Way back in June 2017, a team of researchers from Yale University teamed up with the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels to explore El-Kab in Egypt. During this exploration, they stumbled upon an incredible find — a bunch of rock art carvings that turned out to be the oldest monumental Egyptian hieroglyphs ever discovered. These carvings, dating back an estimated 5,200 years, included various shapes and symbols, ranging from human figures to animals.
Hieroglyphics, for those who might not know, is a super sophisticated writing system. Each symbol and combination of symbols carries a specific meaning. But here’s the thing: nobody really understands where these hieroglyphs came from. They seem to have just appeared out of thin air. So, were they divinely inspired or the brainchild of some ancient geniuses? Or did the gods themselves bestow this intricate writing system on humans?
The term “hieroglyphics” literally translates to “holy writing.” Ancient Egyptian texts claim it was a gift from the god Thoth. There’s no shortage of legends worldwide about sky gods descending to Earth to impart knowledge, science, and even language to humans. Some legends suggest early languages and alphabets were a divine gift.
At Luxor Temple, the hieroglyphs are fascinating. Many people might think of hieroglyphs as a series of emojis - just pictures next to each other like a sun, a cow, and some sky imagery. But it’s not that simple. It’s an incredibly precise language. So precise, in fact, that people from around the globe can translate it with the same exact meaning. This language, according to the ancient Egyptians, was a divine gift from Thoth, the god of knowledge. Ancient Egyptian kings believed their gods could understand hieroglyphs. The Pyramid Texts, religious texts that are over 4,000 years old, reveal this belief.
Speaking of divine artifacts, there’s this meteoric iron object called the Benben Stone. Legend has it that it descended from the heavens like a Firebird. Even Egyptologists agree that this shape descended from the sky and made a controlled landing. When the Benben Stone opened, people emerged from it. These were the first creator gods.
When you hear stories like this, it really makes you wonder if this stone was some kind of ancient spacecraft. Its description is eerily similar to the top module of an Apollo Rocket. The Benben Stone even had hieroglyphic inscriptions on it — suggesting it might have been an otherworldly gift. Could it be that an alien spacecraft brought the language of hieroglyphics to ancient Egypt?
Now, if that’s true, it begs another question: could these ancient symbols be connected to petroglyphs and geoglyphs found around the world? These rock carvings and earth drawings feature individual figures of animals and shapes that could be linked to this universal language. Before hieroglyphics, many ancient cultures also used pictographic languages. Take Chinese script, for example.
When we finally figure out these geoglyphs and petroglyphs, we might unlock messages we’ve missed for centuries. One day, hopefully, we’ll uncover this hidden knowledge and understand these ancient messages in their entirety.
