Introduction
There were three main Egyptian script. The sacred writing they had was hieroglyphs. It is the most famous script using pictures as symbols instead of letters and words. A simplified version of hieroglyphs was devised as it was too difficult to use casually. This was called hieratic writing made by the scribes which lost the pictorial aspect. The hieratic version of writing was used to create various types of papyrus documents. An even more fluent script was created which was much simpler and had no pictures. This script was called demotic and was used for compiling documents and lists. These three different types of scripts were the most reliable information that we have from the Ancient Egyptians. When the civilisation were conquered by the Greeks, all the culture and writing disappeared. Now we find the writings in many forms such as on papyrus scrolls, tombs, temples and monuments.
ScribesScribes were very important people in the Egyptian society being near the top of the social pyramid. They weren't just the only people who knew how to read and write but possessed rare skills which made them managers, organisers, accountants and officials. This was why government businesses depended on their work. It was hard work for them as they had to be experts in writing the different forms of script and know about 700 different signs in hieroglyphs. An Egyptian scribe had the opportunity to rise to high ranks and even become a royal scribe bringing him authority, wealth, land, and freedom from taxes and national service during times of flood through his writings. They were also exempted from daily physical labour and was viewed with respect. As most of the education goes, in Ancient Egypt it was traditional and common for a father to teach his profession to his son, so many scribes were the sons of scribes. Otherwise children learnt it in schools but had to have the correct education and training.
Training was rigorous staring from the age of nine and taking around 5 years to do. They had to learn a wide range of subjects like reading, writing, history, math, science just to name a few. It was a indication of the breadth of knowledge acquired by the Ancient Egyptian scribes. This was a challenge for many students because they could see other children of their own age playing on the fields yet they were inside learning. Writings have been found containing disapproval from senior to junior scribes about neglecting lessons therefore sometimes physical punishment was used. Advanced scribes tried to inspire young scribes and one form of encouragement was deflects of other professions. These were exaggerated of course but here are some examples- jewellers and metalworkers were said to choke on the heat of their furnaces and weavers had to put up with cramped conditions. This definitely persuaded them to work hard as they could enjoy the benefits of being a scribe when they were older. If they were capable enough, they even had a shot at being a king or a god. One scribe did and his name was Thoth. He became the the God of wisdom and scribe of all gods. Near the end of the Egyptian civilisation, scribes had to also be able to write Greek, the language of the overlords. PapyrusScribes used papyrus to write on as it was much easier to use then their previous clay tablets. The scrolls could be about anything, medicine facts, religion, gods, stocks, irrigation techniques. This was the early version on a book. It was used extensively even out of Egypt though it was expensive. When the Egyptians realised it's worth, they traded it with other cities and from that created some wealth. Unfortunately it was later replaced by paper that was first created in China.
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HieroglyphsHieroglyphs was the Ancient Egyptian's main way of writing. It was very important for them to write down their history, ideas, facts, accurate records as it was more reliable than their memory. Archaeological discoveries suggest that this may be the oldest form of writing starting around 3200 BC. It uses complex pictures from the world around them, simplified into standard shapes. These word signs illustrated an object or action and there were even some signs for ideas and sounds. When it was first developed each picture had a simple meaning like plants and animals. But then it gradually changed into a complicated script of hundreds of symbols. One symbol could even mean more than one thing in different contexts. Even though the meanings of each symbol was kept the same some elements in their writing weren't standardised. The writing could go from left to right or right to left, top to bottom or bottom to top. It didn't even need to have punctuation or gaps between words. This was probably why many Ancient Egyptians couldn't read hieroglyphics. Also maybe because hieroglyphs might have been kept deliberately difficult so only the people who were specially trained could read it. This ensured that scribes kept their position with the special power, and were kept of the small minority of educated people.
Hieroglyphs used to take a long time to do and it was a a complex system so they Ancient Egyptians usually only used it for formal documents and inscriptions in their daily life. It was more widely used in state monuments, temples, tombs and religious papyrus. Egyptian ArtThough they recorded down written writings of gathered information and events in scrolls and papyrus, the Ancient Egyptians made a lot of sculptures and paintings. These art work could be easily found in tombs and temples. A significant amount of knowledge we know about the Ancient Egyptians come from their art. The sculptures were mostly of the pharaohs as they were looked at like gods. Some examples of their giant work of sculptures would include the statues of Ramses II at the Abu Simbel temples and the Great Sphinx of Giza. They painted extensively too. Most of the paintings were done inside tombs of the rich and the powerful. It was believed that it would help the person in the afterlife and the paintings often showed the person being buried and waking up in the afterlife being happy. Sometimes the person was pictured with passed on loved ones or kings. Sadly most of these paintings were stolen when the tombs- usually only people from high in the social pyramid- were raided as they contained gold and wealth that was buried alongside it.
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