Alexander, John White, Artist. Egyptian hieroglyphics mural in Evolution of the Book series, by John W. Alexander. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. Washington D.C, ca. 1896. [Mural ; Photographed 1990] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2005675756/.
The Egyptian Hieroglyphics mural part of The Evolution of the Book series can be an introduction to Egyptian mythology, part of a World Literature curriculum, and/or a starting topic about why and how we write and tell stories. This would also be a useful source to show how language and iconography has changed over time.
Photo of one part of a six-part mural on the history of the book; after conservation of the mural. Depicts an Egyptian man using hammer and chisel to write on wall in hieroglyphics a picture of a woman. Woman model posed in seated position on the right.
The Egyptian hieroglyphs mural is part of a larger series that John W. Alexander did for the Library of Congress entitled The Evolution of the Book. This commission was done for the expansion of the library that opened in 1897 and named for President Jefferson who sold more than 6,000 books from his own library to help the recovery after the Library of Congress suffered major losses in the War of 1812’s British burning of the capital.
- How did writing systems develop and evolve over time? What are the connections between communication then and today?
- What can ancient writing systems tell us about the people that lived at the time?
- What stories are worth preserving and why?
Texas ELAR TEKS
TEKS E2.5H Respond orally or in writing with appropriate register, vocabulary, tone, and voice.
- After studying the photograph and the history behind Egyptian hieroglyphs, students should be able to discuss and debate the mural’s place in The Evolution of the Book series.
TEKS E2.7A Read and analyze world literature across literary periods.
- Have students connect the hieroglyphs to Egyptian mythology and to current societal iconography like emojis, memes, and GIFs.
- Split students into small groups and give each a copy of the image of the mural. Use the Library of Congress’s Guiding Questions from “The Evolution of the Book: Introducing Students to Visual Analysis Lesson Plan” to prompt students to focus their observations and questions on the reason behind and the design of the mural. Then, have students come together and share their observations and hypotheses about the purpose of the mural and the Egyptian hieroglyphs section, in particular.
- The National Endowment for the Humanities has a full lesson plan that gives students background on reading hieroglyphs and what they reveal about women of Ancient Egypt. Have students connect to the woman in the image and hypothesize what her role might have been. Then, have students continue on in the lesson to learn how to write their own hieroglyphs.
- Thoth was the Ancient Egyptian god of writing and wisdom, and he is often credited for the creation of hieroglyphs. Have students study and read some of the myths about him and discuss why the Egyptians would have worshipped him and valued writing and wisdom.
- Some families, especially those with younger students, may be uncomfortable looking at nudity in the image.
Links to resources for approaching those topics
- Utah Museum for Fine Arts has a handout that details strategies for teaching nude art in the classroom, broken down for grades K–3, 4–8, and 9–12.
- Image 14 of The study of American hieroglyphs. - This book shows an example of hieroglyphs from the Americas, specifically from the Palenque tablets, that students can compare and contrast to their Egyptian counterpart.
- [Copy of drawing of Egyptian? Hieroglyphics] - Students can look at the hieroglyphs close up and focus on the writing itself instead of the people creating it.
- Egyptian views; Karnak. Temple of Khons - This image could be considered in comparison to Alexander’s Egyptian hieroglyphs mural. Students could examine how real images are similar/different from the painted ones.
- Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art biography for the mural’s artist, John W. Alexander
- Khan Academy has a lesson from the British Library on Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs that can be integrated to both Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams.
- Ilona Regulski, curator at the British Museum, has a video showing how to interpret and read ancient hieroglyphs.