The latest photo sharing app, Lapse, uses an abundance of icons and emojis for users to click on and react to other people’s photos with. The main icon you see on the app’s interface is the camera, friend feed, inbox, search and add friends. Since cameras are a technology that came around after the industrial revolution, I can not compare that specific icon to Sumerian alphabet, Mayan pictographs or Egyptian hieroglyphics. On the other hand, the friend feed and add friend icons can be compared to the ancient icons of people in joy in the Egyptian hieroglyphics. In hieroglyphs, [a] a man with their hand raised, performing the hnm-rite represents jubilation, or [b] the seated man with scepter and crook which represents friends. The first hieroglyph icon with the hand raised visually looks similar to the icons on Lapse, meanwhile the second icon conceptually matches the meaning of the Lapse friend icon. One reason that causes this difference between the second icon and Lapse’s friend icon is the different perception of what friends are in today’s society and Ancient Egypt, when the hieroglyphs were in use. Since hieroglyphs were made to convey the concept of kingship of the Pharaoh and his relationship to god and his kingdom, as a result, the hieroglyph of friend is rather a symbol of royalty and authority than a symbol that tries to convey benevolence and friendship. On the other hand, the first symbol representing the feeling of happiness and triumph is similar to the emotion we have today when we make a new friend or when we see photos of our friends.
[a]
𓀊
[b]
𓀍
The icon at the bottom right corner of the screen that you can turn the flashlight on or off with comes from icons of lightning. Compared to the Mayan pictograph for rain and storm, Kawaq, the modern lightning/flashlight icon looks a lot more simplified. In the ancient Mayan civilization, they believed lightning to be a life-giving power that split open the rock containing the hidden maize seed. The modern icon of flashlight does a straightforward depiction of the sudden burst of light, whereas the Mayan pictograph depicts a scene with various parts as if it is telling the story of the rain god Chaak striking the clouds with his lightning ax, bringing the thunderstorm.
Kawak Maya Symbol:
Source cited:
Davies, Diane. “Kawak – Rain & Storm (Lightning).” Maya Archaeologist – Educational Resources on the Maya by Dr Diane Davies, 30 Dec. 2023, www.mayaarchaeologist.co.uk/school-resources/maya-spirit-animals/kawak-rain-storm/.
“Kawak Maya Symbol – Worldwide Ancient Symbols.” Symbolikon, 10 Mar. 2021, symbolikon.com/downloads/kawak-maya/.
“Gardiner’s Sign List of Egyptian Hieroglyphs.” Egyptian Hieroglyphs, www.egyptianhieroglyphs.net/gardiners-sign-list/.