Learning path
Lessons, in the order that works
You can explore any section freely, but if you want a route from nothing to reading real words, follow these seven steps in order. Each one builds directly on the one before it.
- 1Read the overview
Understand the writing system
Before any signs, learn the three jobs a hieroglyph can do, why only consonants are written, and how to tell which way to read. This frame makes everything that follows click.
- 2Study the uniliterals
Learn the uniliteral “alphabet”
The 24 single-consonant signs are the foundation. Study them grouped by how each sound is made — glottals, labials, nasals, and the rest — so they stick as families rather than a flat list.
- 3Study the biliterals
Add the biliterals
Two-consonant signs appear constantly in real words. Learn the most common ones and start recognizing them inside longer spellings.
- 4Study the triliterals
Add the triliterals
Three-consonant signs include some of the most famous words in Egyptian — ankh, nefer, netjer. Meet them and the ideas they carry.
- 5Study determinatives
Read meaning with determinatives
Learn the silent signs that classify a word's meaning, organized along Gardiner's families, then work through illustrated thematic decks.
- 6Open your practice deck(sign in)
Drill with flashcards
Turn recognition into recall. Study any thematic deck as spaced flashcards and watch your mastery stats climb. Sign in to save progress.
- 7Play the practice games(sign in)
Test yourself with games
Rebuild shuffled sentences and match glyphs to their Coptic phonetic readings. A low-stakes way to prove what has stuck.