Find a long oval shape around a group of hieroglyphs. If the oval is vertical, it will have a line on the bottom. If it's horizontal, the line will be on the side. This is an elongated version of the Egyptian "shen" sign, a circle of rope that refers to all that the world encompasses. We call this shape a cartouche. Egyptian kings had five official names: a Horus name (for the god Horus), a Two Ladies name (for the goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt), a Gold Falcon name (for Horus of Gold), a throne name (the name he took when he became king), and a birth name (the personal name he was given at birth). Cartouches enclosed his birth name ("nomen") and throne name ("prenomen").
Look above the cartouche to see whether it contains a birth name or a throne name. A goose and solar disk appear above the birth name cartouche. These hieroglyphs mean "Son (goose) of Re (solar disk of the god Re)." A sedge plant (sign of Upper Egypt) and bee (Lower Egypt) indicates a throne name. This royal title, "He to whom the Sedge and the Bee belong," means the king rules Upper and Lower Egypt.
Notice the direction the goose and bee are facing. Hieroglyphs can be written in a horizontal or vertical row, from right to left or left to right. If the animal and people signs are facing left, you read the hieroglyphs from left to right. If they are facing right, you read from right to left.
Look for hieroglyphs of Egyptian gods embedded in the name. Many Egyptians, including commoners, used the names of gods to invoke their protection. For example, Tuthmosis, the birth name of four kings of Dynasty 18 (about 1550 to 1295 B.C.), includes an ibis, a bird with a long curved-down bill that wades in the marshes of the Nile River. The god Thoth is depicted as an ibis.
Keep in mind that Egyptians didn't write vowel sounds, only consonant sounds. To pronounce Egyptian words, use "e" (eh) or "a" (ah) between the consonants. The cartouche of Tuthmosis includes three hanging lines joined at the top ("ms") and a cane-shaped line ("s"). Together, these two hieroglyphics mean "birth." With the ibis, they mean "Born of Thoth."
Try your hand at identifying names in hieroglyphs. Use Egyptian works of art you'll find on museum websites as your research subjects. Look online for hieroglyph reference charts to help you decipher the signs in the cartouche (see Resources).