A conversation with Jennifer Westerfeld on the scripts used to write ancient Egyptian, especially hieroglyphs. Their last attested use was in the 390s AD, ending their long history in our period. Meanwhile, Greek, Roman, and Christian observers were developing their own theories about how the script worked, often quite fantastic, and reacted to texts inscribed in public spaces.
Jennifer Westerfeld is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Louisville, where she specializes in the cultural and religious history of late antique Egypt, Coptic epigraphy, and papyrology. The conversation is based on Jennifer’s fascinating book Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the Late Antique Imagination (University of Pennsylvania Press 2019).
A conversation with Jennifer Westerfeld on the scripts used to write ancient Egyptian, especially hieroglyphs. Their last attested use was in the 390s AD, ending their long history in our period. Meanwhile, Greek, Roman, and Christian observers were developing their own theories about how the script worked, often quite fantastic, and reacted to texts inscribed in public spaces.
Jennifer Westerfeld is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Louisville, where she specializes in the cultural and religious history of late antique Egypt, Coptic epigraphy, and papyrology. The conversation is based on Jennifer’s fascinating book Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the Late Antique Imagination (University of Pennsylvania Press 2019).
Byzantium & Friends is hosted by Anthony Kaldellis, a Professor at the University of Chicago. You can follow him on his personal website.
You can listen to more episodes of Byzantium & Friends through Podbean, Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Top Image: Hieroglyphs on granite stone; precinct of Amun-Ra. Karnak, Egypt. Photo by LBM1948 / Wikimedia Commons
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