XXXIIᵉ siècle av. J.-C. – IVᵉ siècle
Egypt and the Nile Valley
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Egyptian writing system comprised hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts with long chronological lives and distinct graphic forms. Hieratic emerged around the Third Dynasty, while demotic appeared around the Twenty-fifth Dynasty; the latest hieroglyphic text is dated to 394 CE. The excerpt presents Egyptian writing as both a historical source and an object of historical study, linking script, language, political chronology, and the interpretation of ancient African societies.
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Le récit
Egyptian is described as a living language for approximately five thousand years when Coptic is included. Its written tradition comprised three principal scripts: hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic. These forms were not merely alternative styles of writing; their different signs, materials, and historical periods provide evidence for the changing institutions and intellectual practices of ancient Egypt.
Hieroglyphic writing used both ideograms and phonograms. Hieratic was a cursive form of hieroglyphics that appeared around the Third Dynasty, dated in the excerpt to 2778–2423 BCE, and was written from right to left with a reed pen on papyrus, potsherds, or stone. Demotic, a simplification of hieratic, emerged around the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, dated to 751–656 BCE, and disappeared from use in the fifth century CE.
The excerpt also notes a commonly accepted relationship between demotic Egyptian script and Nubian Meroitic writing, although Meroitic had not yet been deciphered at the time of writing. The history of the scripts is therefore connected to wider questions about Nile Valley societies and the transmission of writing practices. Decipherment is presented as a disciplined act of historical conversation with people of the distant past.
XXXIIᵉ siècle av. J.-C. – IVᵉ siècle
Egypt and the Nile Valley
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Egyptian writing system comprised hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts with long chronological lives and distinct graphic forms. Hieratic emerged around the Third Dynasty, while demotic appeared around the Twenty-fifth Dynasty; the latest hieroglyphic text is dated to 394 CE. The excerpt presents Egyptian writing as both a historical source and an object of historical study, linking script, language, political chronology, and the interpretation of ancient African societies.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Egyptian is described as a living language for approximately five thousand years when Coptic is included. Its written tradition comprised three principal scripts: hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic. These forms were not merely alternative styles of writing; their different signs, materials, and historical periods provide evidence for the changing institutions and intellectual practices of ancient Egypt.
Hieroglyphic writing used both ideograms and phonograms. Hieratic was a cursive form of hieroglyphics that appeared around the Third Dynasty, dated in the excerpt to 2778–2423 BCE, and was written from right to left with a reed pen on papyrus, potsherds, or stone. Demotic, a simplification of hieratic, emerged around the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, dated to 751–656 BCE, and disappeared from use in the fifth century CE.
The excerpt also notes a commonly accepted relationship between demotic Egyptian script and Nubian Meroitic writing, although Meroitic had not yet been deciphered at the time of writing. The history of the scripts is therefore connected to wider questions about Nile Valley societies and the transmission of writing practices. Decipherment is presented as a disciplined act of historical conversation with people of the distant past.