 |
| Egyptian hieroglyphs and highway symbols... |
 |
| Hump... or the Egyptian hieroglyph glyph for 'foreign land'? |
 |
| 'Foreign land'...'hill country' |
Author Ian
Fleming wrote amusingly about the “exotic pungency” of USA road signs
in his James Bond thriller ‘Live and Let Die’ – ‘SOFT SHOULDERS – SHARP
CURVES – SQUEEZE AHEAD – SLIPPERY WHEN WET.’
As I take
my ancient Egypt thriller fiction writing on the road, I can’t help
wondering about the glyphs we see at the roadside here in Australia.
How do
these enigmatic signs compare with the ancient Egyptian glyphs that mark
the underworld journeys of my renegade British archaeological hero
Anson Hunter?
Like the
menagerie of animals that appear in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs –
Australian roadside glyphs possess a zoomorphic vocabulary, including
kangaroos, koalas, wombats, ducklings, cattle, emus, crocodiles and
sharks.
 |
| A zoomorphic roadside vocabulary |
Some
signage glyphs are as menacing as curses uttered by Egypt’s priests in
execration rituals – “A microsleep can kill.” “You’re a bloody idiot!”
 |
| Roadsidce curse |
Others are
tenderly human when found along the harsh and merciless march of the
bitumen - small children defensively holding hands.
Another has a caption that makes the peril of road-crossing sound like a cosy adventure story – ‘Refuge Island’.
Another has a caption that makes the peril of road-crossing sound like a cosy adventure story – ‘Refuge Island’.
What would the Egyptians make of these signs?
One of the
first recorded workers' strikes in history happened in Egypt in the
reign of Rameses lll when the royal tomb workers lay down their tools
when their pay and rations were not forthcoming.
To other eyes, some of our signs might look like protest banners. End Roadwork! End School Zone! End Freeway!
Is it
superstition to believe that the sacred writing of hieroglyphs held any
more potency than road signs, even though they were invested with the
power of heka, Egyptian magic?
My
Egyptologist hero Anson Hunter has a respect for unseen dangers from the
ancient past, execration texts, forbidden artefacts and the like. He
is something of a phenomenologist, one who believes in granting value
to the sacred, unlike conventional Egyptologists with their ‘agnostic
reflex’ that prevents them from taking the esoteric seriously.
Perhaps
the fact that there are others today with an agenda that takes its
inspiration from the mystery religions of Egypt, who believe very
seriously in the potency of Egypt’s past that warn us to be wary of
unseen dangers breaking into the 21st century.
