HIEROGLYPHS are
pictures that were used to write the ancient Egyptian language. In the
beginning hieroglyphic signs were used to keep records of the king's
possessions. Scribes could easily make these records by drawing a picture of a
cow or a boat followed by a number. But as the language became more complex
more pictures were needed. Eventually the language consisted of more then 750
individual signs.
AS in other
languages, words in Egyptian were made up of sounds, partly of consonants and
partly of vowels. But, the writing of hieroglyphs constantly ignored and
omitted vowels. Thus the two signs which represent "mt", could be
read as met, mat, amta, emt or any other combinations of vowels and
"mt". Since the ancient language has never been heard, we are not
sure how this word would be pronounced. In order to avoid this, we need a
method of writing and pronouncing these glyphs consistently. The course usually
adopted is to use the English vowel "e" and in a some cases
"a" between the two glyphs. So we can pronounce as "met".
THE
pronunciation of a word is the crucial element in using hieroglyphics, how a
word sounds is more important then how it is spelled. For instance, the word
that is spelled "cat" is actually pronounced "kat". The
name that is spelled "Cleopatra" is pronounced "Kliopadra".
So, these word would be written in hieroglyphs the way they sound. Because the
words "where" and "wear" sound alike they could be written
using the same hieroglyphic signs. The same could be said of the words
"there" and "their".
HIEROGLYPHS
are more then just a way of writing, they are also pictures, and as such they
are meant to be estheticly pleasing. The picture signs can be written from
right to left; from left to right; or vertically, reading downwards. To
determine which way to read a line of hieroglyphs, look for pictures of men or
animals. See which way the pictures are facing, the text is read towards the
faces. If they are facing to the left, the inscription is read from the left to
the right. If they are facing right, the inscription is read from right to
left.
THERE are
three forms of writing that were used to write the ancient Egyptian language.
Hieroglyphs:
From the Greek meaning "sacred
writing." this is the picture language that was used most often to decorate
temples and monuments. It could be written with pen and ink on papyrus, painted
or carved into stone. It was carefully drawn, to make the signs as accurate as
possible.
Hieratic:
This was the cursive form of writing,
as script is to printed letters. It was much quicker to write since the picture
quality of the language was reduced to a pattern of lines and squiggles.
Demotic:
This was a shorthand version of the
Hieratic script which was used during the Late Period. Demotic means "the
people's writing." It got this name because many people could read it.
A very important language that was
used during the Ptolemaic Period was called Coptic. This language was
written using Greek letters, but it followed the basic structure of the
Egyptian language. This has proved to be an invaluable tool for Egyptologists,
enabling them to understand how a sentence was formed in the ancient Egyptian
language. This was also the key to deciphering the Rosetta stone.
