Y O HA N N I S

ANCIENT EGYPTH

ieroglyph

Useful Papyrus

7. After drying the bondedsheets were smoothedwith a stone, shell, boneor hard wood

2. Rind was removedto extract thepith of the stalk

4. A layer of stripswere laid horizontallyon a hard, flatsurface

5. A second layer ofverticle strips waslaid over the firstlayer

6. A wooden malletwas used to tap thepapyrus to releasethe natural sapthat bonded the layers together

8. Sheets were trimmed andstitched onto other sheetsto form a scroll usuallytwenty sheets long

3. the pith wascut into longnarrow strips

1. Harvested papyrusstalks were cut into40 cm. lengths andsoaked

the side laid horizontally was calledrecto and was written on first, whena scroll was reused the verticle sidecalled the verso was used

roots: medicines,food and perfumes

stalks: houses,boats, fences,

clothing, paper

leaves: hatsmats, basketsroofing

m

owl

lion

lka

upraised arms

k/x

basket withhandle

i

stickstwisted

flax

hh

shelter

g

jar stand

f/v

hornedviper

e/i

reed

dj

snake

d

hand

HIEROGLYPHICS

Markings found on pottery indicate thatthe first hieroglyphs appeared around4000 in Pre dynastic Egypt. They werefirst used for agricultural inventorieslisting harvests, land, animals and tools.The first clear use of the hieroglyphs tomake a political statement was that ofKing Narmer on his famous stone palate.By the time of New Kingdom Egypt thissystem of writing had become a verypowerful medium capable of expressingcomplex ideas. It employed at least 800symbols. When the Rosetta Stone wascarved in the Ptolemaic Era there wereover 5,000 symbols.

There were three main types of glyphs:phonetic: glyphs that repressed thesounds of vowels and consonants;logographs: word pictures glyphsrepressing an object, action or idea;determinatives: glyphs that helpedthe reader to distinguish betweenphonetic and logographic glyphs.

c

folded cloth

bfoot

aharma

vulture

Sacred Signs

m

Demotic

m

HieraticHieroglypic

my

reedsu

whipth

tethering rope

t

loaf

sh

pool

s/z

door bolts

barr

mouth

q

hillsidep

stool

o/w

quailchick

o

looped rope

As Egyptian art and writing grew therewas a need for simplified and fastermethods of writing. The Egyptians usedthree scripts met their needs:

1. Hieroglyphic Script: the traditionalform of glyphs. This was mainlyused for inscribing monuments.

2. Hieratic Script: a shorted form ofhieroglyphics that was easier towrite on papyrus. This was usedby the priests and temple scribesof Egypt.

3. Demotic Script: another shortenedform of hieroglyphics used by thecommon people. It also was amore useful script for writing onpapyrus and used for personaland administrative documents.

neb

basketn

crown

n

running waterm

bar

Sacred Signs

Scribes

SCRIBES

The professional classof scribes was held ingreat esteem in Egypt.Scribes were fed fromthe royal or templestorehouses. Theyserved as copyists,accountants, lawyersand artists.

ibis headedThoth writing

the tools of thescribe: stonewriting table,

paint box and awooden case with

reed styluses

a scribe’s seated in thetraditional manner takingdown the words of Thoth

THOTH

According to the Egyptians the lunar deity, Thoth, wasthe inventor of writing and the god of scribes. Thothmanifested himself in two forms:

Most often he appeared as asacred ibis or as an ibis headedman who kept the records of theafterlife.

Thoth was also depicted as ababoon or a baboon with a humanface. The baboon, a nocturnalcreature, sang at the moon andwas considered wise and just.

Training for scribes usually began at the age of nine.Schools for scribes were normally found behind thelocal temple. Discipline was severe and involvedmany beatings. Most learning was by rote and reliedheavily on memorisation.

Students wrote on ostraka orpotsherds. It was not until theyhad mastered their craft that theywere allowed to use papyrus.

Gift of Thoth

THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

The most elaborate of the ancient Egyptianfunerary texts has been called The Book of theDead. It is a collection of spells, hymns andinstructions that was supposed to enable a deadperson to pass through the many obstacles anddangers of the afterlife. It was usually writtenon a papyrus scroll and placed inside a tomb.Very often The Book of the Dead was lavishlyillustrated. The text developed in the NewKingdom era from earlier works which arecalled the Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts.

PYRAMID AND COFFIN

TEXTS

In the Old and Middle Kingdom erasincantations were often inscribed on tothe walls, sarcophagi and even burialobjects. These inscriptions have beencalled Pyramid and Coffin Texts.

Illustrations from the Book of the Deaddepicting the Hall of Truth. Here thehuman soul is weighed against a featherby the god, Anubis. Thoth stands behindtaking records and the fierce demonAmmut waits to devour those who fail.

Spells from aPyramid Text.

Such incantationswere powerful andcould even compel

the gods to dowhat the speaker

had desired.

Gift of Thoth

MORTUARY TEMPLE RELIEFS

Much of the history of Egypt can be found carved into the walls andpillars of the mortuary temples. These temples were used to prepare the

bodies of the pharaohs for burial. For this reasonthey were often decorated with reliefs andinscriptions that extolled the achievements of thedead pharaoh. Three of the most famous of thesemortuary temples were:

Djeser Djeseru: the mortuarytemple of Hatshepsut withaccounts of the seafaringexpeditions to Punt;

Ramasseum: the mortuary templeof Ramsses the Great with itshistory of the wars against theHittites and the battle at Kadesh;

Medinet Habu: the mortuary templeof Ramasses III with a history of thewar against the Sea People and thenaval battle in the Nile Delta.

Because the accounts on these temples are propaganda they must be treatedsceptically by historians. Very often the accounts were exaggerated and evenfalsified to glorify the pharaoh.

Djeser Djeseru

Ramasses the Greatat the battle at

Kadesh

Medinet Habu

Ramasseum

coloured pillarsfrom the

Ramasseum

Gift of Thoth

AEGYPTIACA

The Aegyptiaca couldbe considered the firstnational history ofEgypt. It was written bya priest of Ra whoserved the god atHeliopolis. His namewas Manetho. Manetho

lived in the Ptolemaic era. His history gives an accountthe reigns of the many pharaohs and divides them intodynasties. Only parts of his book have survived, butthey have been useful to Egyptologists.

parts of the Aegyptiaca ofManetho

ROSETTA

STONE

The Rosetta Stoneis a famous ancientartefact. It is steleof hard, dark stonethat was carved in196BC during thePtolemaic era. Itsinscription has adecree that repealsof certain taxes and gives instructions tothe temples of Egypt. The Rosetta Stonewas found in 1799.

The texts was in three scripts:

Greek;Hieroglyphics;Demotic.

Because the Greek text was understood itwas used to decipher and translate thepreviously unknown hieroglyphic anddemotic texts. This became the key forunderstanding ancient Egyptian writings.

the Rosetta Stone

a claystatuettedepicting aseated scribe

Gift of Thoth

For every joy there is a price to be paid.

By their tongues people bring about their own undoing.

Navigate waters unknown: risk shipwreck.

Leave him in error who loves his error.

Love is one thing: knowledge another.

Narrow is the path of knowledge.

One cannot walk on one foot.

The whole body is the working together of all parts.

Judge by the cause, not by the effect.

Seth causes Horus: Horus redeems Seth.

POPULAR

LITERATURE

Egyptians also enjoyedmany types of popularliterature:

love poems;witty jokes;myths of the gods;legends of heroes;epics;songs of food andwine;hymns to the gods;clever fables;scandalous tales;wise proverbs;fascinating reports;amusing anecdotes;pithy sayings;wise proverbs.

Rhodopis

Once, long ago in the land of Egypt, where thegreen waters of the Nile River flow into theblue waters of the Great Sea, there lived ayoung girl named Rhodopis. She was a slavewho had been brought to Egypt by evilpirates from a land far to the north.

Her owner was an old man. He was kindly,but very lazy and spent most of his timesleeping under a palm tree. He never saw howhis other slaves treated Rhodopis. Theyinsulted her because she had curly hair ofgold, deep green eyes and fair pink skin. Theyforced her to do all the chores and beat her ifshe was too slow. Homesick and lonely shecould only make friends with the animals.Birds ate from her hands. A monkey chatteredto her from a palm tree. An old hippopotamusgrunted to her from the river. At night, whenwork was done, she came to the river todance for the animals.

One evening her master awoke and sawRhodopis dancing so lightly that her tiny feetscarcely touched the ground. Impressed, hebought her some sandals, rose red and gold incolour, so that she might dance the more. Thisonly made the other girls more jealous andthey treated Rhodopis worse. When PharaohAhmose came to Memphis they left herbehind to work while they went to city toenjoy the music, dancing and wonderfulsights.

Rhodopis

Sadly Rhodopis washed clothes in the river.She sang a sad little song: “Wash the linen!Weed the garden! Grind the grain.” Tired ofher song the hippopotamus splashed off intothe river and wet her sandals. Rhodopis driedthem on the river banks. But, before she couldretrieve them, a falcon swooped down andcarried one sandal away.

Now it happened Ahmose, Pharaoh of Upperand Lower Egypt, sat upon on his goldenthrone looking out over his people. He wasbored. Ahmose longed to be out in his chariotriding across the desert sands. He longed tosail upon the River Nile in his royal barque.Suddenly the falcon swooped to drop thesandal in his lap. Amazed, Ahmose realisedthat this was a sign from the god, Horus. So hemade proclamation that all the young womenin Upper and Lower Egypt should try on thesandal and whoever it fitted would be hisqueen.

So began the great search. At first the Pharaohrode his chariot, but none in the fields couldbe found to fit the sandal. Then the Pharaohsailed up and down the River Nile in the royalbarque, but none who lived by the water couldbe found to fit the sandal. It seemed to be ahopeless quest. Sadly Ahmose turned back forMemphis. So it was that his ship, with gongsclashing and trumpets blasting and purplesails billowing, neared the home of Rhodopis.

Rhodopis

Fearful of the noise, Rhodopis hid in thepapyrus, but the other girls went boldly to theriver to try the sandal. When the girls saw thesandal they knew that it belonged toRhodopis, but said nothing and tried to forcetheir fat feet into the sandal. Then Ahmosespotted Rhodopis hiding in the papyrus andbegged her to try the sandal. She slipped hertiny foot into the sandal and drew the otherfrom her tunic. Overjoyed the Pharaohdeclared: “Behold, the daughter of Horus,Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt.”

But the other girls cried out, “She cannot bequeen! Does not the law say the Pharaoh mustmarry one who is a true Egyptian?”

Ahmose was worried for the law was the law— even for a pharaoh. The old man awoke. Hesaid, “Indeed, is she not the daughter ofHorus? Behold, her hair is as golden as ascroll made from the papyrus of the RiverNile! Behold, her green eyes are the colour ofthe waters of the River Nile! Behold, her skinis as pink as the lotus flower that floats uponthe River Nile! Truly, she is of Egypt!”

So Ahmose took back Rhodopis to his palace.She became his beloved queen. And, the oldman went back to sleep under the palm treeand the hippopotamus wallowed in the mudand the monkey chattered in the palm treeand the birds stole bread from the house.