Hieroglyphics: The Ancient Egyptian Writing System

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

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.

This script dates back to the Middle Bronze Age which would be approximately 2500 BC. They have not ascertained if this was an example of proto-writing (symbols) or if it is actual writing of the syllabic type. It has been suggested this might be a mature style of writing. Historians learned about the early Chinese Shang Dynasty from 1200 BC from the written documents on bones, bronze or turtle shells. A stone slab, with 3,000 BC year old writing, was discovered in the Mexican State of Veracruz. This would be the oldest script in the Western Hemisphere. The Phoenician alphabet is basically the proto-Canaanite alphabet from the Iron Age (1050 BC). The Greeks borrowed the Phoenician alphabet and adapted it to their own language. The tribe known as Latin (Romans) adopted writing from the Etruscans (tribe from Tiras, son of Japheth) and the Western Greeks in the fifth century. The first pure alphabet with single symbols emerged around 1800 BC in ancient Egypt. Semitic workers in Egypt developed this alphabet as a representation of language. Historians make a distinction between prehistory and the history of early writing, but have disagreed if proto-writing is considered true writing. Papyrus (reed) was the principle writing

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.

Egyptians developed a sophisticated culture by using papyrus. With papyrus they were now able to write events down easily, send letters regularly, and transport them without much difficulty. Writing things down was important because they now could easily keep records of things on a scroll instead of a huge, heavy, clay tablet. They also could leave a list of things to do if they had to leave. Another advantage was that they could record important events. Sending letters was important because they were able to notify someone of something,

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.

Hieroglyphs were a written alphabet made my the egyptians. Hieros means holy, and glyph means writing, so it means holy writing. The hieroglyphs were pictures that represent sounds or an idea associated with the picture. They were written on papyrus, which is a marsh or water plant that was flattened, dried, and then stuck together to make pages. Hieroglyphs were also carved onto stone or painted on walls of

To begin, Egypt and China had different natural resources, so they developed different cultures and religions. For example, Egypt had access to papyrus which is a reed which can be used to produce to make paperlike things for writing. With plentiful supplies of papyrus, Egyptians were able to use hieroglyphics, which were picture symbols that represented words, and to develop a cursive symbol-form of writing. Egyptians used writing for recordkeeping, poetry, religious hymns, instruction manuals, and stories. However, in China, they had access to cattle and turtles; they used oracle bones, the shoulder bones of cattle and the bottom shells of turtles, to inscribe symbols into. In the Shang writing system, they had several hundred characters which signified a one-syllable word for an object or idea. The Chinese wrote about the king, and other parts of the Shang society. The Chinese and Egyptians developed different writing systems because Egypt had access to papyrus whereas China had supplies of animal bones. Furthermore, the Chinese also used the oracle bones for religion. Interpreters “read” the cracks in the bones which were answers given to the people from their ancestors. Then, these answers were inscribed into the oracle bones. Since the Chinese had access to these oracle bones, their religion mainly centered around divination, which is communicating with ancestors and ancient spirits. In

The colossal building projects that the Egyptians embarked on, such as the pyramids and temples, required a very complex society and highly skilled workers and engineers[8]. They developed a very complex writing system not only to keep commercial records, but also to record their spiritual beliefs and the history of their empire. Harkhuf used it to document his exploration of Nubia and opening of trade routes there, showing the high levels of complexity that each of those societies had risen to[9].

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.