From Signs to Print

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From Signs to Print

The ways of writing have improved greatly since the first form of writing over thousands of years ago. The Egyptians were one of the first groups that paved the way for communicating through print by introducing hieroglyphics. Using signs and symbols the Egyptians were able to communicate with each other. There is a lot to each hieroglyphic; one sign can hold multiple meanings. The word hieroglyphic is derived from the Greek saying ‘scared carving.’ The meaning behind this was that it was first believed that Egyptians wrote chiefly for sacred purposes only. Also, it was believed that the Egyptians always wrote on stone. Both of these beliefs were not totally true. Their primary material used for writing was not stone, nor was their chief purpose of writing for a religious cult or sacred purposes (Blackwell 58).

Classical authors generally credit Egyptian hieroglyphics as being the invention of writing. It was thought that Egyptian writing was “not built up from syllables to express the underlying meaning, but from the appearance of the things drawn and by their metaphorical meaning, learned by heart” (Robinson 52). Although Egyptian writing has been around for thousands and thousands of years, Sumerian writing is thought to be in fact even older than Egyptian writing. However, although Sumerian writing may be older, it did not develop as quickly as Egyptian hieroglyphics (Blackwell 57).

There are three main factors that contributed to the creation of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. The first of these factors is the need to record events as a result of an ‘awakening historical consciousness.’ The need to record events was crucial and has in turn been helpful in introducing events that...

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...ied to decipher the demotic writing were unsuccessful, mainly because they thought that it resembled the Greek writing. It was not until 1814 when a scientist named Thomas Young began studying the stone that it was realized that demotic resembled the hieroglyphics (Robinson 60-62).

The most recent hieroglyphic writing dates all the way back to the third century AD. Demotic writing continued until the fifth century AD until the influence of Christianity came about and Egyptian writing began using Greek letters. The characters of the Egyptian hieroglyphics remained a mystery until the nineteenth century (Blackwell 70).

Works Cited

Blackwell, Basil. The Writing Systems of the World. Great Britain: T.J. Press Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall, 1989.

Robinson, Andrew. Lost Languages. McGraw-Hill Companies: Nevraumont Publishing Company, 2002.

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