Israeli museum blends ancient pictograms with modern-day emojis

The Israel Museum situated in Jerusalem commenced the "Emoglyphs" exhibition this week comparing the pictograms of antiquity to emojis of today. Shirly Ben-Dor Evian, the curator of the show said that he usually finds it very difficult to explain how hieroglyphs were used as a script but realised that the concept can be explained more conveniently now because people are writing it with pictures all the time.

From the heart symbol to little monkeys and foaming glasses of beer, the pictograms of our time have managed to spark discussions on social media and online messaging platforms since the late 1990s.

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Images stronger than words

Evian said that some of the emojis -- from the Japanese word for a combination of an image and a written character -- have hieroglyphic equivalents and argues that images are a language within their rights.

The exhibition is held in a small gallery within the Israel Museum, that welcomes the visitor with a wall that has similar pictograms from both eras.

The most enhanced and modern purple suited dancer emoji with his hand raised coincides with a very similar pose to an Egyptian in a loincloth from 3,000 years ago.

Evian said that there are similarities in shapes and designs that seem to be quite interesting because there are thousands of years and a huge gap in culture between the two systems.

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Exhibition to take place until late 2020

In the Egyptian culture,  hieroglyphs could designate an object or an idea in so-called ideograms that indicate the sound of the word. They also serve as classifiers identifying the semantic category of the word. On the other hand, emojis are self-sufficient in designating an idea.

The exhibition, "Emoglyphs: Picture-Writing from Hieroglyphs to the Emoji" will be held until late 2020 which includes undisplayed items from the museum's own collection and many on loan from different parts.

Among the precious collection, there is one necklace dating from around 100 BC which is made up of linen and papyrus with gold coating. It bears the inscription of a scarab beetle, a symbol of resurrection. Evian mentioned that it is similar to today's ladybird emoji.

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