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December 9, 2007
Fun With a Hieroglyph Editor
I've been wasting my time with a new toy, the JSesh hieroglyph editor, written by S. Rosmorduc. Nearly everyone who thinks about the Near East bumps up against hieroglyphic Egyptian from time to time. It just can't (and shouldn't) be avoided. But for the untrained, like me, Egyptian is a world onto itself. From time to time I have wanted to use Egyptian hieroglyphs here and there and it has always been a pain in the neck. Some time ago, I downloaded a set of fonts based on Gardiner's grammar. I can't find the site where I got them any more. These fonts are not very easy to use and there are a few technical problems with them. A few signs that look great in a document print out as something else. And there is no good way to group the hieroglyphs or to write vertically unless one imports the thing as an image into Photoshop or the like and massage the hieroglyphs there.
Well, the other day I ran across JSesh, is it ever fun? And it's free. I still have no idea how much time one can waste playing with it. For example, here is what the place name "Megiddo" looks like in Thutmose III's topographic list.
One can group and ligature group hieroglyphs and even insert Latin letters and it's not at all hard to do. And rather than looking up every hieroglyph one can select them from palates, use their Gardiner code (G1=
) or their phonetic value ("a" also =).
To the left is "Megiddo" as it is written on Shoshenq I's topographic list (number 27). Shoshenq I is called Shishak in the Hebrew Bible. As you can see, it is possible to flip the way hieroglyphs face as I have done in this case. It is also possible to rotate them in a variety of ways, 30°, 45°, 90° etc. The editor allowed me to but the name in an oval more or less like it appears in the list. There are 23 "cartouche" designs from which to choose. The whole of Gardiner's font is available and there are a few variants and special signs not in Gardiner. The size of the output can also be managed. As you can see from my inline usage, I can make them small but generally, I like my hieroglyphs big.
Here is what most scholars identify as Arad from Shoshenq I's topographic list (number 108). Noticed that one can indicate unclear, broken or difficult to read hieroglyphs with shading. In addition, there is a whole suite of symbols for philological markup. The truth is, I'm not completely sure about the or the 
signs. The picture of the Karnap inscription I worked from is not as clear as one might hope. I could not read the next oval (number 109) at all but together they likely read cA-rú-d-āt Rú-bi-t(a), "Great Arad."
Now for a little quiz: Is the Arad mentioned in Shoshenq I's list Arad Stratum XII or Arad Stratum XI and is the Megiddo, Megiddo VB/IVB or Megiddo VA? Or perhaps you prefer some other strata for either or both. The chronology of the Early Iron II southern Levant depends on how you answer.
Posted by Duane Smith at December 9, 2007 10:10 AM | Read more on Archaeology |
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