Hieroglyphics and You!!!

1. Hieroglyphics and You!!! By Christian Nunez Adel Ramirez Matt Tillitt (Like a Blizzard)

2. Understanding Hieroglyphics • Used by the Ancient Egyptians • The Ancient Egyptians wrote right to left • They did not capitalize or use punctuation • One hieroglyphic could be analyzed as many different letters and sounds; vice-versa

3. The Discovery of the Rosetta Stone • Discovered in the late 1790’s, in a place called Rosetta which is near the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria • Found by Napoleon’s army • In the late 1790’s , a young French officer named Pierre-Francois Bouchard found what is now the Rosetta Stone. • Rosetta Stone was made out of a black basalt stone • Measured 3’9” long, 2’4.5” wide, and 11” in thickness.

4. Maps and locations

5. The Rosetta Stone • A stone tablet broken into 3 pieces that contained 3 systems of writing on it • The scientists that traveled with Napoleon soon discovered that there was a message • The top piece was written in the language of Greek • The writing thanked Ptolemy V for the gracious gifts • The middle piece was written in demotic • Demotic – earliest of ancient Egyptian writing that was primarily used for Business and social purposes • The third and final piece of the Rosetta Stone was written in Hieroglyphics • All pieces of the Rosetta Stone say the same thing. • This key factor allowed scientists to understand each other

6. Writing tools • Ancient Egyptians didn’t have the utensils we have today, so they used a paintbrush made from reeds • At the end of the reeds, they were softened and shaped • Ancient Egyptians substituted paper with papyrus. • Papyrus was made from slicing the inner core of papyrus reeds into thin pieces • The picture is an example of papyrus

7. Examples of hieroglyphics

8. Conquest of Egypt • For thousands of years Ancient Egyptians wrote in Hieroglyphics • However, before being conquered by Persia under the Roman Administration only Latin and on occasion Greek was used. • As the Persian intruders conquered Egypt, a dramatic change in Egyptian Hieroglyphics occurred. • After 100 years had gone by, no one could read hieroglyphics. Roman authors had suggested that hieroglyphics wasn’t even a language.

9. Egyptian Hieroglyphics • Date back to 3000 B.C. • Continued for about three and a half thousand years • Ideal for Grand Temples, hieroglyphics were too complicated for simple transactions • In Greek, hieroglyphics mean “sacred carvings” • Substituted for hieroglyphics was Hieratic • Hieratic was a simpler version of hieroglyphics • Hieratic made day-to-day transactions easier and more efficient • 600 B.C. hieratic was replaced by an even simpler version • Demotic

10. Demotic • Demotic is associate with the Greek word demotika meaning “popular” • Hieroglyphics, hieratic, and demotic are similar scripts and could be considered different fonts • All of the scripts are phonetic • Meaning each character has a distinctive sound • Similar to the English alphabet • Ancient Egyptians used all three scripts on a daily basis as we use the English alphabet daily • The use of hieroglyphics was outlawed by the Christian Church • Outlawed by the Christian Church to exterminate the past with Egypt’s pagan past

11. Replacement of Hieroglyphs • After demotic was outlawed by the Christian Church it was replaced by Coptic • Coptic – a script containing 24 letters from the Greek alphabet • Six of them being supplemented from demotic • These 6 were supplemented for the reason of expressing Egyptian sounds that weren’t expressed by Greek letters • Coptic is another reason which lead to the desolation of hieroglyphics

12. Rebirth of Hieroglyphics • During the 17th century, a reawakening for hieroglyphics had spawned. • Pope Sixtus V erected Egyptian Obelisks at each intersection in Rome • Scientists tried to decipher the hieroglyphics but were unable to • The reason why they weren’t able to was because they automatically assumed that the hieroglyphics didn’t represent phonetic sounds ( phonograms ) • A common idea is that people thought Egyptian hieroglyphics were just picture writing

13. Translations of Hieroglyphics • 100 years before the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, a priest translated hieroglyphics • German Jesuit priest Athanasius Kircher published a book called “OEdipus aegyptiacus” • OEdipus aegyptiacus produced a new series of unorthodox but joyful translations of hieroglyphics • These handful of hieroglyphics were translated as “the benefits of the divine Osiris are to be procured by means of sacred ceremonies and of the chain of the Genii, in order that the benefits of the Nile may be obtained” • The hieroglyphics are merely known as the Pharaoh Apries

14. Work Cited • "Egyptian Hieroglyphs and the Rosetta Stone." n. pag. Web. 23 Sep 2010. http://www.simonsingh.net/Hieroglyphs.html • "Existing Problem Languages ." n. pag. Web. 23 Sep 2010. http://www.cs.miami.eu/~tptp/Seminars/TSTPStandards/ProblemLanguages.html • "History of Hieroglyphs." (2000): n. pag. Web. 23 Sep 2010. http://library.thinkquest.org/J002046F/hieroglyphics.htm • "Map of Egypt." n. pag. Web. 23 Sep 2010. http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/eg.htm • Strachan, Richard, and Kathleen Roetzel. "The Story of the Rosetta Stone, "Finding a Lost Language"." (1997): n. pag. Web. 23 Sep 2010. http://library.thinkquest.org/J002046F/hieroglyphics.htm

15. Work Cited ( cont. ) • "The Three Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt." n. pag. Web. 23 Sep 2010. http://ftp.aa.edu/lydon/egypt/hall6egypt/ThreeKings.htm