Hieroglyphics and History of Mathematics

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

This is one of the earliest religious texts of the empire and was an instructional guide that explains how the pharaoh is going to pass into the afterlife. This source was probably composed in Egypt by a native Egyptian male who was religious and of high status due to the important nature of the document. Because it dealt directly with the pharaoh and his burial, this source was likely only read by high ranking religious figures that performed the burial rituals. In addition, it was written in hieroglyphics, which signifies its crucial purpose. There are many religious references in the text, including ones that discuss Osiris, god of the underworld, and Horus, a god linked to life and kingship. The Egyptians also seemed to think that specific burial rituals were sacred and heavily tied into religion. This source is similar to Primary Source 2.1 in that it has to do with a great ruler with heavy religious implications. However, it is different because it was written in a pyramid as opposed to a slab or papyrus. Any writing in a pyramid was considered sacred and this source appears to be much more important than the Mesopotamian one. The discovery of pyramids had a great impact on modern day society and the decoding of the hieroglyphics with the Rosetta Stone was a linguistic marvel. Both forms of Egyptian writing have helped modern societies and have brought us together; for example, it is common to see writings similar to hieroglyphics in pyramids on current day monuments and tombs. However, these two forms of writing have also encouraged diversity. Most modern societies speak countless different languages, some of them even having formal and informal styles of writing, such as the Japanese kanji and

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

Math through the Ages provides an interesting and concise analysis of the mathematical culture of different societies in history. The section “The History of Mathematics in a Large Nutshell” provides an interesting discussion of Greek mathematics. The mathematics of the culture both influenced and was influenced by the culture of the society. The Greeks were most likely the most important historical society in the Western world. They spread their vast knowledge and affected the mathematical traditions of the world.

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.

Between 3500BCE and 1000BCE, writing of pictogram another wise known as hieroglyphs continued because of religious

(1) In 1801 a French boy named Jean Francis Champillion saw a copy of the Rosetta Stone. One of the most intriguing archaeology finds of all time. (2) Dug up by an Arab worker near the Nile, the strange shaped stone has three bands of writing carved across its highly, polished black surface. (3) One of them bands is written in the script of ancient Greece, another is written in the even ancient Egypt script called hieroglyphics. (4) It's true that many more has been written in Greek than hieroglyphics. (5) Still, there wasn't no one in the world who could read hieroglyphics at that time. (6) Champillion couldn't help dreaming that he would be the first. (7) Six years later, Champillion was the more promising young professor at the university

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics was one of Egypt’s great mysteries that were very difficult to figure out. Hieroglyphics are pictures or symbols that represent words, used in the writing system of ancient Egypt. The word hieroglyphic is Greek and literally means “holy writings”. So it would make since that Pharaohs’ names were written in hieroglyphics in their tombs because they were considered powerful and righteous. Thus, what was the key to unlock the translation of the hieroglyphics?

They also developed an advanced system of writing similar to Egyptian Hieroglyphics. They contained over 800 signs, and each one usually represented an entire word. It was a very visual language and the meaning of the sign reflected what it looked like. Their writing was highly sophisticated; only

Ancient egyptians used many different tools and instruments which all relate to maths, but how did they actually use maths and measurement in their daily lives, well, egyptians had a completely different number system, these differences were about how they displayed and worked out mathematical questions.

Hieroglyphs- Hieroglyphs was created in 3200 BCE. It was used to write and many people believed it was holy. Scientitsts don't know a lot about its orgin. Many believe the Egyptains created the form of writing after viewing cave paintings. The writing was composed of three different types of symbols: logograms that represented represented words, phonograms that represented sounds, and derminatives that helped clarify the meanings of words. Two types of hieroglyphs were created: hieratic and demotic. Hieratic was written from right to left and was used for religious and public documents. Demotic was used more fequently than hieratic after 7 BCE, with the exception of religious purposes, as it was much more simple. Egyptians gradually stopped

Arguably one of the most important discoveries made regarding the historical and cultural study of ancient Egypt is the translation of the writing form known as hieroglyphics. This language, lost for thousands of years, formed a tantalizing challenge to a young Jean François who committed his life to its translation. Scholars such as Sylvestre de Sacy had attempted to translate the Rosetta Stone before Champollion, but after painstaking and unfruitful work, they abandoned it (Giblin 32). Champollion’s breakthrough with hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone opened up new possibilities to study and understand ancient Egypt like never before, and modern Egyptology was born.

Egyptian hieroglyphs came into common use around 600 BCE and is one of the most fascinating writing styles to study in most peoples perspective, next to the Greek alphabet. Many of the symbols used actually show what is meant very well, like the symbol for a man is a drawing of a man. Hieroglyphics are pictographic representations that clearly represent what is happening at a certain place and time. There are translations of the symbols that help us put the pieces together.

The ancient Egyptians called Hieroglyphics the language of the gods, and they were used mainly by the high priests, and royalty. The person who primarily did the reading in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics was the temple priests. Hieroglyphics were written in horizontal rows or/and vertical columns and they were read by the royals ,from left to right or from right to left. The higher symbols were frequently read before the lower symbols. There are not hieroglyphics for all of the letters used in our alphabet in modern day, because the Egyptian didn’t use all our vowels we use today. Some of the symbols and signs used in the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt were similar to simple pictograms and meanings through their symbolism and signs that resemble