Foreign site sheds light on hieroglyphics: Used until 4th century AD

CAIRO – 28 July 2021: Hieroglyphic writing is one of the most interesting discoveries of the ancient Egyptian civilization. It is a form of writing that depends on stylized images of people, animals and objects.

Hieroglyphs were carved on stone walls more than 5,000 years ago, and were used until the 4th century AD. The Egyptians decorated their temples, monuments, and tombs with hieroglyphs and wrote them on papyrus.

The foreign History website presented facts about the hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt:

1)    Hieroglyphs use pictures, but they are not pictorial writing:

Since the symbols used in hieroglyphs appear to be small images of people, animals, and objects, it is easy to assume that the hieroglyphs represent these things. Alternatively, some hieroglyphs refer to sounds in the ancient Egyptian language, just as letters do in the Roman alphabet.

2)     Hieroglyphs are associated with elite tombs:

“Early hieroglyphs are commonly found in the royal tombs at Abydos that predate the historical period, and since hieroglyphs are pictorial, they are associated with early official art,” Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute Peter F. Dorman explains.

3)    The ancient Egyptians used other forms of writing:

Because hieroglyphs were so complex, the ancient Egyptians developed other types of writing that were more convenient. Hieratic writing was invented, a cursive text written on papyrus with a pen or brush; and Demotic writing was developed in the 8th century BC, and was used for everyday documents, as well as for literary works.