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Diodorus Siculus and interpretation of hieroglyphs
A brief dissertation on hieroglyphic letters. (1860)
By Constantine Simonides, Ph.D. etc. etc. etc.
https://archive.org/details/bib_fict_4103085/page/47/mode/1up?q=Diodorus
And that these hieroglyphic figures are not alphabetical signs, we have, amongst many other learned writers, the testimony of Diodorus Siculus, who writes as follows:
‘But lest we should omit things that are ancient and remarkable, it is fit that something should be said of the Ethiopic characters, and of those which the Egyptians call hieroglyphics. The Ethiopic letters represent the shapes of divers beasts, parts and members of man’s body, and artificers’ tools and instruments. For by their writing, they do not express things by the composition of syllables, but by the signification of images and by representations, the meaning of them being engraven and fixed in the memory by use and exercise. For sometimes they draw the shape of a kite, crocodile, or serpent; sometimes the members of a man’s body, as the eye, the hand, the face, and such hike. The kite signifies all things that are quickly despatched, because this bird flies the swiftest of almost any other; and reason presently applies it by a suitable interpretation to everything that is sudden and quick, or of such nature, as perfectly as if it had been spoken. The crocodile is the emblem of malice; the eye is the preserver of justice, and the guard of the body; the right hand, with open fingers, signifies plenty ; the left, with the
In addition to this testimony of Diodorus Siculus, let us also give the testimony of St. Clement of Alexandria respecting an inscription at Sais, in Egypt, and which is as follows: “And at Diospolis, in Egypt, on a door there called ‘sacred,’ are engraven a child, which is the symbol of generation; an old man, the symbol of decay; a hawk, which represents God; and a fish, which signifies hatred. And again, according to another interpretation, the crocodile is the symbol of shamelessness. The meaning of the whole of these symbols is the following :—.
From all these considerations, therefore, we must conclude that hieroglyphics are symbolic characters, under which many hidden meanings are concealed; and that those who affirm them to be merely letters, A BC D H, etc., are in error. It is true, the Egyptians did make use of alphabetical characters, called common or demotic letters, and which represented expressive vocal sounds; but these Jetters were very different from the hieroglyphics. And to this Diodorus also bears testimony, thus: ‘The Egyptians have two kinds of letters, the common and ordinary characters, used promiscuously by all the inhabitants (which are called by Clement and Porphilyrius epistolary characters), and likewise those they call sacred, known only by the priests, being privately taught them by their parents.” All ancient writers, therefore, tell us that there were two kinds of letters among the Egyptians: ‘‘There were two kinds of letters,” says Herodotus, “and one kind of them is sacred, the other is called demotic” (Book II., chap. xxxvi.) ; and not one of them says that the eagle is A, the vessel B, the hand 7, or D, or A, and the axe A, and the lion Z or R, and the night-raven MM, and the mouth R or L, and that the eye is 4, or J,or O. On the contrary, those learned Greeks who lived a long time in Egypt, as well as the most learned among the Egyptians, who lived at the time their language was at its highest perfection, and when both the reading and writing of hieroglyphics were perfectly well-known and understood, tell us that they were of a very opposite character.
A brief dissertation on hieroglyphic letters. (1860)
By Constantine Simonides, Ph.D. etc. etc. etc.
https://archive.org/details/bib_fict_4103085/page/47/mode/1up?q=Diodorus
And that these hieroglyphic figures are not alphabetical signs, we have, amongst many other learned writers, the testimony of Diodorus Siculus, who writes as follows:
‘But lest we should omit things that are ancient and remarkable, it is fit that something should be said of the Ethiopic characters, and of those which the Egyptians call hieroglyphics. The Ethiopic letters represent the shapes of divers beasts, parts and members of man’s body, and artificers’ tools and instruments. For by their writing, they do not express things by the composition of syllables, but by the signification of images and by representations, the meaning of them being engraven and fixed in the memory by use and exercise. For sometimes they draw the shape of a kite, crocodile, or serpent; sometimes the members of a man’s body, as the eye, the hand, the face, and such hike. The kite signifies all things that are quickly despatched, because this bird flies the swiftest of almost any other; and reason presently applies it by a suitable interpretation to everything that is sudden and quick, or of such nature, as perfectly as if it had been spoken. The crocodile is the emblem of malice; the eye is the preserver of justice, and the guard of the body; the right hand, with open fingers, signifies plenty ; the left, with the
In addition to this testimony of Diodorus Siculus, let us also give the testimony of St. Clement of Alexandria respecting an inscription at Sais, in Egypt, and which is as follows: “And at Diospolis, in Egypt, on a door there called ‘sacred,’ are engraven a child, which is the symbol of generation; an old man, the symbol of decay; a hawk, which represents God; and a fish, which signifies hatred. And again, according to another interpretation, the crocodile is the symbol of shamelessness. The meaning of the whole of these symbols is the following :—.
From all these considerations, therefore, we must conclude that hieroglyphics are symbolic characters, under which many hidden meanings are concealed; and that those who affirm them to be merely letters, A BC D H, etc., are in error. It is true, the Egyptians did make use of alphabetical characters, called common or demotic letters, and which represented expressive vocal sounds; but these Jetters were very different from the hieroglyphics. And to this Diodorus also bears testimony, thus: ‘The Egyptians have two kinds of letters, the common and ordinary characters, used promiscuously by all the inhabitants (which are called by Clement and Porphilyrius epistolary characters), and likewise those they call sacred, known only by the priests, being privately taught them by their parents.” All ancient writers, therefore, tell us that there were two kinds of letters among the Egyptians: ‘‘There were two kinds of letters,” says Herodotus, “and one kind of them is sacred, the other is called demotic” (Book II., chap. xxxvi.) ; and not one of them says that the eagle is A, the vessel B, the hand 7, or D, or A, and the axe A, and the lion Z or R, and the night-raven MM, and the mouth R or L, and that the eye is 4, or J,or O. On the contrary, those learned Greeks who lived a long time in Egypt, as well as the most learned among the Egyptians, who lived at the time their language was at its highest perfection, and when both the reading and writing of hieroglyphics were perfectly well-known and understood, tell us that they were of a very opposite character.
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