Egyptian Hieroglyphs : A Formal Writing System Used By Ancient Egyptians

Each of the four civilizations had a system of writing. The first form of writing was developed by the Sumerians from the Tigris-Euphrates River, called cuneiform. It had about 300 symbols and was used to mark property boundaries and charts of major constellations. Usually, a wedge-shaped stylus is used on soft clay to produce cuneiform symbols. Cuneiform was later diffused into other following cultures. The Nile River Egyptians developed a different form of writing to help maintain the Egyptian empire. It was pictographic and combined with sound signs to produce hieroglyphics. Most of their writing was done papyrus, which was a fine paper produced from the stem of a water plant. The Indus River also invented their own unique alphabet, however, to this day, it has not been deciphered yet. The most sophisticated form of writing emerged from the Chinese. They came up with characters that symbolized the idea of a thing, naming it

The oldest record discovered by archaeologists dates back as far as 1900 B.C. in the town of Menet Khufu. In the tomb of Khnumhotep II, an Egyptian nobleman, symbols (also known as “hieroglyphics”) were uncovered that depicted a message (See figure 1, Appendix). However, upon closer examination, it became apparent that many of the symbols were unusual, if not entirely fake. It can be easily determined that this message was in the form of cryptography. A cipher is “an algorithm, process, or method for performing encryption and decryption” and “has a set of well-defined steps that can be followed to encrypt and decrypt messages” (Mcdonald), and undoubtedly what the hieroglyphic message is, having such unusual symbols. Throughout the following years of Egyptian civilization, cryptography became more common and the substitution of hieroglyphics was used by scribes, whether it be to “preserve the sacred nature of their religious rituals from common people” who lacked the skills to read and write at an advanced level”, or that “the scribes wanted to give a formal appearance to their writings” (Mcdonald). Either way, cryptography continued to have an effect on the Egyptians, soon spreading its sophistication to other areas of the Ancient

Another man who devoted many years of his life to studying the stone was Jean-Francois Champollion. After many years of perseverance, Champollion finally translated the stone in 1822. He accomplished this feat by first recognizing that hieroglyphs were not symbols, but instead were associated with phonetics, as Thomas Young had proved. (Andrews 166) His first major breakthrough in his studies was in 1808, when he resolved those fifteen signs of the demotic script related with alphabetic letters from the Coptic language. From this he concluded that Coptic language must be based on the remnants of the last of the ancient Egyptian language, and written with the Greek alphabet, which is why it was readable to Champollion and other scholars researching the stone. Also, that the hieroglyphic text was a translation of the Greek, not the reverse, as had been previously believed. By 1818, Champollion had successfully concluded that though some signs were basically ideograms, many of the glyphs had phonetic value, meaning the ancient Egyptian script was at least partially alphabetic. (Giblin 83) He came to this conclusion after referring back to three other different forms of Egyptian writing and also using Coptic as a reference. Recognizing the name 'Ptolemy' and 'Cleopatra' in the Greek and demotic sections of the stone allowed him to identify those same names in hieroglyphics. Still wondering, he didn't think that hieroglyphs were

Ancient Egyptians developed a writing system based on pictures, known as hieroglyphics. The difference between cuneiform and hieroglyphics was hieroglyphics stood not only for ideas or objects, but also sounds. According to document four, Egyptians also created papyrus, the first paper, in order to keep records.

In Ancient times written languages had been some of the tools that they used to communicate. “The designation ‘hieroglyphics’ is a Greek word; the Egyptians referred to their writing as medu-netjer ‘the god’s words’, as they believed writing had been given to them by the great god Thoth” (Mark). The Egyptians believed that hieroglyphics were given to them as a special gifts from their god. Another thing is that they used hieroglyphics to represent their

    The river valley civilizations developed writing systems. Each writing system was unique, but they also had similarities between them. The people from Mesopotamia had a writing system called “cuneiform.” The Egyptians had a writing system called “hieroglyphics.” Cuneiform was a writing system based on pictures (3.) Just like cuneiform, hieroglyphics was also based on pictures (11.) Both writing systems presented objects or ideas. Also, they were both carved into stone.

In Ancient China, they developed a writing system for preservation. In China, people would use logograms, which are symbols that represent a word or a meaning.In the early days of the ancient Chinese civilization, people would write on oracle bone or tortoise shell.In Ancient India, writing systems were developed for recording data and information. The Indus script used signs and words and it was written from right to left. By 1800 BCE, the Indus valley civilizations started to fall and writing were often used anymore. Ancient Egyptians started to developed a writing system called, hieroglyphics because they needed a way to record important information. They believed that recording data and communicate information about government and religion was essential. Scribes were only ones to write in hieroglyphics and were written from left to right or top to bottom. In Mesopotamia, people started developing a writing system to information. Mesopotamia created a writing system called, cuneiform. Mesopotamian scribes would record important dates and event, and position of the stars. These ancient civilizations started to create their own writing system to record history and communicate information.

Imagine a world without writing. This is an almost impossible task because our world is completely inundated with writing. How would we keep track of commerce or maintain a record of history? It is interesting to me that humans have designed ways in which to communicate to each other using symbols carved into stone. This technology has not only been shaped by the people using them, the hieroglyphics have also directly influence the societies that used them. Hieroglyphics are such an important invented technology, because it has been vital in helping to shape and record the culture of two populations living at different times and across the world: the ancient Egyptians, and the ancient Mayans. In this paper, I will discuss the intriguing similarities

A brief walk through the history of the ancient Remetch script and its decipherment. The history of hieroglyphics is dated as far back to approximately 3150 BCE and remained in use for over 3300 years for many aspect of life. During that period the script has gone through several writing styles. The first change attested during the Naqada II period was called cursive hieroglyphic (hieratic), followed by Sekh Shah (demotic), and finally Coptic. These changes came about for use as an everyday script, in which every glyphs (phonograms) was replaced by simpler symbols, as a means for faster writing.

Egyptians not only contributed to future society through the invention of their language, giving them the ability to record their history for future generations, but they also were the first people to create a sensible medium upon which to inscribe their language: paper. “Taken from the fibers of the papyrus plant, Egyptian paper was the first of its kind” (“Ancient” 1). This invention would come to change everything about written language, but not only did Egyptians create the first paper, they also were skilled at creating ink. “The process and depth of color utilized in the Egyptian invention of ink and dye was so marvelous that these brilliant hued colors can still be seen today, thousands of years later” (“Ancirnt” 1).

Egyptians also had many achievements. They had two different types of writing The demotic script and hyrogliphics. The demotic script was made for faster and more efficient writing. Hyrogliphics was the first type of writing they used it was pictures and symbols. They had huge pyramids and statues. One of the most important statues was the sphinx. The Sphinx made the god re, the god

Writing was very important to the Ancient Egyptians. It was their way of keeping track of history. For example, they wrote down important documents that they may use later in their life. They wrote down ideas that they later passed on to the next generation. But, they did not use the American alphabet. They used a system containing pictures that made various sounds. But how did scientist understand this language? It was all because of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone.

-pharaohs of ancient Egypt built pyramids tombs for their bodies and possessions after they died

Ancient Egypt has many great achievements. Two of their biggest achievements were the Egyptian pyramids, and the sphinx. Another achievement was their use of hieroglyphics, which is a form of writing based on pictograms. Examples of hieroglyphic writing can be found on the Rosetta stone which was uncovered by archeologists. The Egyptians also used mummification which was an achievement in preserving bodies. Over time there were ten different pharaohs and each of them accomplished advancements in society, math, astronomy and medicine.

At Abydos and Saqqara tombs for the kings of the early dynasties were built in imitation of palaces or shrines. The large amounts of pottery, stonework, and ivory or bone carving found in these tombs attest to a high level of development in Early Dynastic Egypt. Hieroglyphic script (picture writing), the written form of the Egyptian language, was in the first stages of its evolution.