make it live, a limited-time replay will be available.)
Save your spot in the free class right here: https://voicesofancientegypt.com/freeclass