Language of ancient Egypt

Introduction:

The ancient Egyptian language was consisted of pictures. There were three forms of writing the ancient Egyptian language: Hieroglyphs, Hieratic, and Demotic.

Hieroglyphs:

The word comes from a Greek term, and its meaning is "sacred carving". The Egyptian word Hieroglyphs literally translated to "language of the gods". It was may be the oldest form of writing. Only the primarily royalty, the priests, and the civil officials used this language. It was usually used in decorating the temples and the monuments. It was written with ink and pen on the papyrus, or painted or carved into stones. It was written in rows or columns, and it could be read from right to left or left to right. During the French occupation to Egypt, a group of French soldiers discovered a large stone called the Rosetta stone. This stone contained the same text using three different languages: hieroglyphs, demotic and ancient Greek language. It was sent to Europe, where scholars translated the Greek language and used it to decipher the other two languages. The first modern person to read the hieroglyphs was the French Egyptologist Champilion.

Hieratic:

It was developed in the earliest years during the early dynastic period. It was a cursive form of writing. Its symbols were based on the Hieroglyphs' symbols, but they were simplified. It was used for the bulk of writing, and was used by priests for inscription of religious texts. It was written using reed peens and ink on the papyrus.

Demotic:

The Egyptians began to use it in the 17^th century. It was more simplified than hieratic. Its meaning is "The people's writing", it was named that way because many people could read it. It was used for business and literary texts.

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