EGYPTIAN Language Help

[cmwinters]

I don't suppose anyone on the forum is well versed in the phonetic enunciation of Ancient Egyptian words? Yes, I know it was *written* with heiroglyphs, but these people spoke to each other.

I'm in the middle of a lengthy Snape fic, and the other night as I was going to sleep, I thought about some body/soul magic that was inspired by a Mercedes Lackey book I read like fifteen years ago. The basic premise was that someone could steal the body of a younger person and insert their soul into it, and thereby have a path to immortality.

This sounds quite Dark and Snapey and Dark Lordy, so I thought I'd try to incorporate it, and given that the Ancient Egyptians were so preoccupied with the pieces of the soul, I think I'd *prefer* that the spells (and any requisite potions ingredients) be Egyptian in nature, but what I'm trying to find on Google isn't working for me . . .

[Ron x Hermione]

I'm not sure exactly what you need, but I'm guessing you need some form of ingredient/recipe made by the ancient Egyptians that you could possibly incorporate into a spell into your fiction?

If so, I have found a bit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_medicine

Above is the link to Wikipedia about medicines and remedies.

http://www.egyptologyonline.com/medi...healthcare.htm

The link above this actually goes into detail about what ingredients were used to make remedies for physical and mental ailments. It's much more information than the first.

If you need anything else, please don't be afraid to ask. I don't exactly if it's what you're looking for, but I hope it helps! Good luck with writing!

~Lindsey

[Eowyn89]

Hello

What an interesting idea for a fic! I love ancient Egypt, so it is a good idea to incorporate some of their culture--especially the supernatural parts of it.

Well, as for spells involving the soul--my best advice for you would be to consult the Egyptian Book of the Dead--there are many references to the afterlife and what happens to the soul on that journey, so you can be sure that they probably have spells in there for the soul...here is the link:

Egyptian Book of the Dead

As for phonetic spelling? I have two words of advice: One, you could watch The Mummy (1999)--throughout the movie, characters speak in Egyptian (I can only assume it is ancient), and also perform spells to bring the body back from the dead. Two, there is a really great book I have on how to read heiroglyphics. In this book, phonetic spellings of many common words can be found.

The Mummy

I cannot find a link to the book now, but I will edit later with it! Hope I helped, and good luck!

~Katie

EDIT: I still cannot find the link, but the book is entitled, "An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Reading Book for Beginners" by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge.

[padfoot_returns]

Egyptians used to speak Arabic a long time ago, but just a different type. I speak Arabic if you want any help.

xxPaddy

[cmwinters]

Um. No.

Ancient Egyptian was in the same language *tree* as Ancient Arabic, but it is not the same language.

The Afro-Asiatic "tree" consists of many branches, of which Ancient Egyptian is one, of which Semitic, the branch Arabic is on, is another.

This is much like Indo-European, where "Celtic" and "Slavic" and "Hellenic" are branches, but Ancient Greek is not synonymous with Modern Gaelic, and they are not mutually intelligible.

[voldy]

Ancient Egyptians used to speak Arabic a loong time ago, but it was different, very different. I speak arabic and in Dubai (where I live) there are a lot of Egyptians I can ask, or I can ask my arabic teacher, just let me know what exactly it is that you want and I can try and help you.
Good Luck in finding what you want =D
Farwa

[cmwinters]

Ask your teacher for a phrase in *Ancient Egyptian* (not Arabic, but Ancient Egyptian at 18th dynasty or earlier) that a priest would utter that says something along the lines of "I reunite body and soul". If they ask which part of the soul, I'm asking about either Sheut or Ba.

If it doesn't contain either of those words it's not Egyptian.

[kehribar]

I am writing a story about Bill in Egypt, so I need a bit of culture help.

What would Egyptians drink at breakfast on an incredibly hot July day? Also, is the correct spelling of the name Hasan or Hassan in English? I think it's with one s in original, but most words in eastern languages tend to take weird forms when they're written in English >.>

Thanks!

[padfoot_returns]

I am writing a story about Bill in Egypt, so I need a bit of culture help.

What would Egyptians drink at breakfast on an incredibly hot July day? Also, is the correct spelling of the name Hasan or Hassan in English? I think it's with one s in original, but most words in eastern languages tend to take weird forms when they're written in English >.>

Thanks!

Most Egyptians have tea or tea with milk for breakfast, but since this is a hot day you are talking about, they usually drink cranberry juice or any natural juice, but mostly isn't cranberry. In Arabic, its called karkadai.

I belive the name Hassan in spelled with two s's. I have never seen someone spell it with only one and I know quite a lot of Hassan's. I hope I helped. If you have anymore questions, ask away.

xxPaddy

[Gonz]

Since it sounds like your still stuck I have a suggestion. I think your best bet would be to search for a Professor who teaches ancient Egyptian at a college or university level. Most teachers are usually willing to help so if you could find an email address on a website you might be able to get some results.

I looked on Wikipedia and are the different types of Egyptian over the years so you can narrow your search. I would suspect that Coptic would be the easiest to find someone who knows the language, because alot of Biblical manuscripts that have been discovered recently are written in Coptic so scholars of religion are beginning to learn the language. Also f you know anyone who is Gnostic they might be able to help you with Coptic. But of course that is the most modern of the list and you may something more ancient.

Archaic Egyptian (before 2600 BC)
Old Egyptian (2600 BC – 2000 BC)
Middle Egyptian (2000 BC – 1300 BC)
Late Egyptian (1300 BC – 700 BC)
Demotic (7th century BC – 5th century AD)
Coptic (4th – 17th century AD)