Egyptian hieroglyphs were a writing system invented by the ancient Egyptians. It was used from pre-dynastic times until the 4th century. The ancient Egyptians used three basic types of writing: hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic; the latter corresponds to the late period of Egypt.
Hieroglyphic script was probably the oldest organized writing system in the world, and was used primarily for official inscriptions on the walls of temples and tombs. Over time it evolved into simpler forms, such as hieratic, a more cursive variant that could be painted on papyrus or clay plaques. Later, and due to the growing Greek influence in the Near East, the script evolved towards Demotic, a phase in which the original hieroglyphs appear quite stylized, resulting in the inclusion of some Greek signs in the script.
Etymology
The term originates from the Greek words ἱερός (hierós) 'sacred' and γλύφειν (glýphein) 'to chisel, engrave', the Greek translation of the words with which the Egyptians themselves called their writing system: mdw.w nṯr ("The words of the god"). Only priests, members of royalty, high officials and scribes knew the art of reading and writing using these "sacred" signs.
| Egyptian expression for hieroglyphic translitera mdw n margin, transcribed as medu necher, which means God's words:
| |
History and evolution
It is estimated that hieroglyphic writing began to be used around 3300 B.C. C., approximately at the same time that cuneiform writing arose in Mesopotamia. It was used for more than 3,600 years, since the last known inscription was recorded on August 24, 394 and is found in the temple of File.
For many years the oldest sample of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing was considered to be the Narmer Palette, found during excavations at Hierakonpolis (modern Kawm al-Ahmar) in the 1890s, which was dated ca . 3200 B.C. However, in 1998 new excavations at Abydos found samples of proto-hieroglyphs dating to the Naqada IIIa period of the XXXIII century span> a. C.
Since the time of the Old Kingdom, Egyptian hieroglyphic writing was a system in which logograms, consonantal signs (single, double, triple, and even four or more consonants) and determiners (silent signs indicating which conceptual family belonged) were mixed. a word belongs). From the 18th dynasty, scribes began to use a certain number of double syllabic consonant signs (sȝ, bȝ, kȝ etc.) to transcribe Semitic names or those of that origin, but this type of writing remained exclusively restricted to that area.
The symbols were also figurative: they represented something tangible, often easy to recognize, even for someone who did not know the meaning of it, since, to design hieroglyphic writing, the Egyptians were inspired by their environment: objects of the daily life, animals, plants, parts of the body, etc. During the Old, Middle and New Kingdom, it is estimated that there were around 700 hieroglyphic symbols, while in the Greco-Latin era, their number increased to more than 6,000.
Hieroglyphs were engraved on stone and wood, or, in the case of hieratic and demotic writing, with pen and ink on papyrus, ostraca, or less durable supports.
The use of engraved hieroglyphics was limited to domains in which the aesthetics or magical value of words became relevant: offering formulas, funerary frescoes, religious texts, official inscriptions, etc.
Hieratic writing was a simpler script, reserved for administrative or private documents and generally used on papyrus, ostracon (ceramic fragments) and even wooden tablets. Egyptologists distinguish them from the so-called linear hieroglyphics, which were painted on wooden sarcophagi and in the texts of the "Book of the Dead". Linear hieroglyphics retain the figurative aspect of engraved hieroglyphics, but the strokes are much less precise than in the latter.
From the Saite period (XXVI dynasty) the hieratic script was partially replaced by a new basic script: demotic. It was an extreme simplification of the hieratic reserved for administrative acts and documents of daily life, hence its name of "popular" writing. Hieratic writing will be used preferably to transcribe religious or priestly texts, together with hieroglyphic writing, hence its name of "sacerdotal" writing. In the Ptolemaic era, Greek was gradually imposed as an administrative language: from the year 146 B.C. C. henceforth contracts written exclusively in demotic lose all legal value.
Coptic is the last stage of the Egyptian language and script. It is still used today, but only as a liturgical language. It is written using the Greek alphabet together with seven demotic characters to transcribe phonemes that do not exist in Greek. Apart from this, the Egyptian script has never been used to transcribe any modern language.
Causes of the development of the writing system
The hieroglyphics reflected the habitual language, although over time they were used preferentially in the symbolic representations of the temples, rejecting their use due to their clear lack of suitability in everyday writing; It must be taken into account that the writing needs, already in the Old Kingdom, such as the accounting of inputs, food (for example: in the endowment of the subjects employed in the construction of temples and pyramids), demanded a multitude of scribes who Annotate quantities, classifications, etc., and in this process of reproduction, hieroglyphic writing was impractical. Due to this necessity, the hieroglyphic signs are derived from other spellings, more easily reproduced with the pens of the scribes (this was the writing instrument par excellence), giving rise to hieratic writing.
For daily writing, hieratic was used, as evidenced by the Rhind papyrus, which contains a sample of the ancient Egyptians' mathematical knowledge. The currently owned copies of the so-called "Book of the Dead" use this form of writing.
The hieroglyphic writing was reserved for royal monuments, temples, palaces, tombs, jewels, court furniture, amulets, etc., for reasons not only aesthetic, but also for its symbolic and magical nature, since engraving the name of a person in a hieroglyph implied that making a mistake in writing it or damaging it could influence the person to whom the hieroglyph referred.
The hieratic also arises in a period where the language is transformed, since from the ideograms that represented the first hieroglyphs, it goes through a process of conceptualization, to finally synthesize each symbol in a sound. It is very interesting to see the relationship and similarity between the hieroglyphic, hieratic, ancient Hebrew and Phoenician systems; The relationship of the latter with the Greek is very simple.
Egypt as the cradle of writing
The oldest known writing documents were discovered by a team from the German Institute of Archaeology, led by Günther Dreyer. They are a set of 300 vessels and clay tablets found in the burial of the predynastic ruler Horus Scorpio I, in 1996 in Umm el-Qaab, Abydos, dated using carbon-14 from 30 to 3200 a. c.
They are inscribed with hieroglyphic characters, incised or drawn with ink, revealing a true script composed of phonetic signs, which inform of the taxes paid in kind to the king. They mention oil, flax, etc. and the corresponding city, no longer being the traditional ideographic writing used during this period.
Recent discoveries have found the oldest monumental hieroglyphs on rock in the El Kab area dating to around 5,200 years ago.
Use over time
Hieroglyphics were used over a period of more than 3,600 years to write the ancient language of the Egyptian people.
There are inscriptions dating from the year 3300 BC. C. until August 24, 394, date of the last known hieroglyphic inscription, engraved on the walls of the temple of Isis in File.
They constituted a monumental and religious writing, because they were used on the walls of temples and tombs. They were also written on papyri.
During the more than three millennia in which they were used, the Egyptians invented about 6,900 signs. A text written in dynastic times did not contain more than 700 signs, but towards the end of this civilization several thousand hieroglyphs were already used, which greatly complicated their knowledge, this being one of the factors that made their use impractical. Justinian I banned the ancient cults in Egypt causing their disappearance.
Disappearance
With the invasion of various foreign peoples throughout its history, the local written language was altered, incorporating new elements. Decisive factors in the disappearance of hieroglyphics were the introduction of the Greek and Latin languages, produced by the conquest of those respective empires. Also Christianity, by denying the local polytheistic religions, contributed so that, around the 5th century, knowledge of this script was lost. Everything that was related to the ancient Egyptian gods was considered pagan, and therefore prohibited.
Last Vestiges
Enrollment of Esmet-Akhom, with the latest hieroglyphics. File (Egypt).
The last recorded hieroglyphic inscription was engraved on the walls of the gate erected at the time of Emperor Hadrian, located in the grounds of the Temple of Isis, in File (Egypt). It was recorded on August 24, 394, a few years after the closure of non-Christian temples ordered by Emperor Theodosius, and was an invocation to the Kushite god Mandulis.
Decryption
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta stone contains an Ancient Egyptian text written in three versions, hieroglyphics at the top, Egyptian demotic at the center, and ancient Greek at the bottom. It is a large block of granite, easily confused with basalt. This text was discovered in 1799 by the French expedition commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte while crossing the Rosetta region in Egypt. That text was essential to decipher the meaning and interpretation of Egyptian hieroglyphs. This task achieved reasonable success in 1822 with the work of Jean François Champollion, and in 1823 with the contribution of Thomas Young; both had deep knowledge of the Greek language, which they took advantage of to compare the text in that language with the hieroglyphic version. The text in question refers to a decree of Ptolemy V Epiphanes, from Ptolemaic Egypt. Today the stone is in the British Museum, in London, since it was ceded by the French to the British military authorities in 1801, by the Treaty of Capitulation.
Decryption Race
The decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system is generally attributed to Jean François Champollion, called the "Father of Egyptology". Born in France in 1790, from a young age Champollion showed a great interest in the studies of oriental languages, and by the age of 16 he already knew Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Chinese and several other Asian languages.
He concluded that Coptic, the language spoken by surviving Egyptian Christians, corresponded to the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language. This was his great advantage over the English physician Thomas Young, who was also investigating the meaning of hieroglyphs, though with less success.
Initially Champollion was convinced, as was Young, that the hieroglyphs were purely symbolic, with no phonetic value. However, after studying several hieroglyphic inscriptions with royal names, such as the Bankes obelisk and the Rosetta Stone, Champollion eventually discovered that many hieroglyphics had various values: "It is a complex system, a script that is at once figurative, symbolic and phonetically, in the same text, the same sentence, practically I would almost say in the same word».
The study of the ancient Egyptian language, linked to Egyptian hieroglyphics, advanced considerably during the 20th century, with the work of linguists such as Sir Alan Gardiner and Hans Jakob Polotsky, which allowed a better understanding of the grammar and verbal system.
Writing system
It is a complex system, a writing at the same time figurative, symbolic and phonetic, in the same text, a same sentence, would almost say in the same word.
Jean-François Champollion
Sense of reading
Hieroglyphic writing could be written in lines or columns, both from left to right and from right to left. To identify the meaning of reading a certain text, the meaning of the signs that represent animals must be observed.
In this way, the text
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  | <img alt="<" height="44" src="/w/extensions/wikihiero/img/hiero_Ca1.png?0f9ce" title=" | | ![]() " height="44" src="/w/extensions/wikihiero/img/hiero_Ca2.png?3dadc" title=">"/> |  | 
| <img alt="<" height="44" src="/w/extensions/wikihiero/img/hiero_Ca1.png?0f9ce" title=" | | ![]() " height="44" src="/w/extensions/wikihiero/img/hiero_Ca2.png?3dadc" title=">"/> |
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should be read from left to right, as signs such as the holy axe, the eye, and the birds face left.
The signs were still grouped within imaginary blocks in such a way that they built a harmonious whole with the hieroglyphic writing. In a text, the upper signs are always read before the lower ones.
In this way, the text
should be read in this order:
Types of signs
Egyptian hieroglyphic signs have been divided into ideograms and phonograms.
Ideograms
Phonograms
In ancient Egyptian, phonograms could be of several types:
- unilíteros, or alphabetical: when each sign represents a sound. These are the signs that form the so-called “alphabet” Egyptian.
- bilateralwhen a sign represents two sounds. For example, wr , pr ;
- trilateralwhen a sign represents three sounds. Like, for example, an , n▪r , nfr ;
- with more than three consonants. For example, m t t (maat) , špsy (shepesy) , rogaḥty (dyehuty) .
Egyptian writing did not represent vowels, only consonants and semivowels. Starting in the Ptolemaic period, some signs were adapted to represent the vowels in the names of foreign rulers (such as Cleopatra and Ptolemy, which were Greek names).
- Unillectable Jeoglyphics
Uniliteral hieroglyphics (one sound)
| Sign
| Trans.
| Pron.
| Description
|
|---|
| | a
| Oclusiva-glotal-sorda
"A" Spanish, aleph Semitic
Egyptian vulture |
| ∙ traction | i
| Constrictive-palatal-sonora
"I" Spanish, Yod Semitic.
Junco |
or
| and | and
| Constrictive-palatal-sonora
"And" Spanish "me",
Yod double
Couple of covens or Traces |
| | a
| Fricativa-farinjal-sonora
"A" short, ayin Semitic
Brazo |
| or | w | u
| Constrictive-bilabial-velar-sonora
"U" Spanish
Young Codorniz or
her hyertic abbreviation |
| b | b
| Oclusiva-labial-sonora
Spanish B
Lower leg |
| p | p
| Oclusiva-labial-sorda
"P" Spanish
Estera de juncos or Stool |
| f | f
| Fricativa-labiodental-sorda
"F" Spanish
Viper cornuda |
| m | m
| Oclusiva-sonora-labial-nasal
"M" Spanish
Ow! |
| n | n
| Oclusiva-sonora-dental-nasal
"N" Spanish
Water swings |
| r | r
| Liquid-vibrant-dental
"R" simple Spanish
Boca |
| h | h
| Aspired-laringal-sorda
"J" deaf
Cabaña de juncos |
| ḥ | h
| Aspirada-faringal-sorda
"J" deaf. ح Arabic
Scumbag. |
| | j
| Fricativa-mediapalatal-sorda
Softer than Spanish "J"
Stomago or Cola de animal |
| | j
| Fricativa-velar-sorda
"J" Spanish. ▸ Arabic
Placenta u Ovillo |
| or | s | s
| Fricativa-sibilante-dental-sonora
Spanish S
Folded fabric or
Door lock |
| š | sh
| Sibilante-prepalatal-sorda
"Ch" Andalusian
Swimming pool |
| ḳ | q
| Uvular-oclusiva-sorda
"Q" semitic
A hillside |
| k | k
| Oclusiva-velar-sorda-aspirated
"K" of kilo
Basket with handle |
| g | g
| Oclusiva-dorso-palatal-debil
"G" Spanish cat
Jarra |
| t | t
| Oclusiva-dental-sorda
"T" Spanish vacuum
Panecillo |
| ▪ | ch
| Oclusiva-dental-sorda
"Ch" of "chapela"
Nestled |
| d | d
| Oclusiva-dental-debil
"D" deaf
Hand |
| Русский | dy
| Africada-prepalatal-debil
Sound close to "DY"
Snake |
- Bilateral hierophics
- These hieroglyphics are called biconsonant (or bilateral) whose transliteration contains two consonants. These are the most common alphabetically ordained:
| (aaa) | | bȝ (ba) | | Facilitation (dya) | | ・ (dyed) | | w (dyu) | | ḥr (hor) | | (ja) | | |
| ib (ib) | | go (ir) | | kȝ (ka) | | mȝ (ma) | | mn (men) | | mr (mer) | | nb (neb) | | |
| nw (nu) | | pȝ (pa) | | pr (per) | | rˁ
(ra) | | ȝ (sa) | | sn (sen) | | sw (su) | | |
| šw (shu) | | tȝ (ta) | | ♪(ti) | | tp (tep) | | wȝ (ua) | | wn (un) | | wp (up) | | |
Normally each hieroglyph is assigned a phonetic value, although some have more than one. Also, some sounds can be represented with different hieroglyphics; Thus, some sounds could be represented in the following ways:
| bȝ (ba) | | ȝ (sa) | | mr (mer) | | etc.
|
- Trilateral hierophics
- Triconsonant (or trillary) is called to hieroglyphics whose transliteration contains three sounds (consonant).
These are the most common hieroglyphics:
| nḫ (anj) | | dwȝ (dua) | | iwn (iun) | | nwb (nub) | | nfr (nefer) | | nr (necher) | | nwt (nut) | | |
| ḥtt (hat) | | ḥḳȝ (heqa) | | ḥtp (hetep) | | pr (jeper) | | sbk (sebek) | | w wḥ (uah) | | wsr (user) | | |
- Hieroglyphics with more than three consonants
- These are the most common hieroglyphics whose transliteration contains more than three consonant sounds:
| m t t (maat) | | špsy (shepesy) | | rogaḥty (dyehuty) | | pḥty (pehty) | | inpw (anpu) | | bity (bity) | | |
| imnt (ament) | | rnpt (renepet) | | ḳbḥw (qebehu) | | mrḥt (merhet) | | šnwt (senut) | | krt (jekeret) | | |
| sptt (sepat) | | ssir (asir) | | wnwt (unut) | | wstst (uaset) | | |
See also: Annex:Polico-consonantics
Spelling
Spelling in hieroglyphics is much more relaxed than modern languages. In fact, there are one or more variants for almost every word. Can be found:
- Redundancias.
- Graphemous omission, which are ignored regardless of whether they are intentional.
- Replacement of one graph by another, so it is impossible to distinguish a "error" from an "alternative spelling".
- Errors of omission in the drawing of signs, which are more problematic when writing is cheesy, but especially in demotic, when the schematization of the signs is extreme.
However, many of these apparent misspellings constitute a chronology problem. Spelling and standards have varied over time, so the Old Kingdom spelling of a word may be considerably different than the New Kingdom spelling. Furthermore, the Egyptians were perfectly content to include old spellings within new practices, just as it is acceptable in English to use archaic spellings in modern texts. Most of the time, "spelling mistakes" old ones are simply misinterpretations of context. Today experts use a multitude of cataloging systems to clarify the presence of determiners, ideograms, and other ambiguous signs in their transliterations.
Vocalization
The general absence of vowel notation means that our modern transcription represents only the consonantal skeleton of Egyptian words. Many of them are, as they are, practically unpronounceable. Therefore, as an aid to pronunciation, in discussions, conferences, teaching, Egyptologists insert an "e" between the consonants and pronounce 3 and c as "a". For example:
s3 (sa) wrs (weres) cdc (adja)
Leg
The glyphs in this cartouche are transliterated as:
p
t
| "ua"
| l
m
| (ii) s
| |
|
Ptolmys |
but since ii is considered a single letter it is transliterated as y.
Another way hieroglyphics work is illustrated by the two Egyptian words pronounced pr (usually vocalized as per). One word is 'house', and its hieroglyphic representation is as follows;
Here the hieroglyph 'house' It works like a logogram: it represents the word with a single sign. The vertical mark below a hieroglyph is a common way of indicating that that glyph functions as a logogram.
Another word 'pr is the verb 'salir, marchar'. When this word is written, the hieroglyph 'house' is used as a phonetic symbol:
Here the glyph 'house' means the consonants pr. The 'mouth' below it is a phonetic complement: is read as r, reinforcing the phonetic reading of pr. The third hieroglyph is a determinative: it is an ideogram for verbs of movement that gives the reader an idea of the meaning of the word.
Another example
| IMAGEN | ESCRITURA | TRADUCTION |
|---|
| Nefertari tomb. The name of the queen written within a cartridge and vertical writing. In this case, the reading should be made from top to bottom and left to right. |
| <img alt="<" height="44" src="/w/extensions/wikihiero/img/hiero_Ca1.png?0f9ce" title=" | | ![]() " height="44" src="/w/extensions/wikihiero/img/hiero_Ca2.png?3dadc" title=">"/> |
|
| Recitation to Osiris:
Before Osiris, the great queen
Nefertari, beloved of Mut
Blessed |
The scribes
It is an error to affirm that writing was circumscribed only to the priestly castes, forgetting a fundamental institution in all of Ancient Egypt: the scribes.
Being a scribe was the aspiration of any Egyptian of humble descent, as it was more important than a military career. In fact, there was no possibility of access to a high position in the government for a person who had not been a scribe.
Ancient Egyptian life revolved around the scribe; This was the one who wrote down the level of the Nile floods (essential for the food security of the population), who recorded the state of the canals and dikes (essential to conserve and channel the water after the flood season), the collection of the barns etc.
Digital encoding
Egyptian hieroglyphs were added to the Unicode Standard in October 2009, with the release of version 5.2, as "Egyptian Hieroglyphs" (U+13000–U+1342F) block with 1,070 characters defined.
As of July 2013, four Egyptian Hieroglyph fonts have been added, "Aegyptus", NewGardiner.ttf, Noto Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and JSeshFont.
Another font, "Segoe UI Historic#34;, is included in Windows 10 and contains the full block of Egyptian hieroglyphs as well as other historical scripts such as cuneiform.
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