Horapollon Books

Horapollo, likely active in the 5th century, is credited with a treatise on Egyptian hieroglyphs titled Hieroglyphica. This work, extant in a Greek translation, attempts to explain 189 hieroglyphic signs. While the precise identity of the author and the text's origin are debated, modern Egyptology suggests that at least the first book draws upon genuine knowledge of hieroglyphs, albeit interspersed with the symbolic speculation characteristic of late antiquity. The text gained immense popularity among Renaissance humanists, shaping the understanding of hieroglyphs for centuries.