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Hieroglyphics and writing

Hieroglyphics and writing. Ancient Egypt. The History of Hieroglyphics. One of the first examples of Predynastic writing comes from the Narmer Palette which is the most important monument for the Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.

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Hieroglyphics and writing

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  1. Hieroglyphics and writing Ancient Egypt

  2. The History of Hieroglyphics • One of the first examples of Predynastic writing comes from the Narmer Palette which is the most important monument for the Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. • The combination of the images and hieroglyphs found on the Narmer Palette is the closest from of pure picture-writing. • The symbols did not necessarily represent sentences but rather an event (because of the combination of a pictorial scene and symbols).

  3. The Hieroglyphic alphabet

  4. What did the glyphs represent? • The sign represents one sound • There are no true vowels in Ancient Egyptian; only what is considered to be semi-vowels which are transcribed today as the letters a, i and u which made it difficult to vocalize the language. • So, Egyptologists would insert an ‘e’ until something more pronounceable was found.

  5. Where are they found? • Hieroglyphs were ideal for monumental and decorative purposes (found in tombs, temples, etc). • They could be easily chiseled and painted. • They were not, however, used day-to-day as the process took too long to write.

  6. How do we know what they mean? • Thanks to Napoleon’s army during the French occupation of Egypt in 1798, the Rosetta Stone was found. • Why was Napoleon in Egypt? (strategic base for an assault on British possessions in India). • Ulterior motives: to “improve the lot of the natives of Egypt.”1 by exploring, mapping and recording the country. 1 Dodson, Aidan, The Hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt (London: New Holland Publishers Ltd., 2001), 104.

  7. The Rosetta Stone

  8. The transition of language Egyptian hieroglyphics and hieratic Demotic Script Greek Script

  9. Deciphering the text • British physicist, Thomas Young (1773-1829) and Jean-François Champollion (1790 – 1832) are bothresponsible for helping us decipher the text. • Young’s research included the idea that the language was more phonetic than pictorial and he was responsible for deciphering the demotic alphabet. His references included the Book of the Dead. • Champollion’s research was parallel to Young’s. He also referenced the Book of the Dead and was able to use Cartouches to decipher the names on the stone.

  10. Jean-françoischampollion • He was able to cross-reference his findings with an obelisk which contained the names Ptolemy and Cleopatra which helped solve the riddle of hieroglyphics. • He then went on to read the names Ramseses and Thutmose.

  11. Thoth • The patron god of writing and hieroglyphics

  12. Scribes • boys were sent to school to become scribes • students would copy out symbols and signs on fragments of broken pottery or clay pots because papyrus was too expensive for use in school. • They also learned numbers and math. • Out of school they would get high ranking jobs (working for the government, as priests, or recorders of supplies, taxes, history, accounts, et.)

  13. The social pyramid

  14. Materials used for writing

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