Hieroglyphics could be written either from left to right, or right to left, and vertically as well as horizontally. Additionally, unlike modern English, hieroglyphics aren’t necessarily read horizontally from left to right. That means that readers have to have a good grasp of ancient Egyptian grammar and know something about the context of a message in order to be able to tell individual words, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and chapters apart. Hieroglyphic writing doesn't have any spaces between the words, and there's no punctuation. Demotic, another form of writing that was developed in the 800s B.C., was used for everyday documents, as well as for literary works. But, Dornan says, it rarely made the jump to formal monuments. Hieratic writing, a cursive script that was written on papyrus with a pen or brush, or upon a piece of limestone called an ostracon was invented for use primarily on papyrus, a more fragile material. Ancient Egyptians used other forms of writing.īecause hieroglyphic writing was so complicated, the ancient Egyptians developed other types of writing that were more convenient. People who weren't royals also sometimes used hieroglyphics in their private tombs and monuments, provided they were wealthy enough to afford the services of stone carvers. Though the system was eventually used for other types of writing, hieroglyphs never lost their initial connection with elite contexts in commemorative settings like temples and tombs, Dorman explains.
"Since hieroglyphs are pictorial, the link with early formal art is indelible, especially the representation of the king with his royal titulary, which can be seen on commemorative monuments placed in the earliest temples."
Dorman, a professor emeritus at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute. "The earliest hieroglyphic writing is commonly found on grave goods found in royal tombs at Abydos that precede the historical period," explains Peter F. Details of hieroglyphs in Luxor, Valley of Kings.
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