Cradles of Civilisation Initiators of Trade
Looking back at the Egyptian era and the invention of writing “The earliest known examples of writing in Egypt have been dated to 3,400 BC.”[1] Egyptian hieroglyphs take the form of small “pictures used as signs in writing.”[2] The way that these signs and symbols are written sometimes seem to relate directly to the subject.
The majority of the hieroglyphs are in fact based on sounds.[3]
Looking particularly at the signs for the Gods we can work back to the origins for the signs. The Egyptians believed that the “writing was invented by the god Thoth and called their hieroglyphic script "mdwt ntr" (god's words).”[4] Looking at the way the Egyptians picture and think of their deities this is mirrored in the signs which portray them. The sign for Nekhbet who is the goddess protector of Upper Egypt is portrayed as a vulture. This is reflected in the sign for Nekhbet below.[5] There are several images in the Egyptian alphabet which are sacred or protective. Such as the Udjat which depicts “the sound eye of Horus and symbolizes healing and protection.”[6] These can also be found within the names off some of the Egyptian Gods. The way that they are read depends on the direction that any of the animal or humanistic figures are facing in the line. For instance in a sentence with the Nekhbet sign above in it, this would be read from left to right. The combination of the different sounds read in a specific order is how the language is read. There are often several versions of the same sentence which can be correct. It can be the context which reveals what is being said.
The Rosetta Stone is one of the most important discoveries in terms of literary understanding. This stone which contains text from three separate languages including Egyptian hieroglyphs on the top band, “the middle band…an Egyptian script called Demotic script … and the bottom was ancient Greek”[7] . It is described as “a valuable key to the decipherment of hieroglyphs”[8] with text in all three languages it was possible for scholars to begin to decrypt preciously unknown information about the Egyptian languages. With the ability to read the Greek on the stone immediately new possibilities in deciphering are revealed. As the middle segment of the stone written in Demotic script is similar in some ways to the Egyptian hieroglyphs this helped the decoding a lot.
To conclude the huge difference in how the Egyptians used images as words and sounds in contrast to what we use today has the ability to capture the interests of many people around the world. Despite the many generations past causing hieroglyphics to become redundant this fascination in such imagery used in relation to a language has not been abandoned alongside the language.
Bibliography
How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs, A Step-by-Step Guide to Teach Yourself, Mark Collier and Bill Manley. The British Museum Press, 1998.
Ancient Egypt, A Very Short Introduction, Ian Shaw. Oxford University Press, 2004.
[1] http://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian.htm#origins , Simon Ager, 1998
[2] How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs, A Step-by-Step Guide to Teach Yourself, Mark Collier and Bill Manley. The British Museum Press, 1998.
[3] Ancient Egypt, A Very Short Introduction, Ian Shaw. Oxford University Press, 2004.
[4] http://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian.htm#origins, Simon Ager, 1998
[5] http://www.egyptartsite.com/symlst.html, © 1996-2008 Deurer
[6] http://www.egyptartsite.com/symlst.html , 1996-2008, Deurer
[7] http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/hieroglyphics/rosettastone.html, Richard A. Strachan and Kathleen A. Roetzel (1997)
[8] http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/t/the_rosetta_stone.aspx,
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