Heliopolis
The History of Heliopolis
Heliopolis, meaning "City of the Sun" in Greek, held immense historical significance for the ancient Egyptians. Known in their own language as Iunu, it is one of the oldest cities in Egypt and served for centuries as a crucial religious and intellectual center. Located in Lower Egypt, it rose to prominence as the primary cult center for the worship of the sun god, Ra. The city housed the Great Temple of Ra, believed to be the first sun temple ever built, and its influential priesthood shaped early Egyptian cosmology and theology. Heliopolis was a hub of learning, attracting scholars in astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy, and its importance persisted from the Old Kingdom well into the Greco-Roman period.
Hieroglyphs
Hieroglyphs are the system of writing that was used in ancient Egypt. It is a form of "picture-writing" where the symbols often resemble people, animals, objects, or abstract shapes from the natural world.
Let's Learn Some Hieroglyphs
You'll need these to help unravel the murder of Osiris. Hieroglyphs can be challenging to learn, since they consist of logograms , phonograms , and determinatives. Select each tab to learn more.
Definition: These are signs that represent an entire word or concept. They often look like the object or idea they represent.
Function: They directly convey meaning through the image itself or a closely associated concept.
Examples
Ideogram
𓃠
This one's pretty easy. It's a cat! It looks like what it is.
Phonogram
Like a standard alphabet, these represent sounds.
𓎛 = H
Determinative
𓂻
These help provide meaning. Legs at the end of a group indicate movement.
Putting it All Together
𓃠
𓂻
In this case, this group of hieroglyphs could mean "the cat moves" or "the moving cat."
Learning the Hieroglyphs
Learning the Hieroglyphs is easy! There's only 700 of them... Most scholars (like you!) will use a key to translate them since remembering them all is a challenge. Let's give you your first phonogram translation key!