You've learned to read some hieroglyphic texts, but don't know what to do next and have lost your momentum
It feels like it’s so much harder to make progress without an expert who really knows what they are doing to check your work with confidence
You bought a bunch of books on hieroglyphs, but then found it difficult to make progress on your own, especially when life gets busy
You've worked with a book or study group, only to end up with unanswered questions, feeling like you are left hanging
You know you could make so much more progress, but you need expert support and feedback to keep you from getting stuck on the difficult bits

Saving tons of time by knowing exactly what to work on next to keep making progress with reading real ancient Egyptian texts
Having expert guidance from an Egyptologist, without having to be enrolled at a university
Feeling confident that you are learning the right things and avoiding pitfalls along the way
Staying on track and moving forward, even when life gets busy, with a supportive community of fellow Egyptophiles
Speeding up the learning process by having a clear direction with practical lessons and feedback from an Egyptologist
Reading REAL ancient Egyptian texts, not a grammar textbook
Walking into a museum and reading the hieroglyphic texts to your friends and family - and maybe even getting mistaken for a tour guide or Egyptologist (yes, this really happens!)

Working with Melinda is the best possible way to learn this language.

"I was hesitant on my own end financially, but it was well worth the cost, time and effort to be able to learn to read this language. It opens up a whole new world.

Working with Melinda is the best possible way to learn this language - she knows how to gradually give you the information in a method that builds upon previous lessons.

I am so glad I took this program, and look forward to continuing in it and learning all I can. It is such a blessing to be able to learn this and be taught by someone with as much education, experience, and enthusiasm!

If you have a desire to learn to read hieroglyphs, you should not hesitate to do it! Go for it! You will not regret it!"

— Julie L.

I was also able to pick out so many more words and meaning in scrolling through Instagram this week.

"Melinda certainly breaks any stereotypes surrounding stuffy, quiet academics. She made the learning process fun, accessible, and applicable. While there are TONS of books and web pages on learning hieroglyphs, you jump into practical reading and translating through this program.

Melinda does a great job at reducing complex topics into easy-to-understand ideas without sacrificing any information. She also contextualizes information and gives a lot of great historical and cultural information for a comprehensive understanding which you otherwise never learn through books.

Not only do you gain invaluable instruction from Melinda, but finding a small community with which to interact is really fantastic!

I first purchased a book on hieroglyphs in 1st grade and have passively studied since. Now, just a few weeks in, all the parts of hieroglyphs and Egyptian I've had rattling around in my brain over the years are finally starting to coalesce.
I was able to get through all the sample stele with relative ease and that felt fantastic!

I was also able to pick out so many more words and meaning in scrolling through Instagram this week. It really felt like proper payoff for committing to studying!”

— Bradley Grochocinski

Space is very limited inside the Scribal Circle group to insure the proper attention & care you deserve. The program is a 6-month experience.

The program sold out early last time and I expect it to sell out again this time.

Be ready to fill out the short application when it opens for the opportunity to secure your spot.

I will personally review your answers. If it seems like a good fit, I'll send you more details and answer any questions you have about how the program would work for you & your situation.

I could visit 2 great Egyptian collections in London and read some of the stelae on display!

“I have had a lifelong passion for Ancient Egypt, but I was worried that learning to read hieroglyphs would be too hard, or I would not be able to make sense of them. I also worried about time commitment to the course and balancing with my busy work/life.

I can now read texts written by the ancients!

The thing that amazed me the most was that (after only a few weeks) I could visit 2 great Egyptian collections in London and read some of the stelae on display!

Melinda’s teaching style is well-suited to adult learning and she makes things easy to learn.

She is passionate about Ancient Egypt and I see that passion when she delivers her courses. It’s just fantastic to have a teacher who is as passionate about a subject as you!

I also greatly appreciate that this course is virtual, which means I can take part, even though I’m in Australia.

If you have a passion for Egypt, or have wanted to learn to read Hieroglyphs, just do it! Melinda is a wonderful teacher and I love her method of teaching.

— Shannon Beresford

Now my life has been more exciting in being able to read hieroglyphs from what I see in the Museums

“My first concern was the possibility of the course being too complex. Secondly, if I could make this investment worth my wild.

Now my life has been more exciting in being able to read hieroglyphs from what I see in the Museums, the various lectures provided by the American Research Center in Egypt and in the tomb wall images all over the Internet.
I feel confident that with more practice, I will be able to read from the book of the dead or a tomb wall on my own.

I recently attended the "Queens of Egypt" exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History with my son and daughter in law. I found myself having a blast reading some hieroglyphs to them, as well as adding some specificity in the process of the weighing of the heart including the need for the heart scarabs (we had a good laugh as the scarabs are dung beetles).

I had a smile from ear to ear having the opportunity to use my new language skills.

If your childhood dream was to be able to read hieroglyphs, or your own version of Indiana Jones, this is your chance to do it in a well explained comprehensive way."

— Carrie-Ann Bettinger

FAQs

Am I a good fit for Scribal Circle?

If you consider yourself at the “middle” stage of learning hieroglyphs – you’ve been at it for a little while, have learned to read some common texts, and no longer consider yourself a brand new beginner – I encourage you to apply.

What if I’m a beginner? Can I still join Scribal Circle?

Yes. All levels are welcome. As part of Scribal Circle, you’ll also have access to my foundational course, Scribal School, which takes you from knowing nothing to reading the most common texts you’ll see in museums and on trips to Egypt.

Plus, you have the expert support from me (Melinda) and an awesome group of fellow Egyptophiles who love to geek out about this stuff. If this sounds like a good fit for you, I encourage you to apply.

Do I get to work with Melinda 1-on-1?

The group program is set up to provide plenty of direct support from me (Melinda) on calls and in the private community. The space is intentionally limited to allow for me to personally answer questions and give feedback and guidance. Plus, you’ll benefit from the genius of your peers.

How do I find out all the details, key features, & investment?

Apply for Scribal Circle and I will personally review your application. If there's a mutual fit, I will send you all of the details and an invitation to join.

What happens after I apply?

I (Melinda) will be personally reviewing your application in order to understand your goals and whether those align with our objectives in Scribal Circle. If there is a mutual fit, you will be invited to secure your spot in the program.

How long is the program and when do we start?

Our official 6 months starts on January 8, but you get bonus access to the learning portal, which includes Melinda’s foundational courses and exercises – Scribal School, Queen Nefertari’s Egypt exercises, Set up for Success, and the current Scribal Circle curriculum – immediately upon enrollment, so you can work ahead and hit the ground running in January.

I still have questions – can I talk to someone?

Absolutely! DM me (Melinda) on Instagram (@voicesofancientegypt) or email me directly at melinda@voicesofancientegypt.com.

I was able to explain a temple text to my whole tour group.

"I was worried whether I would have enough time, but wanted to learn by other means than just a book and flash cards.

Now I feel more confident approaching texts and (on my last trip to Egypt) I was able to explain a temple text to my whole tour group.

There’s a bit of a high/rush you get when you take these strange symbols and ‘decode’ it to something recognizable.

This is a great program that will equip you with the tools, techniques, and accountability to make great progress in learning to read hieroglyphs.

I highly recommend this course if you have always wanted to learn hieroglyphs!"

— Dave Lassanske

Scribal School has been a great experience! If you want to learn hieroglyphs, this is a good place to start!

“The last class I took was very heavy in grammar and left me feeling very frustrated. Now I have less anxiety about verbs - I like your gentle teaching approach in grammar and overall hieroglyphs.

Scribal School has been a great experience! Here are my reasons: 1) The lessons are available at your convenience. You can access them when you have the time. 2) The learning pace is just right…not too fast or too slow. 3) The teacher is very accessible, friendly, and helpful.

If you want to learn hieroglyphs, this is a good place to start!"

— Karen Pavlich

Learning a dead, visually poetic language, from absolute zero to the point of reading parts of monuments, within 2 months

"My biggest hesitation was that I was afraid I’ll fail at learning Middle Egyptian.

I can’t even begin to describe how much I have enjoyed this course! Learning a dead, visually poetic language, from absolute zero to the point of reading parts of monuments, within 2 months is win enough.😂

You are an exceptional lecturer and your students are lucky to have you❤️

And the community??!! I’d never imagined to meet such wonderfully curious, helpful and imaginative people on an online forum!!

Just bloody well join it!! Take it from another person who thinks too much!"

— Marysa Alexander

If we haven’t met at a conference, online Egyptology talk, or Mardi Gras…

Hi, I’m Melinda -- Egyptologist and teacher (online and in the university classroom), human and cat mama, tea drinker, and introvert who enjoys Mardi Gras -- especially the Egypt-themed parades, of course!

And ooof! The road from lover of all things ancient Egypt to Ph.D. to teaching people like you (the best part!) has been exciting and exhausting all at once.

Let’s rewind over 20 years to when I was just starting out…

I’d wanted to learn hieroglyphs for years, but could never stick with a book for more than a few chapters before I would either get overwhelmed by the complexity or sidetracked by life. I felt like I never made any real progress. And I wouldn’t be surprised if at some time -- maybe even right now -- you’ve felt this same way too.

Grad school gave me the structure and accountability I craved to keep me on-track, but…
We learned the traditional way, spending most of a year working through an Egyptian grammar book, and I felt totally overwhelmed by having to learn two languages at once - not just Egyptian, but all of the grammatical terminology that was foreign to me.

I improved (slowly!), but still felt that the typeset examples, mostly from literature, were not helping me much when it came to reading what I saw in museums.
I knew then -- sitting at my desk at home, studying late into the night with a cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie beside me -- that when it was my turn to teach, I HAD to find another way, a way that would demystify the learning process and get my students reading common texts from the start.

Fast-forwarding over a decade...

I loved presenting my research, giving public talks, and teaching students ages 18 to 80. I loved seeing the joy, understanding, and sense of accomplishment wash over my students when lightbulb moments happened.

I wanted to help so many more people than the hundreds I had reached in my university classroom, in museum auditoriums, and at conferences so far. But how?

Then it came to me one day when I decided to watch a little YouTube while my one-year-old took a nap -- watching a book summary video, something just clicked! THIS is how I can help more people, online!

Years of teaching online later, there’s nothing that gives me greater joy than teaching people like YOU how to walk into a museum with confidence and immediately start reading the hieroglyphic texts.

I do what I do because…

There was a time when I struggled to learn hieroglyphs on my own. There was a time when I *still* struggled to learn hieroglyphs and apply what I learned to reading the texts I saw in museums, even with formal classes. There was a time when my own students struggled to understand what the text we were reading really meant.

Then I shifted my focus to reading and teaching the hieroglyphs I see in museums and on trips to Egypt. That changed everything. It brought a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling that I CAN do this. A feeling that YOU can do this too. Now I see these feelings of understanding and accomplishment in my students all the time.

That’s what I want for YOU, too.

Scribal Circle

So you've got some experience with hieroglyphs, but...

What if you had the resources and expert support you needed to keep making progress and deepening your hieroglyphic skills?

Imagine...

This is Scribal Circle

"The only way to learn to read Egyptian better would be to invent a time machine and go and talk to King Tut himself. And I still think you’d be better off with Melinda."

Here are highlights of what

YOU WILL READ

(Available immediately)

PHARAOH AND FAMILY

WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

ACTION!

LETTERS AND LITERATURE

STATUES, STELAE, AND SUSTENANCE

HEART SCARAB AMULETS

GODS AND GREATS

TOMB WALL SCENES

"I can now read texts written by the ancients!

The thing that amazed me the most was that I could visit 2 great Egyptian collections in London and read some of the stelae on display!"

Over our 6 months together, we will be adding to the curriculum and the texts we’ll be reading, based on who's in the group and what people need.

Here's a sample of the types of texts we may add to the curriculum during our 6 months together:

THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

TUTANKHAMUN'S ARTIFACTS

COMMUNICATION WITH THE DEAD

STATUES, STELAE, AND SUSTENANCE

HISTORICAL EVENTS

AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

“I was able to explain a temple text to my whole tour group.

There’s a bit of a high/rush you get when you take these strange symbols and ‘decode’ it to something recognizable.”

How we do it

QUICKEST PATH TO READING HIEROGLYPHS

I GOT A PH.D. SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO

READ REAL ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEXTS

A CUSTOMIZED EXPERIENCE

EXPERT AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT

BUILT-IN ACCOUNTABILITY

“I went to an exhibit showing replicas of some of King Tut's artifacts. I stood in wonder gazing at the hieroglyphs that now made sense to me.

Melinda is a phenomenal teacher. In my experiences in undergraduate, graduate and law school, I rate her as my best teacher.”

What you'll get

AN EXPERT'S EYES AND BRAIN

2 NEW LESSONS AND/OR EXERCISES PER MONTH

2 GROUP Q&A CALLS WITH MELINDA PER MONTH

ALL-ACCESS PASS

EXCLUSIVE ONLINE COMMUNITY

REPLAYS OF ALL Q&A CALLS