Orly Goldwasser is an Israeli Egyptologist, professor of

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious p ...

at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

. Orly Goldwasser received her B.A. at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, continued studying at the Hebrew University in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, where she was awarded her M.A. and PhD degrees. She occupies the chair of Egyptology at the Hebrew University, and is an Honorary Professor at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. She was guest professor at the University of Göttingen,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

. Her main interests are the

semiotics Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...

of the

hieroglyphic Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...

script, intercultural relations: Egypt and the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

, metaphors and literary images in

ancient Egyptian literature Ancient Egyptian literature was written in the Egyptian language from ancient Egypt's pharaonic period until the end of Roman domination. It represents the oldest corpus of Egyptian literature. Along with Sumerian literature, it is conside ...

and the origin of the alphabet. She is the discoverer of the classification system in the hieroglyphic script.

Selected publications

*''From Icon to Metaphor, Studies in the Semiotics of the Hieroglyphs'', OBO 142, Fribourg & Göttingen 1995; *''Prophets, Lovers and Giraffes: Wor(l)d Classification in Ancient Egypt'', Göttinger Orientforschungen IV. Reihe Ägypten 38, Wiesbaden 2002; *''Canaanites Reading Hieroglyphs. Horus is Hathor? - The Invention of the Alphabet in Sinai'', Egypt and the Lvant 16, pp. 121–160, 2006; *''How the Alphabet Was Born from Hieroglyphs'', Biblical Archaeology Review 36, No. 2 (March/April), pp. 40–53, 2010;

References

External links

Goldwasser's page
at

HUJI Huji or HUJI may refer to: *Hebrew University of Jerusalem, university in Israel * Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Islamic fundamentalist organization *Hukou system (户籍), household registration system in mainland China and the Republic of China (Tai ...

The Hebrew University Egyptology webpage
accessed 17 December 2007 Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Israeli Egyptologists Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Tel Aviv University alumni {{Egyptologist-stub