Hieroglyphics

large view The hieroglyphic alphabet uses picture characters instead of letters to communicate. large view In 1799 the Rosetta Stone was found. It turned out to be the key to reading Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Hieroglyphics

"Hieroglyphics is a writing system that uses symbols or pictures to denote objects, concepts, or sounds, originally and especially in the writing system of Ancient Egypt."

 - Encarta Dictionary 

Writing in Egypt goes back to some of the earliest writing found in the world -- back to about 3,000 BC. Nobody knows for sure whether the Egyptians figured out writng for themselves, or if they learned it from the Sumerians. The Sumerians also began writing about the same time.

Signs of the alphabet were each a single sound, but because the Ancient Egyptians took the vowel sounds for granted, most of those were not represented.

The Ancient Egyptians also used individual characters called hieroglyphs to represent objects common to them. Over 2,000 different hieroglyphs have been found. That's a lot when you think about it. Today the modern English language only uses 26 characters (the alphabet)!

Hieroglyphs have been found on pieces of their art, sculpture, pyramids and other buildings of the time. They also wrote on paper made using the papyrus plant. Papyrus grows along the banks of the Nile River so was easy to find.

Hieroglyphs can be confusing to read. They were written in rows or columns and could be read from left to right or from right to left.  The clue on how to read them was to look to see which way the hieroglyphs were pointing.

Some Ancient Egyptian or Egyptians -- probably working as scribes -- created the Rosetta Stone in 196 BC. It wasn't heard of again until the French uncovered it at Rosetta (Egypt) in 1799. Finding the Rosetta Stone was very important to finding out more about how to read hieroglyphics.

The Rosetta Stone is a real stone with three different languages carved in it (picture at right). The text of the Rosetta Stone is a decree from Pharaoh Ptolemy V. The same passage is written in three languages.  Two of the languages are versions of Ancient Egyptian - with one of the two being hieroglyphics.

The third language on the stone is classical Greek. Because the French could read the Greek version, they were able to figure out the two Egyptian languages by comparing them.

The Rosetta Stone turned out to be the main key to unlocking the meaning of hieroglyphics. The stone has been on public display at The British Museum in London, England since 1802.  

 

- Research completed by Olivia D. and Acacia B.

 

 

 

 

                                      

 

                

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