As hieroglyphic writing reached the end of its life, Egyptians didn't simplify it like the alphabets emerging all around. They made it even more complex. Meet what Egyptologists call "enigmatic" or "cryptographic" hieroglyphs.

Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_...
Become my patron:   / nativlang  

~ Briefly ~

I'm following up on my tale of Egyptian phonology with this intriguing hieroglyphic shift. We'll contrast Egypt's developments with the alphabets emerging around the Mediterranean, revisit the basics of how hieroglyphs work, learn some of the readings and substitutions that drive cryptographic writing, and encounter examples of how sign choices relate to mythic context and content. At the end, we'll briefly wonder about the roles of temple, creativity, hybridity, and attrition in favor of alternative alphabets in the long twilight of the hieroglyphs.

~ Credits ~

Art, narration, animation and much of the music by Josh from NativLang.

My sources doc for claims and full credits for music, sfx, fonts and images:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v...

Music not by me:

Peace on the Water, Unlimited Potential
by Darren Curtis (custom license: http://darrencurtismusic.com/)

Silver Flame by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: https://filmmusic.io/standardlicense'>https://filmmusic.io/standardlicense

Thinking Music by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
License: https://filmmusic.io/standardlicense'>https://filmmusic.io/standardlicense