The Beginnings of Understanding Hieroglyphs Part 1
Those colorful forms dancing across temple and tomb walls echo ancient knowledge to the modern viewer who gazes upon hieroglyphs, only half comprehending the meaning behind the art. Like the universal symbols of today, the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs are universally recognizable to a certain extent. Yet, for the modern viewer, the echo of ancient words through time is distorted.
The first hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt appeared around 3250 BC, before the scholarly accepted beginning of the Old Kingdom. Used simply to write the names of kings and officials and for labeling certain products. In only 600 to 700 years, the simple writings blossomed into a full-fledged script early in the Old Kingdom. Texts became more complex as they began to adorn temple and tomb walls (Kamrin, Janice: Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Practical Guide).
There were three stages to the evolution of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. The first sprung from the Old Kingdom and is known as Old Egyptian. Middle Egyptian evolved from Old Egyptian sometime in the Middle Kingdom. During the New Kingdom, late in ancient Egypt’s history, hieroglyphs became commonly used for everyday transactions, but Middle Egyptian was still used on temple and tomb walls (Kamrin, Janice: Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Practical Guide).
As the great civilization of dynastic ancient Egypt began to decline, so did the knowledge of the hieroglyphs’ meanings. By the time of Theodosius I, the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were all but forgotten. Only in the temple of Philae were priests of Isis and Osiris still reading and writing the ancient language. In 384 A.D., Theodosius I outlawed all pagan religions. By 450 A.D., during the reign of Justinian, all temples were converted to Christian temples and the last lingering knowledge of reading and writing hieroglyphs soon became completely lost (Schuman-Antelme, Ruth and Stéphane Rossini: Illustrated Hieroglyphics Handbook).
The speech accompanying the written hieroglyphs did not become extinct. Those that converted to Christianity brought the speech of the ancient Egyptians to their new religion. Unsure of how to record this ancient language, the leaders of the Coptic Christian church turned to the Greek alphabet to meet their needs. Some symbols, however, were added, as sound that did not exist in the Greek language were present in the ancient Egyptian language. Even today, Coptic is spoken within the monasteries of Egypt. It is a dying language, but it is still used in the liturgy (Schuman-Antelme, Ruth and Stéphane Rossini: Illustrated Hieroglyphics Handbook).. Some monks even still speak it in everyday life (Stettner, Rudi: http://www.rantrave.com/Rave/Will-The-Coptic-Language-Rise-Again.aspx).
Despite the loss of understanding the hieroglyphs’ meanings, there were clues inadvertently left behind by ancient Egyptians. Through these clues, through the studies of Napoleon’s army of scientists, and through the diligent work François Champillion, the lost art of reading and writing ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs has been restored.
© 2009, Page Strong. All rights reserved.
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