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Ancient Egyptians - Ancient Egyptians Writing |
Ancient Egyptians Writing Old Egypt - Ancient Egyptians Writing Fact Sheet Fact 1: Ancient Egyptians Writing is referred to as 'hieroglyphs' or 'hieroglyphics', both words are commonly used to describe ancient Egyptian writing. Hieroglyph is simply a shortening of the word hieroglyphic. Fact 2: A Glyph is an an individual mark, character or symbol used in ancient Egyptians Writing Fact 3: The word Hieroglyphics originates from two Greek words which, together, translate as 'Holy Carving' or 'Holy Writing'. Fact 4: Hieroglyphics were considered sacred and referred to as the 'language of the gods' and called "medou netcher" meaning 'divine words'. Fact 5: The Egyptians believed this writing system was of divine origin and that the ibis-headed god called Thoth was the inventor of the hieroglyphics and his duties included that of secretary of the sun god Ra and scribe of the Underworld. Fact 6: The female counterpart of Thoth was the goddess Seshat. Seshat was said to be the guardian of libraries and the female patron of scribes and writing. Fact 7: The Writing system called hieroglyphics was developed c3000 BC. It was highly complex and consisted numerous picture symbols to convey sounds, concepts and ideas. Fact 8: There were at least 700 different symbols used in this Ancient Egyptians Writing system and these were used in various specific combinations that increased their complexity, resulting in thousands of different combinations. Fact 9: It took up to ten years to learn how to write this complex form of writing. Fact 10: This ancient writing system consisted of basic elements: phonograms, ideagrams and pictograms. A phonogram is an image that can represent a spoken sound. An ideagram conveyed complex ideas, feelings and emotions. Old Egypt - Ancient Egyptians Writing Fact Sheet Ancient Egyptians Writing Ancient Egyptians Writing
Hieroglyph for the Ancient Egyptians Writing Kit and a picture of the actual kit Old Egypt - Ancient Egyptians Writing Fact Sheet Fact 11: A pictogram conveyed stories through pictures of symbols that signified and resembled the shapes of physical objects or people. For example the ankh represented eternal life.
Fact 12: To read and gain a full understanding of the Ancient Egyptians Writing it is necessary to understand the meaning of the symbols that accompanied the hieroglyphs in Ancient Egyptian art. Fact 13: Examples of the Ancient Egyptians Writing can be seen in art, artefacts, amulets, relics found in the tombs, temples and the manuscripts of ancient Egypt. Sheets or rolls of paper were made from papyrus plants and were used as writing materials. Fact 14: The scribes used a special writing kit. Reed pens were used for writing and stored in a bag which was attached by flax cord to a container for water. Fact 15: The writing kit also contained a palette for ink, that were usually colored red or black, but other colors were also occasionally used. Fact 16: Red colored ink was used when writing about demons and to describe anything that was evil. Unlucky days were also written in red. Fact 17: Lucky days were written in green ink. Fact 18: The Ancient Egyptians Writing system was so complicated and difficult to learn that another form of writing was developed called Hieratic Script. Fact 19: Hieratic Script was a simpler, writing script based on hieroglyphic signs and used for everyday purposes such as keeping records and accounts quickly and easily. Hieratic Script was used from c2700BC. Fact 20: The Hieratic Script was eventually replaced by the demotic script that was a much faster and simpler script for everyday use. Old Egypt - Ancient Egyptians Writing Fact Sheet Ancient Egyptians Writing Fact Sheet Old Egypt - Ancient Egyptians Writing Fact Sheet Fact 21: Hieroglyphics were used for over 3000 years in Egypt. Fact 22: The Romans conquered Egypt and all official writing was conducted in Latin. Fact 23: The hieroglyphic writing system was only used for religious and royal texts. Fact 24: In 391 CE the Roman Emperor Theodosius I closed all non-Christian temples and the use of hieroglyphs ceased completely. Fact 25: The art of producing and reading the hieroglyphic ancient Egyptians Writing was lost for nearly 2000 years. Fact 26: The discovery of the Rosetta Stonein 1799 held the key to unlocking the secrets of the ancient Egyptians and their hieroglyphics. Fact 27: Jean-Francois Champollion became known as the first translator of the Rosetta Stone enabling Egyptologists and historians to translate the meanings of the symbols and signs used by the old Egyptians in creating hieroglyphics.
Old Egypt - Ancient Egyptians Writing Fact Sheet Ancient Egyptians Writing Ancient Egyptians Writing System |
