Who makes Hierolyte.

Hierolyte is made by Lucas Young, an independent developer and filmmaker. It began as a simple idea: that ancient Egyptian writing is learnable by anyone, five minutes a day, if the signs are presented beautifully and honestly - one glyph at a time rather than as a firehose.

Hierolyte is now three things. This website hosts a free library of lessons, from the first signs through a step-by-step Middle Egyptian grammar course, and a free cartouche maker. The app is where the daily habit lives. And a news section follows new finds and research.

The app is for iPhone and iPad: a new hieroglyph unlocks every day, each rendered by JSesh, the typesetting system Egyptologists themselves use. Flashcards with spaced repetition, progressive articles on how the script actually works, and two structured courses - reading royal cartouches and reading real Egyptian words - build from the first sign towards genuinely reading inscriptions.

The app and the lessons are checked against the standard Egyptological references: Sir Alan Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar and sign list, James P. Allen's Middle Egyptian, and James Hoch's Middle Egyptian Grammar. Where the app simplifies (as the free cartouche maker does, using the museum phonetic alphabet), it says so plainly. The grammar lessons are checked claim by claim against Gardiner and Allen before they are published.

The news section reports new finds, exhibitions, and research from the world of ancient Egypt, drawn from museums, research publications, and specialist reporting. Stories and lessons are drafted with AI assistance, reviewed by Lucas before anything is published, and every story lists exactly where it came from. The full process is described in our editorial policy.