Communication through Hieroglyphic Writing
Ancient Egyptians employed a unique and complicated language of Hieroglyphics, which remains
today as one of the most beautiful forms of written communication in the world. It consists of
pictures used either to represent a word or a sound. The language itself, as well as the profession of
a scribe, carried enormous prestige for Egyptians, who seemed to have an innate appreciation for
beautiful art. They used this pictorial language not only as a means of communication, but also as
another method of decorative painting. Despite its apparent simplicity, hieroglyphic writing has a
very complex structure used to express several aspects of ancient Egyptian lifestyle in a beautifully
constructed form.
This language, originating around 3000 B.C., was the first form of written communication among
ancient Egyptians and it eventually led to the invention of the hieratic and demotic scripts (White
175). Linguist Jean Francois Champollion first began to decipher the encrypted language with the
aid of the Rosetta Stone, an ancient artifact which contains Greek, demotic, and hieroglyphic
writing. By reading the Greek, which he already understood, Champollian began to understsand
how to read hieroglyphics and specifically learned 12 phonograms, or pictures representing sound,
that allowed him to fill in the missing pieces of the entire language (Casson 150-151).
The content of writing on the Rosetta stone, a proclamation about the ancient King Ptolemy, has
very little significance in comparison to the discovery of hieroglyphics (Casson 150). The language
uses two forms of images to express thoughts: Ideograms are simply pictures of the word they
represent and are only an addition to the more complicated use of phonograms, which are pictures
that re[resent a consonant sound (Britannica 1038). Several phonograms combine to form Egyptian
words, and in turn, sentences. However, in order to make the language easier to document, all
vowels and punctuation were omitted (White 176).
Standard 1.8
Report
Score Point 4/3
Sets context
Focus/thesis is clearly stated.
Transition
Additional relevant context.
Description of the complex structure.
The idea that hieroglyphic writing only uses images to represent words, derives from the use of
ideograms, but is extremely misleading. On the contrary, phonograms are foundation of this
complicated language and, in fact, the pictures used to signify sounds have nothing to do with the
word that they spell (Scott 13). For example, a hieroglyphic depiction of an owl denotes an “m”
sound, while a picture of rippling water stands for “n” (Scott 14).
The structure becomes more complicated with the use of biliterals, which are different phonetic
hieroglyphics that represent a combined sound, but still don’t depict the word they spell.
Combining the hieroglyph of the owl with that of the rippling water creates a “mn” sound that is
then represented by the silhouette of a game board (Scot 19).
In order to clarify a thought or express an additional feeling through a picture, scribes sometimes
added an ideogram to the end of a sentence, which became known as a determinative. The
determinatives were actually words expressed by a picture, whose main purpose was to put forth an
abstract idea or emotion that the rest of the sentence couldn’t express (Scott 22). The combination
of ideograms and phonograms can be confusing because of the tendency to assume that a picture of
an owl represents the word for an owl, which is seldom the case.
Relates to focus.
Transitions
Relates to focus
Only a few Egyptians knew how to read or write hieroglyphics and the profession of a scribe
signified an important man with the opportunity to advance in life. Because there were very few
literate peasants, the job offered the possibility of a better life instead of one filled with manual
labor. Young boys who had a talent for reading or writing became apprentices and began by
learning hieratic, the script form of writing hieroglyphics. Eventually they moved on to pictorial
language and after having learned approximately 3,000 hieroglyphics, they had gained a “reasonably
extensive knowledge” of the language (Scott 36-37).
With powerful tools such as reading and writing, scribes had almost unlimited opportunity for
employment. They could live a simple life as a clerk or bookkeeper or they could become an
engineer, an expert on law, or even a king’s vizier. The profession was held in such esteem that
noblemen often asked to be sculpted, sitting cross-legged, while writing (White 151-152).
The content of Egyptian writing varied from medical, business, and law documents to ghost stories,
poems, and love songs (Scott 80). Scribes often carved writing in public monuments like statues or
on the walls of tombs (Britannica 1036). Some examples of these writings include the Turin Canon
of Kings, which is essentially a list of kings dating back to 1567 B.C., as well as the Edwin Smith
Medical Papyrus, a description of 48 different medical operations (Scott 81).
The Pyramid Texts, one of the oldest known religious writings, are carved onto the chambers of
several kings, and have incantations asking the gods to allow the Pharaohs to take their place in the
sky. Other writings included “magical papyri” which could supposedly cast spells to protect good
people or inflict pain on evil people. Egyptians also believed that if a person’s name were carved in
stone, that person would have eternal life. If for some reason the name disappeared, the person
would no longer exist (Scott 82-84).
Refers to second part of focus: “used to express several aspects of lifestyle.”
The beauty of hieroglyphic writing was as important as the content, and Egyptian scribes
documented it accordingly. While hieratic was often written on papyrus or linen, hieroglyphic
writing appeared most commonly on wood or stone. Scribes used black ink for most writing, but
for important pieces they tried to paint pictures of animals and humans in realistic colors and used
red or blue for additional color (Scott 38-39). All hieroglyphic sentences usually fit into the shape
of a rectangle purely for the visual effect and are most often read from right to left. As a result, it’s
necessary to begin reading in the direction that the first animal or human head points (Casson 153).
Although these techniques were not always practical, the Egyptians took pride in the aesthetic aspect
of the writing.
That artistic beauty sets hieroglyphic writing apart from other written languages. It has its own
complicated structure utilizing beautiful pictures, which serve both as the basis of the language and
as emotional supplements. Whether they wrote about medicine or told stories, Egyptians used this
beautifully complicated language to more accurately express thoughts or ideas that could only be
communicated through hieroglyphics.
Score Point 4
Refers to third party of focus: “beautifully constructed form.”
Effective transition
Restates thesis.
This is like the score point 4 benchmark, “Communication of Wolves.” The sense of purpose is
strongly stated and unifies the report. It shows a clear sense of direction and is well organized.
The stance, as well as the voice and tone, are of a knowledgeable person presenting relevant
information. Context is clear throughout. There is strong overall coherence and balance.
There is sentence variety and fluency from good use of transitions. It provides a depth of
information.
Conventions-Score Point 3
Student has control of conventions.