Thursday, February 23, 2012

Hieroglyphics and the Egyptians | 3,000 BC

In the sixth century BC, what three civilizations invaded Egypt?
The Persians, and later the Greeks and Romans

Post an example of the inside wall(s) of an Ancient Egyptian temple.
What was discovered on the inside of the temples?
Carved and painted images on every wall and surface

Scholars believe that Ancient Egyptians were inspired and influenced by which written language?
Very possibly by Sumerian cuneiform, influenced by the concept of expressing words in writing

What is the difference between logographic and alphabetic elements?
Logograms are visual symbols representing ideas or objects, whereas alphabetic variations evolved into demotic, used for document records

The term Hieroglyphic derived from what two Greek words?
From the words "heiro", meaning sacred, and "glyphic", meaning engraving or writing

What is a scribe?
A person trained to record events and records for the government and religion; also responsible for writing a set of scrolls for Pharoahs and other important Egyptians on papyrus

Who else was trained to read and write? Why?
Students were trained to read and write, but military leaders were also trained as scribes so that they could communicate while in battle

Post an example of hieroglyphics on papyrus.
What is papyrus and how was it made?
Papyrus is a substrate made from reeds native to Egypt; wet reeds are cross-weaved into one another, flattened, and dried; then they are rubbed with flat stones until the surface is smooth

What is a substrate?
The substrate is, in this case, the papyrus made of reeds

What were the Books of the Dead?
Instructions and spells to help Pharoahs and other important Egyptians find their way to the afterlife, usually commissioned by themselves before death

How did Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics become a forgotten language?
In the late 300 AD, Emperor Theodosius I closed all non-Christian temples, so those who could read and write hieroglyphics disappeared until no one could decipher the language

Post an example of the Rosetta Stone.
What is the Rosetta Stone? Where was it discovered?
A slab of hieroglyphics, discovered in Rosetta during Napoleon Bonaparte's 1798 invasion on Egypt

What three languages are included on the stone?
Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Greek

Why couldn't the text on the Stone be deciphered?
1) There is a chunk of the slab missing, and 2) none of the texts seem to be complete

Who finally deciphered the text? What was his breakthrough?
French scholar Jean Francois Champollion, and was able to match up the hieroglyphics with the Greek version of the name Egyptian Pharoah Ramses

Why does the interpretation of the Rosetta Stone have such significance?
We now know a great deal about the ancient Egyptians and Egyptian hieroglyphics

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