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Egyptian Writing - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Oldest known phase (2600BC-2100BC) typically in the Old Kingdom
      - Egyptian writing before this period mostly consisted of names and labels. This was first attested in around 3000BC
      - Recognisable grammar
      - Hieroglyphs
      - Texts were inscribed in royal burial chambers and private tombs.
    - - Appeared in around 2100BC-1600BC in the Middle Kingdom
      - Both hieroglyphs and Hieratic were used during this period
        
        Hieroglyphs: monuments, religious inscriptions, inscriptions of royal decree, tombs and funerary texts
        
        Hieratic: letters, legal documents, accounts and literary texts
      - Standardised hieroglyphic language; this was used in the rest of Ancient Egyptian writing
      - Caused by changes in spoken language; remained a spoken language for around 500-600 years
    - - Appeared in around 1500-700BC in the New Kingdom
      - Gramatically different from Old Egyptian and Middle Egyptian
      - Most often written in Hieratic
    - - Language developed from Hieratic
      - Used in literary, historical and religious texts during the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods. Hieroglyphs were restricted to traditional and temple inscriptions during this period.
      - Usually (on a scholarly level) transliterated into English letters
    - - Comprised: 24 letters of the Greek alphabet, 7 letters for sounds that were exclusive in Egyptian, 1 as a monogram
      - Used primarily in religious texts and translations
        
        Coptic was initially adopted by Egyptian Christians to translate Christian texts into Egyptian. It later became the only means of writing Egyptian from the late 5th century onwards.
      - Primarily spoken during the late 1st century AD to 1200AD
  - - - Related to North African languages such as Berber and Hausa
      - Related to Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Arabic
- - - - The Ancient Egyptian language declined upon the Roman conquest of Egypt in 31BC.
        
        The Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century led to the Islamisation of Egypt. Arabic spread to Egypt and became widely-used.
        
        The Egyptian language has since remained unused, replaced by other languages such as Coptic in the late 1st century AD as well as Arabic
        
        A decline in the use of Coptic centuries after made decipherment even more difficult.
  - - - Thus, scholars were able to decipher the hieroglyphic system in the decades and centuries after.
- - - - Types
        
        Ideogram
        
        depicting a certain picture or subject
        
        idea writing
        
        Phonogram
        
        sound writing
        
        representing the sounds of the language
        
        spell out individual words when stringed together
        
        Determinative
        
        to show that the signs preceding the hieroglyph are phonograms
      - Cartouches
        
        Used to enclose the names of kings and queens
        
        To protect the royal name and identity of the ruler
        
        seen as a parallel between the sun and the pharaoh, a reflection of the ruler's divinity
        
        Usually preceded by a title
        
        enclosing both throne and birth names emphasises the dual nature of the pharaoh
        
        the birth name indicates that the ruler is a human being chosen by the gods
        
        the throne name indicates that the ruler is a divinity incarnate
      - Structure
        
        can be read from left to right, right to left in a row or column
        
        the inscription should be read according to the direction the signs are facing at the beginning of the inscription
        
        Groups
        
        Tall Signs
        
        tend to stand by themselves
        
        Flat & Small Signs
        
        may be grouped in a rectangle or a square
        
        read from beginning to end and top to bottom
        
        No Punctuation
      - cursive hieroglyphic
        
        usually written from right to left in columns
        
        cursive form of hieroglyphs
        
        found in religious texts
      - appeared as a complete system in around 3200BC, indicating that developmental stages of the hieroglyphs remain unclear
    - - more hieroglyphic writing for handwritten and more temporary texts
      - typically written in rows
      - punctuation: dots may be written between lines to indicate separate units of thought
  - - - Such hieroglyphs usually serve as labels and dedications. Longer inscriptions are more formal and are historical, autobiographical or religious texts