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Egyptian hieroglyphs
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Egyptian hieroglyphs
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs (/ˈhaɪroʊˌɡlɪfs/ HY-roh-glifs) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters. Cursive hieroglyphs were used for religious literature on papyrus and wood. The later hieratic and demotic Egyptian scripts were derived from hieroglyphic writing, as was the Proto-Sinaitic script that later evolved into the Phoenician alphabet. Egyptian hieroglyphs are the ultimate ancestor of the Phoenician alphabet, the first widely adopted phonetic writing system. Moreover, owing in large part to the Greek and Aramaic scripts that descended from Phoenician, the majority of the world's living writing systems are descendants of Egyptian hieroglyphs—most prominently the Latin and Cyrillic scripts through Greek, and the Arabic and Brahmic scripts through Aramaic.[not verified in body] Hieroglyphs are thought to be one of four writing systems developed without outside influence, the others being Cuneiforms, Chinese characters, and Mayan script.
The use of hieroglyphic writing arose from proto-literate symbol systems in the Early Bronze Age c. the 33rd century BC (Naqada III), with the first decipherable sentence written in the Egyptian language dating to the 28th century BC (Second Dynasty). Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs developed into a mature writing system used for monumental inscription in the classical language of the Middle Kingdom period; during this period, the system used about 900 distinct signs. The use of this writing system continued through the New Kingdom and Late Period, and on into the Persian and Ptolemaic periods. Late survivals of hieroglyphic use are found well into the Roman period, extending into the 4th century AD.
During the 5th century, the permanent closing of pagan temples across Roman Egypt ultimately resulted in the loss of fluent readers and writers in hieroglyphs. Despite attempts at decipherment, the nature of the script remained unknown throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Regardless, mixture of medieval Arab (pre-Islamic) and Egyptian people kept the fascination of hieroglyphics alive. Scholars, spiritualists and treasure hunters like highly sought after artifacts in attempts to decode the language while also understanding the phonetic and alphabetical similarities between Coptic and Hieroglyphs. The decipherment of hieroglyphic writing was finally accomplished in the 1820s by Jean-François Champollion, with the help of the Rosetta Stone.
The entire Ancient Egyptian corpus, including both hieroglyphic and hieratic texts, is approximately 5 million words in length; if counting duplicates (such as the Book of the Dead and the Coffin Texts) as separate, this figure is closer to 10 million. The most complete compendium of Ancient Egyptian, the Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, contains 1.5–1.7 million words.
The word hieroglyph comes from the Ancient Greek hieroglyphikos (ἱερογλυφικός), meaning 'sacred carving' – a compound of hierós 'sacred' and glýphō 'Ι carve, engrave' (cf. English glyph).
From the Ptolemaic period (3rd–1st centuries BC), the glyphs themselves were called tà hieroglyphikà grámmata (τὰ ἱερογλυφικὰ γράμματα) 'the sacred engraved letters', the Greek counterpart to the Egyptian term mdw.w-nṯr 'words of gods'. Greek hieróglŭphos meant 'a carver of hieroglyphs'.
In English, hieroglyph as a noun is recorded from 1590, originally short for nominalized hieroglyphic (1580s, with a plural hieroglyphics), from adjectival use (hieroglyphic character).
Hieroglyphs may have emerged from the preliterate artistic traditions of Egypt. For example, symbols on Gerzean pottery from c. 4000 BC have been argued to resemble hieroglyphic writing.
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Egyptian hieroglyphs
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs (/ˈhaɪroʊˌɡlɪfs/ HY-roh-glifs) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters. Cursive hieroglyphs were used for religious literature on papyrus and wood. The later hieratic and demotic Egyptian scripts were derived from hieroglyphic writing, as was the Proto-Sinaitic script that later evolved into the Phoenician alphabet. Egyptian hieroglyphs are the ultimate ancestor of the Phoenician alphabet, the first widely adopted phonetic writing system. Moreover, owing in large part to the Greek and Aramaic scripts that descended from Phoenician, the majority of the world's living writing systems are descendants of Egyptian hieroglyphs—most prominently the Latin and Cyrillic scripts through Greek, and the Arabic and Brahmic scripts through Aramaic.[not verified in body] Hieroglyphs are thought to be one of four writing systems developed without outside influence, the others being Cuneiforms, Chinese characters, and Mayan script.
The use of hieroglyphic writing arose from proto-literate symbol systems in the Early Bronze Age c. the 33rd century BC (Naqada III), with the first decipherable sentence written in the Egyptian language dating to the 28th century BC (Second Dynasty). Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs developed into a mature writing system used for monumental inscription in the classical language of the Middle Kingdom period; during this period, the system used about 900 distinct signs. The use of this writing system continued through the New Kingdom and Late Period, and on into the Persian and Ptolemaic periods. Late survivals of hieroglyphic use are found well into the Roman period, extending into the 4th century AD.
During the 5th century, the permanent closing of pagan temples across Roman Egypt ultimately resulted in the loss of fluent readers and writers in hieroglyphs. Despite attempts at decipherment, the nature of the script remained unknown throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Regardless, mixture of medieval Arab (pre-Islamic) and Egyptian people kept the fascination of hieroglyphics alive. Scholars, spiritualists and treasure hunters like highly sought after artifacts in attempts to decode the language while also understanding the phonetic and alphabetical similarities between Coptic and Hieroglyphs. The decipherment of hieroglyphic writing was finally accomplished in the 1820s by Jean-François Champollion, with the help of the Rosetta Stone.
The entire Ancient Egyptian corpus, including both hieroglyphic and hieratic texts, is approximately 5 million words in length; if counting duplicates (such as the Book of the Dead and the Coffin Texts) as separate, this figure is closer to 10 million. The most complete compendium of Ancient Egyptian, the Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, contains 1.5–1.7 million words.
The word hieroglyph comes from the Ancient Greek hieroglyphikos (ἱερογλυφικός), meaning 'sacred carving' – a compound of hierós 'sacred' and glýphō 'Ι carve, engrave' (cf. English glyph).
From the Ptolemaic period (3rd–1st centuries BC), the glyphs themselves were called tà hieroglyphikà grámmata (τὰ ἱερογλυφικὰ γράμματα) 'the sacred engraved letters', the Greek counterpart to the Egyptian term mdw.w-nṯr 'words of gods'. Greek hieróglŭphos meant 'a carver of hieroglyphs'.
In English, hieroglyph as a noun is recorded from 1590, originally short for nominalized hieroglyphic (1580s, with a plural hieroglyphics), from adjectival use (hieroglyphic character).
Hieroglyphs may have emerged from the preliterate artistic traditions of Egypt. For example, symbols on Gerzean pottery from c. 4000 BC have been argued to resemble hieroglyphic writing.
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