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As you may well know Highclere Castle has a very strong link to Egypt, and particularly Tutankhamun. In 1922 the 5th Earl of Carnarvon and Howard Carter discovered the the ancient tomb, which would truly captured the world’s imagination over 50 years later. The Tutankhamun exhibition is the most successful in the British Museum’s history, with 1.6 million people visiting in 1972 and could be considered the first global world media event. It was, and is, a marvellous story about treasure, tragedy and of course, a curse. Despite the significance of the discovery, the first biography of Howard Carter was not written until 1972!
Egypt has been in our hearts at Highclere for so long and it is wonderful to be able to share this small piece of history with so many people. It might be fun to incorporate an Egyptian aspect into your dinner parties, with hieroglyphs making a perfect addition to your table place cards. Writing them in hieroglyphs will be excellent talking point, or you could perhaps allow guests to add their name in Ancient Egyptian script when they arrive. We have provided a helpful guide to take you through, step by step, the process of translating your name into hieroglyphs.
Image of the Hieroglyphs key with link to the full instructional PDF
It might be of interest to have some background about the use of hieroglyphs and how they are read. Traditionally they were read from right to left or top to bottom, but for ease of translation into Latin scripts we can read them from left to right. It is easy to identify the direction of reading by noticing the direction that the humans and animals are facing – if they are facing left, then the hieroglyphs are read from left to right.
Given the complexity of the translations we would be happy to hear from you with any questions you may have. Please leave a comment and we will try to give the best advice possible…
Madam Carnarvon,
I was reading your blog post, and I found the information about how you incorporate the hieroglyphs in your dinner party quite interesting!
I am looking for the link mentioned in the post, about the process of translating your name into hieroglyphs, but I can’t find it.
Could you send it to me?
Yours faithfully,
Vinicius Soares
Its a fun way of seating people at a table –
https://www.penn.museum
I was able to see the Tutankhamun in Los Angeles for my birthday present to (my) ‘self’ after flying into my hometown of L.A., CA. since I missed it in Seattle, WA.. It was indeed an honor and pleasure to see my ancestor on display in such an honorable state. I am looking forward to eventually going to (Khemet) Egypt and seeing the pyramids (inter alia), but first I must return to the east in a few years for my almost month-long photo shoot that will start in London and end in Amsterdam! Eventually, I will be able to make my way to your establishment which will be a most festive occasion, and spend a night in the nearby residences you have available. As a Hip Hop artist and poet, I will be elated to see the site where ‘Downtown Abbey’ was filmed after seeing all of the seasons and 1 o’ the movies. I am a student of music, history, religion, science, and Freemasonry and am always seeking a new opportunity to study at home in the U.S.A. and abroad! I feel historical landmarks such as yours brings together people from all walks of life and make them aware of such historical landmarks, reminding us that there is something greater than all of ourselves! Peace and Blessings! (-Solo-)