10 Facts about Egyptian Writing

Tuesday, August 15th 2017. | Linguistic

I will show you the interesting information about hieroglyphs on facts about Egyptian writing. The ancient Egyptian people use it as a formal writing system. It features around 1,000 different characters, which contain the alphabetic, syllabic and logographic elements. The religious literature was written on the wood and papyrus by using the cursive hieroglyphs. Why don’t you check the following post for details about Egyptian writing?

Facts about Egyptian Writing 1: the mature writing system

Hieroglyphs appeared as a mature writing system in Middle Kingdom Period where it had around 900 different characters.

Facts about Egyptian Writing 2: the use of hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphs were still used by the ancient Egyptian period in Late, Persian and Ptolemaic Periods.

Egyptian Writing Image

Facts about Egyptian Writing 3: the lost writing system

It became a lost writing system when the Pagan temples were closed in the fifth century. Get facts about Egyptian Painting here.

Facts about Egyptian Writing 4: Jean-François Champollion

Jean-François Champollion was the person who solved the decipherment of hieroglyphs due to the discovery of Rosetta stone in 1820s.

Egyptian Writing Pic

Facts about Egyptian Writing 5: the first known full sentence

The first known full sentence of Egyptian writing was spotted on a seal impression of Seth-Peribsen’s tomb. The seal was traced back the Second Dynasty.

Facts about Egyptian Writing 6: the types of glyphs

Egyptian writing features three types of glyphs. They are determinatives, logographs and phonetic glyphs.

Egyptian Writing

Facts about Egyptian Writing 7: the scripts

There are two types of scripts. Both are the demotic or popular scripts and hieratic or priestly scripts. The Greek, demotic and hieroglyphic are available in Rosetta stone. Look at facts about Egyptian music here.

Facts about Egyptian Writing 8: the late survival of Hieroglyphs

During the 6th and 5th centuries BC, Hieroglyphs were still employed. At that time, Persian was the ruler. The usage was continued when Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great.

Facts about Egyptian Writing

Facts about Egyptian Writing 9: the attempt to decipher Hieroglyphs

Hieroglyphs were not easy to decipher. People had to do various attempt to decipher the meaning behind the writing. Horapollo wrote Hieroglyphica in the fifth century, which explained 200 glyphs. Not all explanations of Horapollo were correct.

Facts about Egyptian Writing 10: other interpretations

The interpretation about Egyptian writing was also conducted by the Dhul-Nun al-Misri and Ibn Wahshiyya in 9th and 10th century. Both were Arab historians. The early modern attempt of modern Europeans to decipher the Egyptian writing was noted on the world Kircher’s interpretation.