Ancient Egypt

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

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.

5 comments:

Kunal B.April 29, 2012 at 5:54 PM
wow! the alphabet fact interested me the most! only 750 symbols and no vowels! one of the first systems of writing is so different to ours, yet we known how modern their society was! i tried my name in hieroglyphics, SO COOL! great job with the website, everything is displayed in an esthetically pleasing way!
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OalzeinApril 30, 2012 at 2:44 PM
I think the lack of words would make the world so much more simple. There wouldn't be enough words to express hatred, verbally over power others, and sound more smart than someone else. The small range of symbols with hieroglyphics would allow people to be less judgmental about how someone else speaks.
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AlexMay 2, 2012 at 7:53 PM
Alright, I love the interactive website, its pretty awesome. There are so many things I did not know about ancient Egypt! First of all, the stories about Cleopatra are mostly legends? WHAT? Second, I had no idea that hieroglyphics were used in everyday writing. I thought they were more a form of a caligraphy, or at least only used to record the lives of royalty. I think that is incredible. I find it interesting that the ancient Egyptians had a hieroglyph for every letter in our alphabet. Third, the idea that the "high-class" ancient Egyptians actually drank too much beer and were often severly out of shape makes perfect sense. They idolized and "photoshopped" these ancient celebrites so they fit that god-like description and expectation. This situration sounds a lot like what happens today with our modern celebrities.
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INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ANCIENT EGYPT BY BRIAN DUNLAP

Brian Dunlap wrote... •Ancient Egyptian men were fortunate to live to 35; women rarely made it in to their 30s at all. Infant mortality was severe. It's oftentimes fascinating to think the ancient Egyptians accomplished so much, while individual ancient Egyptians lived such a short while. •Despite the reach of ancient Egypt, throughout its history the vast majority of the population lived along the Nile and its delta. Most of the territory ancient Egypt was ever composed of was barren and empty (and this continues to be true with modern Egypt). •"Upper" Egypt is to the south. "Lower" Egypt is to the north. "Upper" and "Lower" reference altitudes, not latitudes (simple enough, but it often seemed many were confused by this). •Death by crocodile or hippo was not uncommon in ancient Egypt. After development along the Nile in the centuries since, including the Aswan Dam, you'll likely never see either animal in what was once ancient Egypt. •The Cleopatra of legend was actually Greek - a legacy of Alexander the Great's conquest of Egypt and the subsequent establishment of the Ptolemaic dynasty. What's more, she was but the last of several Cleopatras - it was a name oft-chosen by Ptolemaic queens. •The common image of an Egyptian pharaoh is along the likes of what's below - fit, imposing, with a defined chest, looking healthy and able. Likewise, ancient Egyptian art often presents pharaohs and other nobles as such. In truth, however, mummies have shown us pharaohs and wealthy ancient Egyptians were often obese - not fit and trim as portrayed in statues and in art, but overweight and not entirely healthy-looking given their fondness for unhealthy food and other such indulgences. •Ancient Egyptians loved their beer. It might not be recognizable to today's beer drinkers, but ancient Egyptian beer was central not only to their diet, but also society; beer could be bartered for other goods and services, and wages were sometimes paid in beer. A substantial portion of any ancient Egyptian's diet could be beer. "The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer." - 4000+ year old ancient Egyptian inscription.