3/10/2023 0 Comments Tutorials for jsesh![]() ![]() I switched to the transcription font with a +t. There are a few different standards, but I decided to just try to emulate what Hoch does in my text book. On the next line, I wanted to include the traditional “transcription” as it appears in books. On the next line, I started with the +b for bold, and then switched back to hieroglyphs with a +s. I prefaced the Latin characters with a +l (I could have also used +i for italic or +b for bold), then I switched back to the default hieroglyphic mode with a +s followed by the MdC end-of-line marker -!. The first line (“Hoch 2D”) is in Latin script. How to do this was not really well documented, so I thought I would share how I did it. Secondly, I have added a line of transliteration under the hieroglyphs using a standard transliteration font used by Egyptologists. First of all, I have combined English text using Latin characters and a bold face font (for the exercise numbers) along with the hieroglyphs. But first, there are a couple of things to note. ![]() I will get to the actual Egyptian part in a bit. To give you an idea of MdC (not that I am an expert, by any means), to get the text above, I typed this into Jsesh: +l Hoch 2D +s-! The best documentation I can find is an old website (from 1997) by Hans van den Berg derived from the documentation from another, now obsolete, program. ![]() The fact that MdC was originally developed in French in the 1980s does not make it easier, nor does the ambiguity that has resulted in different “dialects” of MdC. Egyptian hieroglyphic writing is complicated. To get hieroglyphic output, you must type the text in a format called Manuel de Codage (or MdC), which was originally developed as a way to electronically encode texts using the ASCII character set. One issue I have discovered is that the documentation is somewhat lacking, especially for a newbie such as myself. Even better, it is free! You can see some of the output from one of my Glyph Study homework assignments below. I have run it on the various computers we have around the house, including various Macs, Linux, and Windows machines. The good news is Bob Brier recommended a computer program called Jsesh, which is best described by its author as “a word processor, for ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts.” Jsesh, ( sesh, ) is the Egyptian word for “scribe”) is written in Java, and is thus portable. Not surprisingly, my hieroglyphic handwriting, is terrible. My handwritten attempt at the first three English to Egyptian sentences in Lesson 2. I signed up for a new study group that uses the Middle Egyptian Grammar book by James Hoch. Then I discovered GlyphStudy a free community supported study group devoted to learning the ancient Egyptian language both in the Middle and later Coptic forms. In March, I decided to watch the course from the beginning and completed all 24 lectures within a month. We watched the first half as a family, and then as the grammar became more difficult for the younger children to follow, we took a break. This is a wonderful introductory course in Middle Egyptian language and hieroglyphs, that also provides an overview of the rediscovery of the language along with the ability to read it starting with Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt. However, I have gained back the time that I spent driving to Anchorage every other week.Ī few years ago, we purchased Decoding the Secrets of Egyptian Hieroglyphs, from the Great Courses. Normally, I work from home every other week, so for me, the transition to full-time work from home was not quite as dramatic as for some others. For the past few months, everyone, it seems, has been working on learning new things, starting new hobbies, or engaging in other activities.
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