1. Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics
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2. Introduction
Writing or a form of record keeping is an essential characteristic that humans must possess in order to be considered a civilization
Writing provides a civilization with structure, order, and organization and way method for people to cooperate with each other
All ancient civilizations have developed some form of a written language, including the ancient Egyptians

3. Introduction
Writing emerged in Egypt during the first two dynasties (around 3000 BC-2650 BC)
The Greeks labeled Egyptian writing hieroglyphics, meaning “priest-carvings” or “sacred writings”
Egyptians believe that hieroglyphs were literally “the words of god”

4. Hieroglyphics
Hieroglyphics is a system of writing where symbols represent objects (such as tools, animals or boats) and ideas (such as motion, time and joy)
Used sacred characters as picture signs that depicted objects and had sacred value at the same time

5. Hieroglyphics-Characteristics and forms
The Egyptian system of hieroglyphics had between 700 and 800 basic symbols- called glyphs
They wrote hieroglyphs in long lines from right to left, and from top to bottom.
They did not use any spacing or punctuation like we do in our writing

6. Hieroglyphics-Characteristics and forms
Egyptian glyphs are divided into two groups:
Phonograms: glyphs that represent sounds
Ideograms: glyphs that represent objects or ideas
They constructed words by combining the two types of glyphs

7. Hieroglyphics-Characteristics and forms
Egyptians usually constructed hieroglyphs by putting phonograms at the beginning of a word, followed by an ideogram

8. Hieroglyphics- Who was using them?
The ancient Egyptian word for hieroglyphics literally translated as “language of the gods”
This explains how significant there writing was to them

9. Hieroglyphics- Who was using them?
Priests used hieroglyphs to write down prayers, magical texts, and texts related to life after death and worshiping the gods
Many people had hieroglyphics written on their tomb walls and inside coffins
Believed that texts helped guide them to the afterlife

10. Hieroglyphics- Who was using them?
The Egyptians also used hieroglyphics to decorate jewelry and other luxury items
They were sometimes very elaborate and beautiful

11. How can we read Hieroglyphs?
After the fall of ancient Egypt in around 30 BC, the meaning of hieroglyphs remained a mystery for over 1,800 years
It was with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone that we were finally able to understand the glyphs
This stone contained the decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs same text written in Egyptian hieroglyphics and in Greek.
This stone allowed scholars to decipher the hieroglyphs

12. Conclusion
Hieroglyphics are a unique and beautiful part of Egyptian civilization.
Egyptian hieroglyphics played an integral role and organizing and influencing the lives of Egyptians and gave their lives meaning and purpose.
Through these glyphs Egyptians were able to express themselves in ways humans have never done before, which makes them significant to the ancient Egyptians and to people today who continue to express themselves though written language.

13. Work Cited
Duiker, William J.. World History To nd. Albany: West/Wadsworth, 1998.
"Hieroglyphs," Microsoftｮ Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2008http://encarta.msn.com ｩ Microsoft Corporation