The ancient Egyptian system of writing, so far as we know, originated,
developed and finally expired strictly within the limits of the Nile
Valley. The germ of its existence may have come from without, but, as
we know it, it is essentially Egyptian and intended for the expression
of the Egyptian language. About the 1st century B.C., however, the
semi-barbarous rulers of the Ethiopian kingdoms of Meroe and Napata
contrived the "Meroitic" alphabet, founded on Egyptian writing, and
comprising both a hieroglyphic and a cursive form (see ETHIOPIA). As
yet both of these kinds of Nubian writing are undeciphered. Egyptian
hieroglyphic was carried by conquest into Syria, certainly under the
XVIIIth Dynasty, and again under the XXVIth for the engraving of
Egyptian inscriptions; but in the earlier period the cuneiform
syllabary, and in the later the "Phoenician" alphabet, had obtained a
firm hold there, and we may be sure that no attempt was made to
substitute the Egyptian system for the latter. Cuneiform tablets in
Syria, however, seem almost confined to the period of the XVIIIth
Dynasty. Although it cannot be proved it seems quite possible that the
traders of Phoenicia and the Aegean adopted the papyrus and Egyptian
hieratic writing together, before the end of the New Kingdom, and
developed their "Phoenician" alphabet from the latter about 1000 B.C.
In very early times a number of systems of writing already reigned in
different countries forming a compact and not very large area--perhaps
from South Arabia to Asia Minor, and from Persia to Crete and Egypt.
Whether they all sprang from one common stock of picture-writing we
shall perhaps never know, nor can we as yet trace the influence which
one great system may have had on another, owing to the poverty of
documents from most of the countries concerned.
It is certain that in Egypt from the IVth Dynasty onwards the mode of
writing was essentially the same as that which was extinguished by the
fall of paganism in the 4th century A.D. Its elements in the
hieroglyphic form are pictorial, but each hieroglyph had one or more
well-defined functions, fixed by convention in such a manner that the
Egyptian language was expressed in writing word by word. Although a
picture sign may at times have embarrassed the skilled native reader
by offering a choice of fixed values or functions, it was never
intended to convey merely an idea, so as to leave to him the task of
putting the idea into his own words. How far this holds good for the
period before the IVth Dynasty it is difficult to say. The known
inscriptions of the earlier times are so brief and so limited in range
that the system on which they were written cannot yet be fully
investigated. As far back as the Ist Dynasty, phonograms (see below)
were in full use. But the spelling then was very concise: it is
possible that some of the slighter words, such as prepositions, were
omitted in the writing, and were intended to be supplied from the
context. As a whole, we gain the impression that a really distinct and
more primitive stage of hieroglyphic writing by a substantially vaguer
notation of words lay not far behind the time of the Ist Dynasty.
The employment of the signs are of three kinds: any given sign
represents either (1) a whole word or root; or (2) a sound as part of
a word; or (3) pictorially defines the meaning of a word the sound of
which has already been given by a sign or group of signs preceding.
The number of phonograms is very restricted, but some signs have all
these powers. For instance, [HRG: mn] is the conventional picture of a
draughtboard (shown in plan) with the draughtsmen (shown in elevation)
on its edge:--this sign (1) signifies the root _mn_, "set," "firm"; or
(2) in the group [HRG: mn:x], represents the same sound as part of the
root _mnh_, "good"; or (3) added to the group _snt_ (thus: [HRG:
z:n:t-mn]), shows that the meaning intended is "draught-board," or
"draughts," and not any of the other meanings of _snt_. Thus signs,
according to their employment, are said to be (1) "word-signs," (2)
"phonograms," or (3) "determinatives."
_Word-signs._--The word-sign value of a sign is, in the first place,
the name of the object it represents, or of some material, or quality,
or action, or idea suggested by it. Thus [HRG] is _hr_, "face"; [HRG],
a vase of ointment, is _mrh.t_, "ointment"; [HRG] is _wdb_, "turn."
Much investigation is still required to establish the origins of the
values of the signs; in some cases the connexion between the pictures
and the _primary_ values seems to be curiously remote. Probably all
the signs in the hieroglyphic signary can be employed in their primary
sense. The _secondary_ value expresses the consonantal root of the
name or other primary value, and any, or almost any, derivative from
that root: as when [HRG], a mat with a cake upon it, is not only
_htp_, an "offering-mat," but also _htp_ in the sense of
"conciliation," "peace," "rest," "setting" (of the sun), with many
derivatives. In the third place, some signs may be _transferred_ to
express another root having the same consonants as the first: thus
[HRG], the ear, by a play upon words can express not only _sdm_,
"hear," but also _sdm_, "paint the eyes."
_Phonograms._--Only a limited number of signs are found with this use,
but they are of the greatest importance. By searching throughout the
whole mass of normal inscriptions, earlier than the periods of Greek
and Roman rule when great liberties were taken with the writing,
probably no more than one hundred different phonograms can be found.
The number of those commonly employed in good writing is between
seventy and eighty. The most important phonograms are the _uniliteral_
or _alphabetic_ signs, twenty-four in number in the Old Kingdom and
without any homophones: later these were increased by homophones to
thirty. Of _biliteral_ phonograms--each expressing a combination of
two consonants--there were about fifty commonly used: some fifteen or
twenty were rarely used. As Egyptian roots seldom exceeded three
letters, there was no need for _triliteral_ phonograms to spell them.
There is, however, one triliteral phonogram, the eagle, [HRG], _tyw_,
or _tiu_ (?), used for the plural ending of adjectives in _y_ formed
from words ending in _t_ (whether radical or the feminine ending).
The phonetic values of the signs are derived from their word-sign
values and consist usually of the bare root, though there are rare
examples of the retention of a flexional ending; they often ignore
also the weaker consonants of the root, and on the same principle
reduce a repeated consonant to a single one, as when the hoe [HRG],
_hnn_, has the phonetic value _hn_. The history of some of the
alphabetic signs is still very obscure, but a sufficient number of
them have been explained to make it nearly certain that the values of
all were obtained on the same principles.[15] Some of the ancient
words from which the phonetic values were derived probably fell very
early into disuse, and may never be discoverable in the texts that
have come down to us. The following are among those most easily
explained:--
[HRG: i], reed flower, value _y_ and [Hebrew: alef]; from [HRGs:
i-A-Hn], _y'_, "reed."
(It seems as if the two values _y_ and [Hebrew: alef] were obtained
by choosing first one and then the other of the two semi-consonants
composing the name. They are much confused, and a conventional symbol
_l_ has to be adopted for rendering [HRG: i].)
[HRG: a], forearm, value '([Hebrew: ayin]); from [HRGs: a:Z1],
'([Hebrew: ayin]), "hand."
[HRG: r], mouth, value _r_; from [HRGs: r:Z1], _r_, "mouth."
[HRG: X], belly and teats, value _h_; from [HRGs: X:t*Z1],
_h.t_, "belly." (The feminine ending is here, as usual,
neglected.)
[HRG: S], tank, value _s_; from [HRGs: S:Z1], _s_,
"tank."
[HRG: q], slope of earth value _q_; ''[HRGs: q-A-A-q], _q_'',
"slope," or brickwork, "height." (The doubled weak consonant is
here neglected.)
[HRG: d], hand, value _d_; from [HRGs: d:t*Z1], _d.t_, "hand."
[HRG: D], cobra, value _z_; from [HRGs: D:t*Z1], _z.t_, "cobra."
For some alphabetic signs more than one likely origin might be found,
while for others, again, no clear evidence of origin is yet
forthcoming.
It has already been explained that the writing expresses only
consonants. In the Graeco-Roman period various imperfect attempts were
made to render the vowels in foreign names and words by the
semi-vowels as also by [HRGs: a], the consonant [Hebrew: ayin] which
[HRGs: a] originally represented having been reduced in speech by that
time to the power of [Hebrew: alef], only. Thus, [Greek: Ptolemaios]
is spelt _Ptwrmys_, Antoninus, _'Nt'nynws_ or _Intnyns_, &c. &c. Much
earlier, throughout the New Kingdom, a special "syllabic" orthography,
in which the alphabetic signs for the consonants are generally
replaced by groups or single signs having the value of a consonant
followed by a semi-vowel, was used for foreign names and words, e.g.
[Hebrew: merkevet], "chariot," was written [HRGs:
m:a-r:Z1-k:A-b-W-ti-i-t:xt], in Coptic [Coptic: berechojt].
[Hebrew: migdal], "tower," was written [HRGs: m:a-k-ti-i-r:Z1],
[HRGs: m:a-g-A-d:y-r:Z1-niwt], [Coptic: mechtod].
[Hebrew: kinor], "harp," was written [HRGs: k-n:Z2-i-n-i-w-l:Z1-xt].
[Hebrew: hamath], "Hamath," was written [HRGs:
HA-A-mA-A-ti-i-qmA:xAst ].
According to W. Max Muller (_Asien und Europa_, 1893, chap, v.), this
represents an endeavour to express the vocalization; but, if so, it
was carried out with very little system. In practice, the semi-vowels
are generally negligible. This method of writing can be traced back
into the Middle Kingdom, if not beyond, and it greatly affected the
spelling of native words in New Egyptian and demotic.
_Determinatives._--Most signs can on occasion be used as
determinatives, but those that are very commonly employed as
phonograms or as secondary word-signs are seldom employed as
determinatives; and when they are so used they are often somewhat
differentiated. Certain generic determinatives are very common,
e.g.:--
[HRG: D54]; of motion.
[HRG: A24], [HRG: D40]; of acts involving force.
[HRG: A40]; of divinity.
[HRG: A1]; of a person or a man's name.
[HRG: pr]; of buildings.
[HRG: niwt]; of inhabited places.
[HRG: xAst]; of foreign countries.
[HRG: qmA]; club; of foreigners.
[HRG: A2]; of all actions of the mouth--eating and speaking,
likewise silence and hunger.
[HRG: N35B]; ripple-lines; of liquid.
[HRG: F27]; hide; of animals, also leather, &c.
[HRG: Hn]; of plants and fibres.
[HRG: N33:Z5]; of flesh.
[HRG: mDAt]; a sealed papyrus-roll; of books, teaching, law, and of
abstract ideas generally.
In the earliest inscriptions the use of determinatives is restricted
to the [HRG: A1], [HRG: B1], &c., after proper names, but it developed
immensely later, so that few words beyond the particles were written
without them in the normal style after the Old Kingdom.
Some few signs ideographic of a group of ideas are made to express
particular words belonging to that group by the aid of phonograms
which point out the special meaning. In such cases the ideogram is not
merely a determinative nor yet quite a word-sign. Thus [HRG: qmA-m] =
[HRG: a-A-m-qmA] "Semite," [HRG: qmA-nw] = [HRG: T-H-n:nw-qmA]
"Libyan," &c., but [HRG: qmA] cannot stand by itself for the name of
any particular foreign people. So also in monogram [HRG: Sm] is
_sm_ "go," [HRG: zb] is "conduct."
_Orthography._--The most primitive form of spelling in the
hieroglyphic system would be by one sign for each word, and the
monuments of the Ist Dynasty show a decided tendency to this mode.
Examples of it in later times are preserved in the royal cartouches,
for here the monumental style demanded special consciseness. Thus, for
instance, the name of Tethmosis III.--MN-HPR-R'--is spelled [HRG:
hrw-mn-xpr] (as R' is the name of the sun-god, with customary
deference to the deity it is written first though pronounced last). A
number of common words--prepositions, &c.--with only one consonant are
spelled by single alphabetic signs in ordinary writing. Word-signs
used singly for the names of objects are generally marked with | in
classical writing, as [HRG: Z91-ib:Z1], _ib_, "heart," [HRG: Hr:Z1],
_hr_, "face," &c.
But the use of bare word-signs is not common. Flexional consonants are
almost always marked by phonograms, except in very early times; as
when the feminine word [HRG: D] = _z.t_, "cobra," is spelled [HRG:
D:t*Z1]. Also, if a sign had more than one value, a phonogram would be
added to indicate which of its values was intended: thus [HRG: sw] in
[HRG: sw-w] is _sw_, "he," but in [HRG: sw:t] it is _stn_, "king."
Further, owing to the vast number of signs employed, to prevent
confusion of one with another in rapid writing they were generally
provided with "phonetic complements," a group being less easily
misread than a single letter. E.g. [HRG: wD], _wz_, "command," is
regularly written [HRG: wD-w], _wz_ (_w_); but [HRG: HD], _hz_,
"white," is written [HRG: HD-D], _hz_(_z_). This practice had the
advantage also of distinguishing determinatives from phonograms. Thus
the root or syllable _hn_ is regularly written [HRG: H-Hn:n] to avoid
confusion with the determinative [HRG: Hn]. Redundance in writing is
the rule; for instance, _b_ is often spelled [HRG: b-G26A-A]
(_b_)_b_'('). Biliteral phonograms are very rare as phonetic
complements, nor are two biliteral phonograms employed together in
writing the radicals of a word.
Spelling of words purely in phonetic or even alphabetic characters is
not uncommon, the determinative being generally added. Thus in the
pyramidal texts we find _hpr_, "become," written [HRG: xpr] in one
copy of a text, in another [HRG: x*p:r]. Such variant spellings are
very important for fixing the readings of word-signs. It is noteworthy
that though words were so freely spelled in alphabetic characters,
especially in the time of the Old Kingdom, no advance was ever made
towards excluding the cumbersome word-signs and biliteral phonograms,
which, by a judicious use of determinatives, might well have been
rendered quite superfluous.
_Abbreviations._--We find [HRG: anx-DA-s], strictly _'nh z_' _s_
standing for the ceremonial _viva! 'nh wz, snb_. "Life, Prosperity
and Health," and in course of time [HRG: mDAt] was used in accounts
instead of [HRG: dmD] _dmz_, "total."
_Monograms_ are frequent and are found from the earliest times. Thus
[HRG: Sm], [HRG: zb] mentioned above are monograms, the association of
[HRG: S] and [HRG: D54] having no pictorial meaning. Another common
monogram is [HRG: O10], i.e. [HRG: Hwt] and [HRG: G5] for _H.t-Hrw_
"Hathor." A word-sign may be compounded with its phonetic complement,
as [HRG: T5] _hz_ "white," or with its determinative, as [HRG: S14]
_hz_ "silver."
The table on the opposite page shows the uses of a few of the commoner
signs.
The decorative value of hieroglyphic was fully appreciated in Egypt.
The aim of the artist-scribe was to arrange his variously shaped
characters into square groups, and this could be done in great measure
by taking advantage of the different ways in which many words could be
spelt. Thus _hs_ could be written [HRG: H*Hz:z], _hsy_ [HRG: Hz-i-i],
_hs-f_ [HRG: Hz-z:f], _hs-n-f_ [HRG: Hz-n:f]. But some words in the
classical writing were intractable from this point of view. It is
obvious that the alphabetic signs played a very important part in the
formation of the groups, and many words could only be written in
alphabetic signs. A great advance was therefore made when several
homophones were introduced into the alphabet in the Middle and New
Kingdoms, partly as the result of the wearing away of old phonetic
distinctions, giving the choice between [HRG: z] and [HRG: s], [HRG:
t-T] and [HRG: ti], [HRG: m] and [HRG: M], [HRG: n] and [HRG: N],
[HRG: w] and [HRG: W]. In later times the number of homophones in use
increased greatly throughout the different classes, the tendency being
much helped by the habit of fanciful writing; but few of these
homophones found their way into the cursive script. Occasionally a
scribe of the old times indulged his fancy in "sportive" or
"mysterious" writing, either inventing new signs or employing old ones
in unusual meanings. Short sportive inscriptions are found in tombs of
the XIIth Dynasty; some groups are so written cursively in early
medical papyri, and certain religious inscriptions in the royal tombs
of the XIXth and XXth Dynasties are in secret writing. Fanciful
writing abounds on the temples of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.