Friday, March 9, 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




What was discovered on the inside of the temples?
Carved and painted images on the walls and every surface

Scholars believe that Ancient Egyptians were inspired and influenced by which written language?
Carved and painted images on every wall and surface


What is the difference between logographic and alphabetic elements?
Logograms are visual symbols representing an idea, and alphabetic variations evolved were 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 they are also responsible for writing a the scrolls for Pharaohs and other important Egyptians on papyrus


Who else was trained to read and write? Why?
The students and military leaders were trained to read and write




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, they are then flattened and dried; finally they are rubbed with flat stones until the surface is smooth

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


What were the Books of the Dead?
Instructions and spells to help Pharaohs and other important Egyptians find their way to the afterlife


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



What is the Rosetta Stone? Where was it discovered?
A slab of stone with a passage written three times is three different languages, it was discovered in Rosetta during Napoleon Bonaparte's 1798 invasion on Egypt


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


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


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


Why does the interpretation of the Rosetta Stone have such significance?

We now know about the ancient Egyptians culture and Egyptian hieroglyphics

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