Chapter II
Ethnography. The Land of Punt. National Character. Population. Language. Forms Of Writing. Decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Young and Champollion. Hieroglyphic Alphabet and Writing. Writing Materials.
The Egyptians.โThe evidence of the monuments and the literature of Egypt proves that the Egyptians were of African origin, and that they were akin to the light-skinned peoples who inhabited the north-east portion of the African Continent. Further evidence of this fact is supplied by the โtable of nationsโ preserved in the tenth chapter of Genesis, where it is stated that Cush and Mizraim were the sons of Ham. Now this Cush, or Ethiopia, is not the country which we call Abyssinia, but the Northern Sรปdรขn, or Nubia; therefore the Nubians (Cush) and the Egyptians (Mizraim) were brethren, and they were Hamites, or Africans. The relationship between the Nubians and the Egyptians is also asserted by Diodorus, who declared that the Egyptians were descended from a colony of Ethiopians, i.e., Nubians, who had settled in Egypt. And there is no doubt that from the earliest to the latest times a very close bond existed between the Northern Nubians and the Egyptians, which manifested itself in the religion and religious ceremonies of both peoples. The Cushites were dark in colour, sometimes actually black, but there is no evidence which proves they were negroes; and the Egyptians were red, or brown-red, or reddish yellow in colour. On the west of the Nile Valley lived the fair-skinned Libyans; on the east the remote ancestors of the Blemmyes and the modern Bรฎshรขrรฎ tribes, who were of a light brownish colour, and on the south, near the Equator, were negro tribes, which formed part of the great belt of black peoples that extended right across Africa, from sea to sea.
The dynastic Egyptians appear to have regarded a country, or district, called Pun ๐ช๐ฐ๐น๐ฐ๐๐๐ฐ๐ as their original home, and they certainly preserved down to the latest times some of the peculiarities in dress of the primitive inhabitants of that region. That Punt was situated a considerable distance to the south of Egypt is certain, and that it could be reached by land, and also by water by way of the Red Sea, is clear from the inscriptions, but there is no evidence available which enables the exact limits of the country to be defined. The despatch of several expeditions to Punt by the Egyptians is recorded, for the purpose of bringing back ฤnti spice, ๐๐ฐ๐๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ง, or myrrh, which was used freely for embalming purposes. They started from some point on the Red Sea near the modern town of แธฒuแนฃรชr, and sailed southwards until they reached the river of the port of Punt which was situated on the east coast of Africa, probably in Somaliland. The expedition despatched by Queen แธคฤtshepset about B.C. 1550 brought back boomerangs, a huge pile of myrrh, logs of ebony, elephantsโ tusks, sweet-smelling woods, eye-paint, various kinds of spices, dog-headed apes, monkeys, leopard (or panther) skins, โgreenโ (i.e., pale) gold, and gold rings which are to this day used as currency in East Africa and are known as โring money.โ Now, all these things are products of the region which lies between the southern end of the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Valley of the Nile, and it is impossible not to conclude that Punt was situated somewhere in it. The Egyptian expeditions probably sailed up a river for a considerable distance, to a point where the products of Punt were brought by trading caravans for export, and there the Egyptians bartered for the myrrh, etc., which they required. The market place must have been inland, for the huts of the natives are represented in the bas-reliefs as standing close to the river.
The men of Punt wore a pointed beard and a loin cloth, which was kept in position by a kind of belt, from which hung down behind the tail of an animal. The beard of the Egyptian was also pointed, and gods, kings, and priestly officials on solemn, ceremonial occasions, wore tails. Thus in the Papyrus of Ani (Judgment Scene) the gods Thoth and Anubis wear tails, and the priestly official in the same scene wears the leopardโs skin, the tail of which is supposed to be hanging behind him. In two statues of ศฆmen-แธฅetep III (Northern Egyptian Gallery, Nos. 412, 413), the tail is supposed to be brought forward under the body of the king, and its end is carefully sculptured on the space between his legs. The custom of wearing tails is common in Central Africa at the present day, even the women, in some places, wearing long tails of bast (Schweinfurth, Heart of Africa, I, p. 295); and a recent traveller reports that the Gazum people wear tails, about six inches long, for which they dig holes in the ground when they sit down (Boyd Alexander, From the Niger, I, p. 78). Many other points of comparison between the Egyptians and the peoples of Central Africa could be mentioned in proof of the views that the indigenous dynastic Egyptians were connected with the people of Punt, and that Punt was situated in the South-Eastern Sรปdรขn.
As to the succession of peoples in the Nile Valley, or rather of that portion of it which is called Egypt, many theories have been formulated in recent years. Some of the most competent authorities think that the earliest dwellers in Egypt were black folk, who were driven out or killed off by a race of people who possessed many of the characteristics of the Libyans, and who came from the west, or south-west, and took possession of Egypt. It is thought that the next invasions of the country were made by peoples who came from the east, or south-east, and, having settled down on the Nile, mingled with the inhabitants. After these it seems very probable that Egypt was invaded by tribes whose home was some part of Western Asia, probably the country now called Southern Babylonia. Some think that they entered Egypt by the Isthmus of Suez, and others that they crossed from Arabia to Africa by the straits of Bรขb al-Mandib at the southern end of the Red Sea. Another view is that the invaders entered Egypt by the Wรขdรฎ แธคammรขmรขt, and that they arrived on the Nile at some place near the modern town of แธฒena. Little by little the invaders conquered the country, and introduced into it the arts of agriculture, brick-making, writing, working in metals, etc. Wheat, barley, and the domestic sheep seem to have been brought into Egypt about this time. The manners and customs of the new comers were very different from those of the men they conquered, and their civilization was of a much higher character than that of the primitive Egyptians; but, among the great bulk of the population, the beliefs, religion, and habits continued to preserve unchanged their characteristic African nature.
What the physical form of the primitive, pre-dynastic Egyptian was cannot be said, but it is probable that he resembled the dynastic Egyptians whose pictures are seen by hundreds in the tombs. If this be so, he was tall, slender of body, with long thin legs, small hands, and long feet. His hair was black and curly, but must not be confounded with the โwoolโ of the negro, his eyes black and slightly almond-shaped, his cheek-bones high and often prominent, his nose straightโsometimes aquilineโand inclined to be fleshy; his mouth wide, with somewhat full lips, his teeth small and regular and his chin prominent, because his under jaw was thrust slightly forward. The women were yellowish in colour, probably because their bodies were not so much exposed to the rays of the sun as those of the men. The general character of the physique of the Egyptian has remained practically unchanged to the present day, and no admixture of foreign elements has affected it permanently.
The physical features and dress of the primitive dynastic Egyptians are well illustrated by the accompanying drawings and photographs. From Nos. 1-6 (page 23) we see that their hair was short and curly, their noses long and pointed, their eyes almond-shaped, their beards pointed, their arms and legs long, their hands large, and their feet long and flat. They wear in their hair feathers, probably red feathers from the tails of parrots, such as are worn at the present day, and their loin cloths are fastened round their bodies by belts, from which hang short, bushy tails of jackals(?). No. 1 bears a hawk-standard, the symbol of the god of the tribe, and is armed with a mace having a diamond-shaped head. No. 2 bears a hawk-standard and wields a double-headed stone axe. No. 3 is armed with a mace and a bow. No. 4 is shooting a flint-tipped arrow from a bow. No. 5 is armed with a boomerang and a spear, and No. 6 with a mace and a boomerang. The above illustrations are drawn from the green slate shield exhibited in Table-case L in the Third Egyptian Room.
To about the same period belongs the ivory figure of a king here reproduced (No. 7). He wears the Crown of the South, and a garment worked with an elaborate diamond pattern. The nose is flatter and more fleshy than in the drawings from the slate shield, and the lips are fuller and firmer. In figures 8-10 we have representations of the women of the Archaรฏc Period, about B.C. 4200. No. 8 is a female dwarf, or perhaps a woman who belonged to one of the pygmy tribes that lived near the Equator. No. 9 is a most interesting figure, for it illustrates the hair-dressing and dress of the period. The features of the child, who is carried partly on the back and partly on the left shoulder, as at the present day, are well preserved. No. 10 represents a woman of slim build, with blue eyes, and wearing an elaborate head-dress, which falls over her shoulders.
National Character.โHerodotus, who was an acute observer of the manners and customs of the Egyptians, states (ii, 64) that the Egyptians were โbeyond measure scrupulous in all matters appertaining to religion,โ and the monuments prove him to be absolutely correct. The Egyptian worshipped his God, whose chief symbol to him was the sun, daily and regularly, and prayed to him morning and evening. His attitude towards his Maker was one of absolute resignation. The power of God, as displayed by the Sun, and the River Nile, and other forces of nature filled him with awe, and made him to realize his helplessness. His views as to the dependence of men on the sun are well illustrated by the following extract from a hymn to ศฆten, the god of the Solar Disk: โWhen thou settest in the western horizon of heaven, the earth becometh dark with the darkness of the dead. Men sleep in their houses, their heads are covered up, their nostrils are closed, and no man can see his neighbour; everything which they possess could be stolen from under their heads without their knowing it. All the lions come forth from their dens, every creeping thing biteth, the smithy is in blackness, and all the earth is silent because he who made them (i.e., all creatures) resteth in his horizon. When the dawn cometh, and thou risest and shinest from the Disk, darkness flieth away, thou givest forth thy rays, and the Two Lands (i.e., Egypt) are in festival. Men rise up, they stand upon their feetโit is thou who hast raised themโthey wash their bodies, and dress themselves in their clothes, and they [stretch out] their hands to thee in thanksgiving for thy rising.โ To the god of the city, or local deity, he also paid due reverence. He worshipped Osiris, the type and symbol of the resurrection, most truly, for on his help and succour depended his hope of eternal life. The Egyptians, who were men of means, spent largely during their lifetime in making preparations for their death, and they spared neither money nor pains in their endeavours to secure for themselves life in the Other World. They observed the Religious and Civil Laws most carefully, and any breach they might make in either they thought could be amply atoned for by making offerings or payment.
The Egyptian was easy and simple in disposition, and fond of pleasure and of the good things of this world. He loved eating and drinking, and he lost no opportunity of enjoying himself. The literature of all periods is filled with passages in which the living are exhorted to be happy; and we may note that in the famous Dialogue between a man who is weary of life and his soul, the latter tells the man that to remember the grave only brings sorrow to the heart and fills the eyes with tears. And after several observations of the same import, the soul says: โHearken unto me, for, behold, it is good for men to hearken; follow after pleasure and forget care.โ4 In the Song of the Harper we read: โBodies (i.e., men) have come into being in order to pass away since the time of Rฤ, and young men come in their places. Rฤ placeth himself in the sky in the morning, and Temu setteth in the Mountain of Sunset. Men beget children and women bring forth, and every nostril snuffeth the wind of dawn from the time of their birth to the day when they go to the place which is assigned to them. Make [thy] day happy! Let there be perfumes and sweet odours for thy nostrils, and let there be wreaths of flowers and lilies for the neck and shoulders of thy beloved sister who shall be seated by thy side. Let there be songs and the music of the harp before thee, and setting behind thy back unpleasant things of every kind, remember only pleasure, until the day cometh wherein thou must travel to the land which loveth silence.โ
The advice to eat, drink, and be happy, is also given to a high-priest of Memphis by his dead wife That-I-em-แธฅetep on her sepulchral tablet (Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 29, No. 1027). She says: โHail, my brother, husband, friend,... let5 not thy heart cease to drink water, to eat bread, to drink wine, to love women, to make a happy day, and to seek thy heartโs desire by day and by night. And set no care whatsoever in thy heart: are the years which [we pass] upon the earth so many [that we need do this]?โ
The morality of the Egyptians was of a high character, and certainly higher than that of Oriental nations in general. Many of the Precepts of Ptaแธฅ-แธฅetep, Kaqemna, and Khensu-แธฅetep bear comparison with the moral maxims of the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus. The view of the Egyptian as to his duty towards his neighbour is well summed up by Pepi-Nekht, an old feudal lord of Elephantine, who flourished under the VIth dynasty, and said: โI am one who spoke good and repeated what was liked. Never did I say an evil word of any kind to a chief against anyone, for I wished it to be well with me before the great god. I gave bread to the hungry man, and clothes to the naked man. I never gave judgment in a case between two brothers whereby a son was deprived of his fatherโs goods. I was loved by my father, favoured by my mother, and beloved by my brothers and sisters.โ Love of parents and home was a strong trait in the character of the Egyptian; and it was one cause of his hatred of military service and of any occupation which would take him away from his town or village. He prayed, too, that in the Other World he might have his parents, wife, children, and relatives, with him on his farm in the Fields of Peace, and that when his spirit was on the way thither, the spirits of his kinsfolk would come to meet him, armed with their staves and weapons, so that they might protect him from the attack of hostile spirits. Like all African people he loved music, singing, and dancing, and was attracted by ceremonials, processions, and display of every kind; the satirical papyri (see the illustrations on pages 27-30), and even the wall-paintings in the tombs, show that he possessed a keen sense of humour. The peasant was then, as now, a laborious toiler, and as he was literally the slave of Pharaoh for thousands of years, the ideas of freedom and national independence, as we understand them, were wholly unknown to him.
All classes were intensely superstitious, and they believed firmly in the existence of spirits, good and bad, witches, and fiends and devils, which they tried to cajole, or wheedle, or placate with gifts, or to vanquish by means of spells, magical names, words of power, amulets of all kinds, etc. The magician was the real priest, to the lower classes at least, as he is to this day in Central Africa, for by the use of magical figures he assured his clients that he could procure for them the death, or sickness, of an enemy, riches, the love of women, dreams wherein the future would be revealed to them, and above all, the assistance of the gods. We find that about B.C. 312 a service was regularly performed in the temple of ศฆmen-Rฤ at Thebes to make the sun rise. In the course of it a figure of the monster ฤpep, who was supposed to be lying in wait to swallow the Sun-god, was made of wax, then wrapped in new papyrus on which the โaccursed nameโ of the fiend was written in green ink, and solemnly burned in a fire fed by a special kind of herb, whilst the priest spurned it with his left foot and poured out curses on each of the thirty โaccursed namesโ of the evil one. As the wax melted and was consumed, together with the papyrus and the green ink with which his name was written, so the body of ฤpep was believed to be consumed in the flames of the rising sun in the eastern sky.
From the evidence given at Thebes about B.C. 1200 against certain officials who were implicated in a case of conspiracy against Rameses III, it appeared that a certain man had stolen a book of magic from the temple library. From this he obtained instructions how to make the wax figures which caused the sickness, quakings of the limbs, and death of those in whose forms they were made. An example of the wax figures which were used in the Ptolemaรฏc period is exhibited in Table-case C in the Third Egyptian Room, No. 198. The core is made of inscribed papyrus, and in front, in the centre, is a piece of hair, presumably that of the person on whom the magician who made the figure sought to exert his influence. Every act of daily life had some magical or religious observance associated with it, and every day, either in whole or in part, was declared to be lucky or unlucky, in accordance with a series of events which were represented by the Calendar of lucky and unlucky days.
Superstition played as prominent a part in medicine as in religion. The practice of dismembering the dead in primitive times must have taught the Egyptians some practical anatomy, and the operations connected with mummification in the later period must have added largely to their knowledge of the arrangement of the principal internal organs of the body. The Egyptians were well acquainted with the importance of the heart in the human economy, and they appear to have had some knowledge of the functions of the arteries. A considerable number of medical prescriptions have come down to us, e.g., those which are inscribed on a papyrus in the British Museum (No. 10,059) and are said to be as old as the time of Khufu (Cheops), a king of the IVth dynasty, and those of the Ebers Papyrus, of the XVIIIth dynasty; from these it is easy to see that they closely resemble in many particulars the prescriptions given in English medical books printed two or three hundred years ago. Powders and decoctions made from plants and seeds were largely used, and the piths of certain trees, dates, sycamore-figs, and other fruits, salt, magnesia, oil, honey, sweet beer, formed the principal ingredients of many prescriptions. With these were often mixed substances of an unpleasant nature, e.g., bone dust, rancid fat, the droppings of animals, etc. In order that certain drugs might have the desired effect it was necessary for the physician to recite a magical formula four times (Ebers Papyrus CVIII). Other medicines again owed their efficacy to the belief that they had been actually taken by one or other of the gods whilst they reigned upon earth, and the authorship of certain prescriptions was ascribed to Rฤ. Thus according to the Ebers Papyrus (XLVI) Rฤ suffered from attacks of boils of a most malignant kind, and he made up a salve, containing sixteen ingredients, which gave him instant relief, and which was therefore certain to cure ordinary mortals. The following is a characteristic example of a prescription which, as is evident, contains a number of substances which are well known to be good for inflamed eyes, and also some others the special value of which is not clear:โ
| ๐ก๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ฟ๐๐ญ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฐ๐๐ฑ๐ค | โAnother [prescription] for driving inflammation from the eye. | |
| ๐๐ฐ๐๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฆ | Myrrh | 1 |
| ๐๐ค๐๐ช๐ จ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฆ | โGreat Protectorsโ seed | 1 |
| ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐ | Oxide of copper | 1 |
| ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ | Citron pips | 1 |
| ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฐ | Northern cypress flowers | 1 |
| ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ช | Antimony | 1 |
| ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ช๐๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐๐ด๐ | Gazelle droppings | 1 |
| ๐ถ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ง๐๐๐ฐ๐ | Oryx offal | 1 |
| ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ช๐๐๐ณ๐๐ณ | White oil | 1 |
| [Directions for use.] | ||
| ๐๐ท๐ฐ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ป๐พ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ท๐ฐ๐๐ด๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฝ๐ก๐ฐ๐๐๐ณ๐ง ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ก๐ด๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐๐ ฌ | โPlace in water, let stand for one night, strain through a cloth, and smear over [the eye] for four days; or, according to another prescription, paint it on [the eye] with a goose-feather.โ6 | |
The Egyptian physician was called upon not only to heal his patients, but to beautify them, and we find prescriptions for removing scurf from the skin, for changing the colour of the skin, for making the skin smooth, and the following for removing wrinkles from the face:โ
| ๐ก๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ท๐ฐ๐ค | โAnother [prescription] for driving away wrinkles of the face.โ | |
| ๐ ฎ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฃ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฑ๐ผ | Ball of incense | 1 |
| ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐ผ | Wax | 1 |
| ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ณ๐ | Fresh oil | 1 |
| ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ | Cypress berries | 1 |
| [Directions for use.] | ||
| ๐๐๐ฐ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ท๐ฐ๐ค ๐๐ด๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฑ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฟ๐น๐ฐ๐ด๐น๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ก | โCrush, and rub down and put in new milk and apply it to the face for six days. Take good heed [to this].โ7 | |
The population of Egypt was, in 1897, 9,734,405 persons, of whom 8,978,775 were Muแธฅammadans, 25,200 Jews, and 730,162 Christians. The last census was taken on the 29th April, 1907, and the entire population of the country consisted of 11,272,000 persons, or nearly 16 per cent. more than in 1897.
The Egyptian Language is not Semitic, although it possesses many characteristics which resemble those of the Semitic languages, but in a less developed form. Of all the views on the subject which have been held in recent years, the most plausible one is that which makes Egyptian belong to the group of Proto-Semitic languages. The Egyptian and the Semitic languages appear to have sprung from a common stock, from which they separated before their grammars and vocabularies were consolidated. The Egyptian language developed rapidly under circumstances of which nothing is known, and then, apparently, became crystallized; the Semitic language developed less rapidly, but continued to develope for centuries after the growth of the Egyptian language was arrested. To the period when Egyptian separated itself from the parent stock no date can be assigned, but it must have taken place some thousands of years before Christ. Later, under the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties, B.C. 1550 to 1300, a large number of Semitic words were introduced into the language, and in such compositions as the โTravels of an Egyptianโ (see page 70) a great many are transcribed into Egyptian characters.
The Egyptian language as known to us appears in four divisions, viz.:โ
1. The Egyptian of the Early Empire, which was studied and employed for literary purposes from about B.C. 4400 to about A.D. 200.
2. The Egyptian used in the ordinary business of life and for conversation, from about B.C. 2600 to 650.
3. The popular speech of the country, from about 600 or 500 B.C. to the end of the Roman Period.
4. The ordinary language of the country, after Christianity was introduced into it; this is called Coptic. It ceased to be used in Egypt as a spoken language, probably about the twelfth century, but the Holy Scriptures and the Services are in several places in Egypt read in Coptic on Sundays and Festivals, although very few people understand what is being read. Four dialects of Coptic are distinguished: (1) That of Upper Egypt, called โSahidic.โ (2) That of Lower Egypt, called โBoheiric.โ (3) The dialect of แนขรปhรขแธณ and its neighbourhood. (4) The dialect of the district of the Fayyรปm. It is a noteworthy fact that, from the beginning of the second century of our era to the twelfth, the language of ancient Egypt was preserved, in a modified form, chiefly through the translations of the Holy Scriptures, which were made from Greek into Coptic.
Egyptian Writing was of three kinds, which are called โHieroglyphic,โ โHieratic,โ and โDemotic.โ The oldest form is the hieroglyphic (i.e., sacred engraved writing), or purely pictorial, which was employed in inscriptions upon temples, tombs, statues, sepulchral tablets, etc., and for monumental purposes generally. At a very early period it was found that the hieroglyphic form of writing was cumbrous, and that in cases where it was important to write quickly on papyrus, the pictorial characters were inconvenient. The scribes, therefore, began first to modify, and secondly to abbreviate the pictorial characters, and at length the form of writing called hieratic (i.e., the priestsโ writing) was developed. Hieratic was a style of cursive writing much used by the priests in copying literary compositions on papyrus from the IVth or Vth dynasty to the XXVIth dynasty. This form of writing is well illustrated by the above reproduction of a page from the Great Harris Papyrus in the British Museum (No. 9999), which was written about B.C. 1200. The text is read from right to left, and the following is a transcript into hieroglyphic characters of the first two lines:โ
1. ๐๐ณ๐ง๐๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐น๐ผ๐ณ๐๐ท๐ฐ๐๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐ฝ๐บ๐ญ๐น๐๐ด๐ ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ญ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ช๐๐ฐ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ๐ป๐๐ช๐๐ฐ๐ค๐พ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ช๐๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ณ๐๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฟ๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ง๐ค๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐๐ช๐๐ฐ๐๐ฑ๐ค๐๐ช๐๐ฐ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ
2. ๐น๐๐ฐ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฅ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฐ๐ค๐พ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฑ๐๐๐พ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฑ๐๐ป๐๐ณ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ฆ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ญ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฟ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ป๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ช๐๐๐น๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ญ๐๐ฒ๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ช๐น๐ฐ๐๐ ฎ๐ฟ๐พ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฑ๐๐
Between the end of the XXIInd and the beginning of the XXVIth dynasty the scribes, wishing to simplify hieratic still further, constructed from it a purely conventional system of signs from which most of the prominent characteristics of the hieroglyphic, or pictures, that had been preserved in the hieratic characters, disappeared. This new form of writing was called demotic (i.e., the peopleโs writing), but it was known among some of the early Egyptologists as enchorial (i.e., native writing, or writing of the country). On the Rosetta Stone (Egyptian Gallery, No. 960) the visitor will see an example of the hieroglyphic and demotic forms of writing placed one above the other, and in the text we find that the hieroglyphic portion is called โthe writing of the divine words,โ or letters, ๐๐๐น๐๐ช, and the demotic โthe writing of books,โ i.e., rolls of papyrus, ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฝ. The invention of the art of writing was assigned to the god Thoth, who was the great scribe of the gods, and who is frequently represented holding a writing palette and a reed pen, and the hieroglyphics, or picture signs, were, therefore, called โdivine, sacred, or holy.โ Hieroglyphics were used for monumental purposes until about the end of the third century A.D., but it is tolerably certain that very few people could read them or understand them.
During the Ptolemaรฏc Period, though Greek was the language of the kings and the upper classes of the country, the temples were covered with inscriptions in hieroglyphics, and the Ptolemies and the Romans adopted old Egyptian titles, and had their names transcribed into hieroglyphics and cut in cartouches like the Pharaohs. In the reigns of Euergetes I (B.C. 267 to 222) and Epiphanes (B.C. 205 to 181) the priests promulgated decrees in honour of their kings which were cut on slabs of basalt in the hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek characters, but on the sepulchral tablets of the period the inscriptions are usually in hieroglyphics alone, because the natives throughout the country clung to these characters, which had, from time immemorial, been associated with their religious beliefs and ceremonies. In the Southern Egyptian Gallery, however, are exhibited several tablets which are inscribed in demotic as well as in hieroglyphics, and of these may be noted the tablet of Tut-i-em-แธฅetep (No. 1028, Bay 25), who died B.C. 118; the tablet of Khฤ-em-แธฅrศง (No. 997, Bay 25); and the tablet of Peแนญฤ Bast (No. 1030, Bay 27). In the Roman Period we find that the use of demotic sometimes superseded that of hieroglyphics in public documents, and as an example of this may be mentioned the fine sandstone tablet inscribed, wholly in demotic, with a decree recording the dedication of certain properties to the gods who were worshipped at Karnak (Thebes) in the first century of our era (No. 993, Bay 27). This tablet was found at Karnak, in the Hall of Columns, where, no doubt, it was set up originally, and its inscription was cut in demotic, because, at that period, that form of writing was better understood than hieroglyphics. In the Roman Period hieroglyphic inscriptions were sometimes accompanied by renderings into Greek and Latin, e.g., No. 257, Third Egyptian Room, Wall-case No. 109. This is a portion of a statue of a priest bearing a shrine of Osiris. On the back of the plinth is an inscription in hieroglyphics containing an address to Osiris by a priest of the โfourth order,โ and on one side of the plinth are cut in Latin and Greek โpriest bearing Osiris.โ
Coptic is written with the letters of the Greek alphabet, and seven signs (ฯฃ, ฯฅ, ฯง, ฯฉ, ฯซ, ฯญ, ฯฏ), derived from demotic characters, the phonetic values of which could not be expressed by Greek letters. A fine collection of sepulchral tablets inscribed in Coptic is exhibited in the Southern Egyptian Gallery (Bay 32), and a long and most instructive series of drafts of documents on potsherds and slices of limestone will be found in Table-case M in the Fourth Egyptian Room. In the copy of the Lordโs Prayer (St. Matthew vi, 9) here appended the reader will find all the signs which are peculiar to Coptic save one (ฯญ). The dialect is that of Lower Egypt. The two words marked by asterisks are Greek, not Egyptian.
โฒกโฒโฒโฒโฒฑโฒง
Peniรดt
Our Father
โฒโฒงฯงโฒโฒ
etkhen
who art in
โฒโฒโฒซโฒโฒโฒฉโฒ
niphรชoui
the heavens,
โฒโฒโฒฃโฒฯฅโฒงโฒโฒฉโฒโฒ
mareftoubo
may be hallowed
โฒฬ
ฯซโฒโฒกโฒโฒโฒฃโฒโฒ.
entche pekran.
thy name.
โฒโฒโฒฃโฒโฒฅโฒ
Maresi
May come
โฒฬฯซโฒโฒงโฒโฒโฒโฒโฒงโฒโฒฉโฒฃโฒ.
entche tekmetouro.
thy kingdom
โฒกโฒโฒงโฒฯฉโฒโฒโฒ
Peteแธฅnak
Thy will
โฒโฒโฒฃโฒฯฅฯฃโฒฑโฒกโฒ
marefshรดpi
let it be
โฒโฒซโฒฃโฒฯฏ
emphrรชti
as
ฯงโฒโฒ
khen
in
โฒงโฒซโฒ
tphe
the heaven
โฒโฒโฒ
nem
so
ฯฉโฒฯซโฒโฒ
แธฅitchen
upon
โฒกโฒโฒโฒฯฉโฒ.
pikaแธฅi.
the earth.
โฒกโฒโฒโฒฑโฒโฒ
Penรดik
Our bread
โฒฬ
โฒงโฒ
ente
of
โฒฃโฒโฒฅฯฏ
rasti
to-morrow
โฒโฒโฒฯฅ
mรชif
give it
โฒโฒโฒ
nan
to us
โฒฬ
โฒซโฒโฒโฒฉ.
emphoou.
to-day.
โฒโฒฉโฒฯฉ
Ouoแธฅ
And
โฒญโฒ
kha
forgive
โฒโฒโฒงโฒโฒฃโฒโฒ
neteron
our debts
โฒโฒโฒ
nan
to us
โฒโฒโฒโฒ
ebol
โฒฬ
โฒซโฒฃโฒฯฏ
emphrรชti
as
ฯฉโฒฑโฒ
แธฅรดn
we also
โฒฬโฒงโฒโฒโฒญโฒฑ โฒโฒโฒโฒ โฒฬ
โฒโฒ
entenkhรด ebol ennรช
forgive
โฒโฒงโฒโฒโฒฉโฒโฒ
eteouon
those who are
โฒฬโฒงโฒโฒ โฒโฒฃโฒฑโฒโฒฉ.
entan erรดou.
our debtors.
โฒโฒฉโฒฯฉ
ouoแธฅ
And
โฒฬ
โฒกโฒโฒฃโฒโฒโฒงโฒโฒ
emperenten
bring us not
โฒฯงโฒโฒฉโฒ
ekhoun
into
โฒ
e
โฒกโฒโฒฃโฒโฒฅโฒโฒโฒฅ.*
pirasmos,
temptation;
โฒโฒโฒโฒ*
alla
but
โฒโฒฯฉโฒโฒโฒ
naแธฅmen
deliver us
โฒโฒโฒโฒฯฉโฒ
ebolแธฅa
from
โฒกโฒโฒกโฒโฒงฯฉโฒฑโฒโฒฉ.
pipetแธฅรดou.
that which is evil.
Decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphics.โBefore the close of the period of Roman rule in Egypt, the hieroglyphic system of writing fell into disuse, and its place was gradually taken by demotic, i.e., a conventional form of the hieratic, or cursive writing. When the Egyptians became converted to Christianity, they adopted the Greek alphabet, adding to it seven signs derived from demotic, to express the sounds peculiar to their language. The priests appear to have prosecuted some study of hieroglyphics until the end of the fifth century A.D., but soon after this the power to read and understand them was lost, and until the beginning of the nineteenth century, no Oriental or European could read or understand a hieroglyphic inscription. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries many attempts were made by scholars to read and translate the Egyptian inscriptions, but no real progress was made until after the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. This โStoneโ is a portion of a large black basalt stele measuring 3 feet 9 inches by 2 feet 4ยฝ inches, and is inscribed with fourteen lines of hieroglyphics, thirty-two lines of demotic, and fifty-four lines of Greek. (See Southern Egyptian Gallery, No. 960.) It was found in 1798 by a French officer of artillery named Boussard, among the ruins of Fort Saint Julien, near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile, and was removed, in 1799, to the Institut National at Cairo, to be examined by the learned; and Napoleon ordered the inscription to be engraved and copies of it to be submitted to the scholars and learned societies of Europe. In 1801 it passed into the possession of the British, and it was sent to England in February, 1802. It was exhibited for a few months in the rooms of the Society of Antiquaries, and then was finally deposited in the British Museum.
The first translation of the Greek text was made by Du Theil and Weston, in 1801-02, and they rightly declared that the stone was set up as the result of a Decree passed at the General Council of Egyptian priests assembled at Memphis to celebrate the first commemoration of the coronation of Ptolemy V, Epiphanes, king of all Egypt. The young king had been crowned in the eighth year of his reign, therefore the first commemoration took place in the ninth year, in the spring of the year, B.C. 196. The Decree sets forth that, because the king had given corn and money from his private resources to the temples, and had remitted taxes and released prisoners, and had abolished the press-gang and restored the worship of the gods, etc., the priests decreed that: Additional honours be paid to the king and his ancestors; an image of the king be set up in every temple; a statue and shrine be set up in every temple; a monthly festival be established on the birthday and coronation day of the king; this Decree be engraved upon a hard stone stele in the writing of the priests (hieroglyphic), in the writing of books (demotic), and in the writing of the Greeks (Greek), and set up in every temple of the first, second, and third class, by the side of the image of the king.
In 1802 ร kerblad succeeded in making out the general meaning of several lines of the demotic text, and in identifying the equivalents of the names Alexander, Alexandria, Ptolemy, etc. In 1819 Thomas Young published in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. IV, the results of his studies of the texts, and among them was a list of several alphabetic Egyptian characters to which, in most cases, he had assigned correct values. He was the first to grasp the idea of a phonetic principle in the reading of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and he was the first to apply it to their decipherment. Warburton, De Guignes, Barthรฉlemy and Zoรซga all suspected the existence of alphabetic hieroglyphics, and the three last-named scholars believed that the oval, or cartouche ๐ท, contained a royal name; but it was Young who first proved both points and successfully deciphered the name of Ptolemy on the Rosetta Stone, and that of Berenice on another monument, and it was Bankes who first identified the name of Cleopatra. The list of alphabetic characters was much enlarged in 1822 by the eminent scholar Champollion, who not only correctly deciphered the names and titles of most of the Roman Emperors, but drew up classified lists of the hieroglyphics, and formulated a system of grammar and general decipherment which is the foundation upon which all subsequent Egyptologists have worked. The discovery of the correct alphabetic values of Egyptian signs was most useful for reading names, but, for translating the language, a competent knowledge of Coptic was required. Now Coptic is only another name for Egyptian. The Egyptian Christians are called โCopts,โ and the Holy Scriptures, Liturgies, etc., which they translated from Greek soon after their conversion to Christianity, are said to be written in โCoptic.โ The knowledge of Coptic has never been lost, and a comparatively large sacred literature has always been available for study by scholars. Champollion, quite early in the nineteenth century, realized the great importance of Coptic for the purpose of Egyptian decipherment, and he made himself the greatest Coptic scholar of his time. His knowledge of Coptic was deep and wide, and to this important qualification much of his success is due. Having once obtained a correct value of many alphabetic and syllabic characters, his knowledge of Coptic helped him to deduce the values of others, and to assign meanings to Egyptian words with marvellous accuracy.
The method by which the greater part of the Egyptian alphabet was recovered is this: It was assumed correctly that the cartouche always contained a royal name. The only cartouche on the Rosetta Stone was assumed to contain the name Ptolemy. An obelisk brought from Philae about that time contained a hieroglyphic inscription, and a translation of it in Greek, which mentioned two names, Ptolemy and Cleopatra, and one of the cartouches was filled with hieroglyphic characters which were identical with those in the cartouche on the Rosetta Stone. Thus there was good reason to believe that the cartouche on the Rosetta Stone contained the name of Ptolemy written in hieroglyphic characters. Here is the cartouche which was assumed to represent the name Ptolemaios, or Ptolemy, the hieroglyphics being numbered (A)โ
and here is the cartouche which was assumed to represent the name Cleopatra (B)โ
Now in B, the first sign, ๐, must represent K; it is not found in A. No. 2 sign, ๐ญ, is identical with No. 4 sign in A. This was assumed to be L. No. 3 sign, ๐, represents a vowel, and doubled, ๐, is found in A, No. 6. No. 4 sign, ๐ฏ, is identical with No. 3 in A, and it must have the value of O in both A and B. No. 5 sign, ๐ช, is identical with No. 1 in A, and as A contains the name Ptolemy, the first sign, ๐ช, must be P. No. 6 sign, ๐ฟ, is wanting in A, but its value must be A, because it is the same sign as No. 9, which ends the name Kleopatra. No. 7, ๐ง, does not occur in A, but we see it in other cartouches taking the place of ๐ the second letter in the name of Ptolemaios, and it must therefore be some kind of T. No. 8, ๐, we assume is R, because it is the last letter but one in the name of Kleopatra. Nos. 10 and 11 signs, ๐๐ฐ๐, we find after the names of goddesses; the first of them is T; and the second is a โdeterminative.โ We now insert the alphabetic values in the two cartouches and obtain the following results:
In the case of A it is quite clear that Ptol is the first part of the name of Ptolemaios, therefore ๐๐๐ด must represent the second part of the name, or Maios. We may then say that ๐ is M, and the last sign ๐ด is S, and that ๐ represents some i-sound, or e-sound; in the case of B we are certain of the values of all the signs except ๐, ๐ and ๐, but it is clear from their positions in the name that the first two must represent K and R. We have seen that the signs ๐๐ฐ๐ are added to the names of goddesses, and as Kleopatra was regarded as a goddess, they are added to her name. They do not affect the name itself. The two royal names may now be taken out of the cartouches, and the values written under the characters thus:
Taking another cartouche ๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ก๐ด๐๐๐ฐ๐ง๐๐ฐ๐๐ฝ๐บ we already know the signs, ๐ฟ๐ญ๐ด๐๐ง๐, which represent A, L, S, E(?), T, and R. The only Greek name which contains these letters in this order is Alexandros, or Alexander, and we therefore conclude that the last sign, ๐, is S, that ๐ก is K, that ๐ is A, and that ๐ is N.
A common title of the Roman Emperors was ๐ก๐๐ด๐๐, and as we know all the signs but one (๐) with certainty we write down K-๐-S-R-S, which can only be โKaisaros,โ or โCaesar.โ From this we again see that ๐ represents the ฮฑฮน in ฮฮฑฮนฯฮฑฯฮฟฯ and ฮ ฯฮฟฮปฮตฮผฮฑฮนฮฟฯ, or ae in Caesar.
In this way the Egyptian alphabet was recovered.
Now if we look at the last line of the Egyptian text on the Rosetta Stone we shall find that in the cartouche ๐น๐ผ๐ช๐ฐ๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐๐ด๐น๐๐ณ๐ท๐๐ฐ๐พ๐ธ๐ช๐ฐ๐๐๐ป๐๐ฝ๐บ there are several signs which have not been explained above, viz., ๐น๐๐ณ๐ท๐๐ฐ๐พ๐ธ๐ช๐ฐ๐๐๐ป๐. These signs, it is clear, form no part of the name of Ptolemy, and the position in which they are found suggests that they represent titles. A reference to the Greek version (line 49) shows that Ptolemy is there called โeverliving, beloved of Phtha,โ and it now remains to see if the hieroglyphics mean anything like these words. The sound and meaning of the first sign, ๐น, were well known from the statements of Greek writers who said that it was pronounced anch, and that it meant โliving,โ or โlife.โ Two of the three characters in the group, ๐ช๐ฐ๐๐, we know to be P and T, and we are justified in assuming that ๐ช๐ฐ๐๐ represents the name of the god Phtha, or as it is now read Ptaแธฅ. Now, if ๐น means โlivingโ or โlife,โ and ๐ช๐ฐ๐๐ means โPtaแธฅ,โ ๐๐ณ๐ท๐๐ฐ๐พ๐ธ must mean โfor ever,โ and ๐ป๐ must mean โbeloved.โ Of the first group, ๐๐ณ๐ท๐๐ฐ๐พ๐ธ, we already know the value of the second sign ๐, T, and of the second group we know that ๐ has the value of I. Recourse must now be had to Coptic, so that the Coptic (i.e., Egyptian) words for โfor everโ and โbelovedโ may be compared with the hieroglyphic originals. The common word for โfor ever,โ โeternity,โ etc., is eneแธฅ, but there is no n in ๐๐ณ๐ท๐๐ฐ๐พ๐ธ, so this will not suit. We do, however, find the word ฯญโฒโฒง, djet, which means โan age,โ โa long undefined period of time,โ and this agrees well with the sound of ๐๐ณ๐ท๐๐ฐ๐พ๐ธ, and shows that the sound of ๐ was something like DJ, and that ๐พ must have a T sound. The common word in Coptic for โto loveโ is โฒโฒโฒฃ, mer, and we may therefore transcribe ๐ป๐ by meri, and assume that it means something like โbeloved.โ As the meanings here deduced for ๐น๐๐ณ๐ท๐๐ฐ๐พ๐ธ๐ช๐ฐ๐๐๐ป๐ make good sense in every text in which they occur we are justified in assuming them to be correct.
The Egyptian alphabetic characters are as follow:โ
| ๐ฟ | A | The Hebrew aleph โโืโโ. | |
| ๐ | ศฆ | ||
| ๐ | ฤ | Pronounced like the Hebrew โโืขโโ. | |
| ๐ or ๐ญ | I | The Hebrew yodh โโืโโ. | |
| ๐ ฑ or ๐ฒ | U or W | The Hebrew โโืึผโโ and โโืโโ. It had sometimes an o-sound, like the Hebrew โโืึบโโ. | |
| ๐ | B | Hebrew โโืโโ. | |
| ๐ช | P | โโโืคโโ. | |
| ๐ | F | ||
| ๐ | โซ | M | โณ โโืโโ. |
| ๐ | โญ | ||
| ๐ | โซ | N | โณ โโื โโ. |
| ๐ | โญ | ||
| ๐ | โซ | R and L | โณ โโืจโโ and โโืโโ. |
| ๐ญ | โญ | ||
| ๐ | H | โณ โโืโโ. | |
| ๐ | แธค | โณ โโืโโ. | |
| ๐ | ฯ (KH) | โณ โโืโโ, without the Dagesh. | |
| ๐ | โซ | S | โณ โโืกโโ or โโืฉืโโ. |
| ๐ด | โญ | ||
| ๐ | SH | โณ โโืฉืโโ. | |
| ๐ก | K | โณ โโืึผโโ. | |
| ๐ | Q | โณ โโืงโโ. | |
| ๐ผ | แธฒ | โณ โโืโโ. | |
| ๐ | T | โณ ืชึผ. | |
| ๐ฟ | โซ | TH(?) | โณ โโืชโโ (?). |
| ๐ | โญ | ||
| ๐ง | แนฌ | โณ โโืโโ. | |
| ๐ | TCH or แนข (?) | โณ โโืฆโโ. |
Hieroglyphic writing.โThe hieroglyph is a picture of an object, animate or inanimate, e.g., ๐น an eye, ๐ a ram, ๐น a hare, ๐ a vulture, ๐ ง a duck, ๐ผ a star, ๐ถ an obelisk, ๐ท a face, ๐พ a leg.
Now pictures may also represent ideas, e.g., ๐, a wall leaning on one side represents โfallingโ; ๐ค, a musical instrument, symbolizes โjoy, happiness, pleasure,โ etc.; ๐ฉ, a seal, represents something of which great care is taken, i.e., โtreasureโ; ๐, a man holding a vessel placed on his head, symbolizes โto bear, to carryโ; ๐ป, the sky with a star hanging from it, suggests โnightโ; and so on. Hieroglyphs used in this way are called ideographs. Every object had a name, therefore each picture, or hieroglyph, was a word-sign, and a list of these would have made a dictionary in the earliest times. At one time all hieroglyphs were syllabic, and the Egyptians had no alphabetic hieroglyphs; and if scribes had needed to write down letter by letter the name of some foreign product, or the name of a foreign king, supposing they did not possess syllables suitable in sound, they would have been unable to do so. In fact the Egyptians needed an alphabet, and the oldest inscriptions of any length show that they already possessed one.
About the origin of alphabetic hieroglyphs opinions differ. They probably arose in this way. The sounds of the first letters of the names of certain objects were given to the pictures of such objects, and henceforward the pictures, or hieroglyphs, bore those phonetic values, and so became the letters of an alphabet. Each name chosen for this purpose appears to have consisted of a syllable containing an initial consonant, and one or more vowels. The vowel, or vowels, was dropped, and the name of the object, or the syllable, passed into a purely alphabetic value. Thus ๐ is an alphabetic hieroglyph with the phonetic value of B, and it may well represent the consonant of some word like Bu โa place,โ or Bศงa โiron.โ Similarly ๐, which has the phonetic value of R, probably represents the consonant of some word like Ru โmouth,โ in Coptic Rรด; and ๐ with the phonetic value of F probably represents the consonant of some word like fa โto carry.โ Thus we have a series of alphabetic characters or letters. Signs having alphabetic values are used to form words without any reference to their pictorial or ideographic meanings. One of the words for โknifeโ is sfnแนญ, which is thus spelt ๐ด๐๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐ง. Now ๐ด s is a picture of a chair-back; ๐ f is a picture of a snail(?); ๐ n is a picture of the wavy surface of water; and ๐ง แนญ is a picture of a human hand stretched out flat; in the word sfnแนญ the picture meanings of the characters play no part, and the signs are used to express alphabetic sounds only.
As long as the Egyptians used picture writing pure and simple its meaning was easily understood, but, when they began to spell their words with alphabetic signs and syllabic values of picture signs which had no reference whatever to the original meaning of the signs, it was found necessary to indicate in some way the meaning and even the sounds of many of the words so written. This they did by adding to them signs which are called determinatives. Thus the word ฤแธฅa ๐ข๐ means both โto standโ and โboat,โ but when the writer wished the reader to give it the former meaning he added to the word a pair of legs ๐ป, thus ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ป, and when the latter he added the picture of a boat ๐, thus ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐. Similarly men ๐ ๐ฐ๐ means โto abide, be stable,โ and also โto be ill,โ and the meanings are distinguished by the use of the determinatives ๐ and ๐ ช, the former signifying โan abstract idea,โ and the latter โdiscomfort,โ or โevil.โ The following words show the use of the determinatives; ๐ญ a god, ๐ actions performed with the mouth, ๐ a woman, ๐ a country, ๐ the skin of an animal, ๐ water, ๐ช actions performed with a knife, and ๐ a pot of unguent or liquid.
| The god Khnemu | ๐ธ๐ ๐ ฑ๐ญ |
| Meแนญu โto speakโ | ๐๐ง๐ ฑ๐ |
| Sat โdaughterโ | ๐ ญ๐ด๐๐ |
| Kesh โNubiaโ | ๐ก๐ฐ๐๐ |
| Pennu โmouseโ | ๐ช๐ฐ๐๐๐ ฑ๐ |
| Mศงu โcatโ | ๐๐๐ ฑ๐ or ๐๐๐ ฑ๐ |
| Qebแธฅ โlibationโ | ๐๐๐๐ |
| Sma โto slayโ | ๐ด๐ณ๐ช |
| Merแธฅet โoilโ | ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ |
| แธคeqt โbeerโ | ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ |
Hieroglyphs are written in perpendicular or horizontal lines as in A and B. In these examples the words are to be read in the direction in which the birds face, i.e., from left to right.
A.
B.
The writing materials consisted of papyrus, palette, reed-pens, ink and ink-pot. Papyrus was made from the stem of the papyrus plant (Cyperus Papyrus), which grew in the marshes and pools near the Nile; it is no longer cultivated in Egypt, but is found in the Sรปdรขn, where it grows to a height of from 20 to 25 ft., and has very thick stems. The exact meaning and derivation of โpapyrusโ are unknown, but the word is probably of Egyptian origin.10 A sheet of papyrus was made in the following way: The stem was cut into thin strips, which were laid side by side perpendicularly, and upon these another series of strips was laid horizontally; a thin solution of gum, or paste, was run in between them, after which the sheet was pressed and dried. By joining a number of such sheets together rolls of almost any length could be made. The longest papyrus in the Egyptian Collection in the British Museum, No. 9999, is 135 ft. long and 1 ft. 5 in. wide; the Papyrus of Ani measures 78 ft. by 1 ft. 3 in.; the Papyrus of Nebseni, 76 ft. by 8ยพ in.; the Papyrus of Nu, 65 ft. 6 in. by 1 ft. 1ยฝ in.; the Papyrus of Nekht, 46 ft. 7 in. by 1 ft. 1ยฝ in.
The palette, in Egyptian mesthศง ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ฑ, usually consisted of a rectangular piece of wood, from eight to sixteen inches long, and from two to three broad, at one end of which were sunk a number of oval or circular hollows to hold ink or paint. Down the middle was cut a groove, sloping at one end, in which the writing reeds were placed; these were kept in position by a piece of wood glued across the middle of the palette, or by a sliding cover, which also served to protect the reeds from injury. A very good collection of palettes is exhibited in the Third Egyptian Room, Table-case C. Of special interest are the palettes of Ba-nefer, of the reign of Pepi II, B.C. 3200 (No. 12,782); the palette of ศฆฤแธฅmes I, the first king of the XVIIIth dynasty, about B.C. 1600 (No. 12,784); the palette of the scribe Pa-mer-ศงแธฅau, who lived in the reign of ศฆmen-แธฅetep III, about B.C. 1450 (No. 5513); and the palettes of ศฆmen-mes (No. 12,778) and a scribe (No. 5514), who lived in the reign of Seti I and Rameses II respectively. The hollows for the ink, or paint, generally black and red, are usually two in number, but some palettes have a dozen. The inscriptions on palettes usually contain prayers to the great gods of the Other World for sepulchral offerings; but sometimes they are dedications to the god Teแธฅuti, or Thoth ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฑ๐ญ๐ญ, to whom the invention of the art of writing is attributed. The writing reed, in Egyptian qesh ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ญ, which served as a pen, was about 10 inches long, and from โ โโth to โ th of an inch in diameter; the end used for writing was bruised and not cut. After the XXVIth dynasty, an ordinary reed, similar to that used in the East at the present day, was employed, and the end was cut like a quill, or steel pen. The ordinary palette will hold about ten writing reeds easily. The ink was made of mineral or vegetable substances mixed with gum and water. The earths, or ochres, or preparations of copper, were rubbed down on slabs with little mullers, several of which may be seen in the Third Egyptian Room, Table-case C. The ink-pot was called pes ๐ช๐ฐ๐๐บ, and was usually made of faรฏence or porcelain. The hieroglyph ๐ represents the palette, an ink pot, and a reed, united by a cord; the whole stands for โscribeโ and โwriting.โ
Besides papyrus, scribes frequently used slices of white limestone of a fine texture, or boards plastered with lime, for writing purposes. On these they wrote drafts of literary compositions, hymns, school exercises, and sketches in outline of the figures of kings, gods, etc., made to scale. As examples may be mentioned No. 22, inscribed with the draft of a legal document which was drawn up in connection with a robbery of weapons from the Royal Arsenal by the Chief of the Treasury, about B.C. 1100, and No. 41, inscribed in the hieratic character with a draft of a part of a famous work called the โInstructions of ศฆmen-em-แธฅฤt I,โ king of Egypt, about B.C. 2500 (Third Egyptian Room, Table-case C). In the Ptolemaรฏc Period pieces of broken earthenware vessels, or potsherds, commonly known as ostraka, were much used for writing purposes. The inscriptions on these are chiefly of a business character, receipts or acquittances, etc.; but certain of them contain extracts from literary works, e.g., a school exercise consisting of lines 105-117 and 128-139 of the Phoenissae of Euripides (No. 88, Third Egyptian Room, Table-case C). After the introduction of Christianity into Egypt, the Copts, or Christian Egyptians, imitated their pagan ancestors, and wrote letters, lists of objects, prayers, extracts from the Scriptures, etc., on slices of white limestone. A fine collection of such Coptic inscriptions is exhibited in the Fourth Egyptian Room, Table-case M; and of special interest are: No. 3. Liturgical fragment. No. 5. An undertaking by Abraham to take charge of a camel. No. 8. Religious exercise, Coptic and Greek hymns. No. 17. Extract from Psalm xcviii, โSing unto the Lord a new Song,โ etc. No. 19. Part of the Alexandrian Canon of the Mass, written in corrupt Greek by Apa Eiแธฅannes. No. 20. Fragment containing part of a Greek hymn and a letter in Coptic, conveying the salutations of Dioskoros to his brother Ounaref and his mother Tnouba. No. 26. Letter from the priest Victor and Matthaios, to Germanos and Isak (Isaac), authorizing them to sow their share of a field, and specifying the rent. No. 28. Document referring to the sale of a camel. It is dated on the second of the month Pashans, and witnessed by three persons:โDioskle and Ouanafre11 of Pallas, and Gergorios of Remmosh. No. 41. Part of a letter requesting some monks to bless the writers, and to send holy water to them that they might sprinkle their sick beasts with it. No. 53. List of measurements of land, in which Greek arithmetical signs, etc., are employed. No. 57. Receipt for a แธฅolokotinos (solidus) paid as tax or rent by Zaรชl for the โcamelsโ fieldโ for the ninth year. No. 60. School exercise in Greek and Coptic grammar; on the obverse is a portion of a letter addressed to the authorities of a monastery. No. 61. Reading exercise. No. 62. Fragment of a school exercise, with rough drawings of animals. No. 65. Acquittance of Mizael Konstantinos for the first instalment of taxes for the year, signed by Severus. No. 66. Writing exercise for the formation of letters. The Copts sometimes covered the outside of an unbroken jar with lists, etc., e.g., the amphora, No. 166F, Fourth Egyptian Room, Wall-case No. 163. On this are written six lists of names of men, with those of their fathers and mothers, and it is probable that the inscriptions were written not later than the eighth century.