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Writing and scribes The Egyptian writing was one of the oldest in history. It started to be written on pottery and ceramics, then it moved to paper and to walls (e.g. walls in tombs as they wrote spells to protect the dead and to forsake the robbers). They believed that the recording and communication of information was very important especially if it referred to religion and government. They invented scripts to make writing possible. The hieroglyph was the most common script used. Scribes were label to record or write anything thanks to these scripts. Ancient Egyptian scribes recorded everything from stocks, taxes, magic spells, legal contracts and medical procedures. Scribes were the only men (or women there has been evidence deriving from artefacts) in Egypt who knew how to read and write and they taught the smaller kids. Scribes were the centre of Egyptian culture and it is thanks to them that today we have a vast knowing of Ancient Egypt. Scribes had to go through a vast apprentice before being able to acquire the capacity of reading and writing. In society they had a higher ranks. To write a scribe needed a certain equipment: Wooden or stone palette Red and black ink Leather bag full of water Reed brushes Papyrus Pigments (were produced by mineral compound made into power and then mixed with a liquid to produce a type of paint) The paint was then applied with brushes and the lines were made using wooden sticks. Draftsmen were a type of scribes who were specialized in drawing and producing tomb paintings. At first, to become a scribe you had to go to a special school for scribes. There you would learn to read and write hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts. Then the students would practice by copying the signs onto papyrus of limestone. A scribe then had to teach other children. Scribes were mostly the children of other scribes or children coming from a very rich background. Thot was the god of scribes. He had a ibis-shaped head just like the bird near the Nile river. He had a long black beak that seemed black like ink. This is why he was the god of scribes. The Rosetta Stone is a written stone. It was carved around 196 B.C. The scripts used were hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek. These were the three scripts used in Egypt. Hieroglyphic: religious script, demotic: common script and Greek was the language of the Egyptian rulers at that time. It was written in three scripts so that government, scribes and priests could read it. It wasn't until 1799 that it was found by some French soldiers who were building a fort. Immediately, it was classified as one of the most important Egyptian artefacts. The Rosetta Stone was found Rosetta from where it takes its name. The text is about the good things that the pharaoh did. A group of priests wrote this to honour their pharaoh. The first one to decipher the hieroglyphs was François Champollion. Hieroglyphs and papyrus 1. Alphabetic signs: single alphabetical sound. 2. Syllabic signs: two or three consonants 3. Word-signs:pictures of objects to use to call the object. 4. A determinative: picture that helps the reader. During the Byzantine Empire, the emperor made all pagan temples close. Egyptians lost their hieroglyphs until the Rosetta Stone was found. The word "paper" comes from the word "papyrus" which means: that which belongs to the house. About the same time Egyptians invented a new writing system and used this paper to write on. The papyrus is made using a plant that grows on the Nile river. The study of papyrus is called Papyrology. The Nile doesn't only offer water, fertile mud and stones. The Nile also offers a type of plant that grows on its banks. This plant is called Papyrus. With this plant you could make baskets, hats and paper. To make paper they had to cut the stem and remove the inner pith. Then they had to cut the pith into thin strips and put each layer one on top of the other. Then, you had to beat the layers into a single sheet. After, they trimmed the edges and the paper was made. Bibliography http://www.classic-play.com/welcome-to-egypt-hieroglyphics/ http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/home.html http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28876/28876-h/files/17327/17327-h/v7b.htm http://www.luxorcommittee.org/discovery-of-the-tomb-of-tutankhamen-in-luxor/ http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/egypt/egcw05e.shtml http://www.katapi.org.uk/BAndS/EgyptianScribe.htm http://jdownsrosetta.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/returning-the-rosetta-stone-to-egypt/ A message from Ancient Days