Hieroglyphics were a form of writing and art in the Ancient Egyptian society. Hieroglyphics were the formal alphabet used by the Ancient Egyptians. The word "hieroglyphics" comes from the Greek words "Hiers" meaning sacred and "glyphos" meaning words. It is believed that the first hieroglyphics were used in Ancient Egypt in 150 A.D. They weren't used for a very long time because they were difficult to make and took to long to make. A simpler form of hieroglyphics was made to make writing easier and quicker. Hieroglyphics were used to write stories of important events, such as a drought, or an surplus of crops. They also would be used for decorating pots and walls. The reason that Hieroglyphics had to be easy to write was because they were used in every day circumstances, such as labeling a pot, or recording the days events. Nobody had any idea what the any of the Hieroglyphics stood for until the Rosetta stone was deciphered. Hieroglyphics were very interesting form of art that the Egyptians used not only to look pretty, but to also communicate.

Interesting Facts!!!!

-The first hieroglyphic alphabet contained 750 different symbols, each respresenting a differet word or phrsase.
- The first hieroglyphic alphabet had no vowels.
- When writing hieroglypics you could right from side to side or from up to down
- When writing the symbols, you would not put any spaces between anything, because having spaces was thought of as unappealing to the eye.
- When reading hieroglyphics you could either read from left to right or from right to left.

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ANCIENT EGYPT BURIAL TECHNIQUES

              Egyptians believed in the after life, but in order for them to be accepted into it their body had to be in tact. To make sure that the body remained this way after burial they went through the process of mummification. This included three important steps-

1. They took everything out of the body except the heart and the skeleton. The removed organs were placed in jars (canopic jars) which were placed with the body in the tomb later on. The heart was kept because it was said to be important while organs like the brain were not, so they took out the brain through the nostrils.
2. They dried out the body by stuffing it with fluid absorbing substances. Once stuffed, they left the body of forty five days so that the body to completely dry out. Once dry they stuffed the body with wood shavings and it was ready to be wrapped.
3. The body was wrapped in linen with small charms between. While the charms were being placed a cleric prayed for the dead. When this step was finished the body was shrouded until the funeral.

              The more money and higher up in status the dead person was the more of a lavish celebration they had. Their coffin was prettier, the mask and the objects buried with them were worth more than most, and extra time was taken to decorate the coffin as the family seemed fit. Along with the belongings, the dead had a more intricate festival and burial ritual. There were many factors to the burial procession which included-

• The family of the dead were told to travel to the other side of the Nile River. The mummy made its way to the other side on a boat with a parade of Egyptians, and once on land an ox pulled them to the site.
• The procession was lead by a chanting priest, who chanted things just for the ceremony. Some Egyptians in the procession carried food, some carried gifts and greases, while others carried the canopic jars that were then put in the tomb.
• Once at the burial site the priests prayed to the gods of the afterlife, Osiris. The last ceremony that took place on the day of the burial was the one in which the dead had the chance to "talk and dine" with the afterlife.
• The last step to the process was to put that body in the casket and then the casket into the tomb. Once the tomb was closed, they has a party which concluded the ceremony.

          The coffins were fit with masks and the silhouette of what they wanted the body to be like in the after life. It was decorated as the family seemed fit. The masks provided a face for the dead. The tomb was decorated head to toe with things that helped symbolize what the dead person was like. For example a bull was drawn on the coffin to symbolize a pharoh. Anthropoid tombs were extremely important to them because they were said to serve as the body of the dead in the after life. They showed the person as being a young, strong, person to endure happiness. Devine wings were put on the coffin to symbolize devine protection, this idea was developed in dynastic Egypt. They're either put across the body or on the side of the coffin.
             The four sons of Horus were often depicted on coffins as they were the guardians of the internal organs. Many images are reoccuring in coffin art. They were intended to identify with various gods. They hoped that is Osiris would to notice these things the body would be accepted into the after life. Anubis is portrayed on these coffins to show strength and royal power, and he also wears a combined crown of upper and lower Egypt that showed he owned two lands. Fish charms were placed in coffins as a protection against drowning. Jewlery was placed in the coffin as a symbol of wealth and power, the more you had in your tomb the higher your status.
Tombs showed a symbol of power and glory in Egyptian states and its gods enter. Each god had its own cult cernters with temple complexes as well as state temples.

ANCIENT EGYPT IN HIEROGLYPHICS