Olims, Hieroglyphs, and Puppets

This morning started with a Skype date with Olim in which I learned of her love of the game Mass Effect (which, by the way, she very highly recommends--I mention this more so that I will remember to play it one day). We caught up and had our usual laughs and double-entendres.

Later on in the day, I attended a free lecture in downtown titled "Think like an Egyptian: An Intro to Hieroglyphs". It was put on by the Vancouver chapter of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (or SSEA) as part of this year's Culture Days. I heard about it on Facebook through the one classical studies friend I had at UBC who is now an Egyptologist/archaeologist and president of the aforementioned club. And I am so glad that I went! I had declined invitations to their other events before (even one about Aida) but when I saw that I would be able to learn how to write hieroglyphs I was instantly sold. Education? Check. Language? Check. Free? Check. Yes, it satisfied three important requirements.

The most interesting thing I took away from the lecture (which I had to write down in my notebook) was that the ancient Egyptians believed that having one's name written made it magical. It gave one the power to exist in his/her absence, even after death. I thought that was beautiful.

My name in hieroglyphs. Each sign represents a sound.

I wasn't pleased, however, with how many seated women I had to draw to denote that I was feminine (a determinative) or to use as a suffix pronoun after a verb. You can see a poorly drawn example above (right).

I also learned that scribes liked to maximize their use of space, so for signs that didn't take up much space (such as the snake above), they would stack them on top of or below the next sign, based on order. The sign you see on the left is actually comprised of three signs stacked on top of one another. They make up the sounds J, S, and L respectively. The O and E vowels were understood and therefore not written.

Yes, to say that I had a lot of fun would be an understatement. I liked how the format of the workshop was equally informative and interactive, and the lecturer, who is still a student, put a lot of work into her presentation and workbook and was very clearly passionate about her interest in the subject matter. I was very impressed. It made me wonder if I could ever give a lecture on something that I loved as thoroughly and effectively as she did...or if I knew anything well enough to be able to at all.

After the lecture, I met up briefly with Boy in Granville Island to eat a few treats and walk around the Kids Only Market for the first time. The puppets were my favourite, especially a huge spotted blue monster named "Blueper" since you could fit your arms in his arms too. Then I caught the bus to head home for Chinese mid-autumn festival dinner, which I now await. What a full day!

PS. If you're interested in learning more about hieroglyphs, SSEA will post today's lecture on their website.
PPS. After publishing this post, I realized that it was my 600th! Happy milestone to me!