In deciphering the Rosetta Stone, Champollion made the assumption that the language used in the Hieroglyphics was related to modern Coptic. From what is known of ancient middle eastern languages it may be possible to make inroads once sounds have been reconstructed.
I have been trying to study Korean, knowing how to pronounce the letters/symbols does nothing to tell me what the words mean. Now if the know of a similar language that they can study it would probably help.