They were rendered necessary on the monuments from the fact that the Egyptians had few vowel sounds; thus nib meant an ibis; nebi, a plough; neb, a lord; but each word was represented by the consonantal signs n-b; and consequently it was necessary to put after n-b a determinative sign of an ibis or a plough, to show which of the two was meant.
From the earliest to the latest ages of the Egyptian monarchy, all kinds of hieroglyphs are used in the same inscription, iconographs, ideographs, and phonetics are mingled together; and if it were not for the judicious use of complements and determinatives, it would often be impossible to interpret the inscriptions.
The hieroglyphs constitute the most ancient mode of writing known to mankind. They were used, as the name hieroglyphs, that is, “sacred sculptures,” implies, almost exclusively for sacred purposes, as may be proved from the fact that the numerous inscriptions found on temples, tombs and obelisks relate to the gods and the religious duties of man. Hence the Egyptians called their written language neter tu, which means “sacred words.” The hieroglyphs at present known are about a thousand, but further discoveries may augment their number. On the monuments they are arranged with artistic care, either in horizontal lines or in vertical columns, with all the animals and symbols facing one way, either to the right hand or the left.
The hieroglyphs on obelisks and other granite monuments are sculptured with a precision and delicacy that excite the admiration of the nineteenth century. In tombs and on papyri the hieroglyphs are painted sometimes with many colours, while on obelisks and on the walls of temples they are generally carved in a peculiar style of cutting known as cavo relievo, that is, raised relief sunk below the surface. The beautiful artistic effect of the coloured hieroglyphs as seen on some of the tombs is as much superior to our mode of writing as the flowing robes of the Orientals as compared with the dress of the Franks. The spoken language of the Egyptians was Semitic, but it had little in common with the Hebrew, for Joseph conversed with his brothers by means of an interpreter.
Hieroglyphic inscriptions are found in the earliest tombs. The cartouche of Khufu, or Cheops, a king of the IVth dynasty, was found on a block of the great pyramid; and as hieroglyphic inscriptions were used until the age of Caracalla, a Roman emperor of the third century, it follows that hieroglyphs were used as a mode of writing for about three thousand years.
The Egyptians had two modes of cursive writing. The hieratic, used by the priests and employed for sacred writings only. The hieratic characters, which are really abbreviated forms of hieroglyphics, bear the same relation to the hieroglyphs that our handwriting does to the printed text. Another mode of cursive writing used by the people and employed in law, literature, and secular matters, is known as demotic or enchorial. The characters in demotic are derived from the hieratic, but appear in a simpler form, and phonetics largely prevail over ideographs.
To any students who wish to pursue the absorbing study of hieroglyphics, the following works are recommended:—“Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphics,” by Dr. Samuel Birch; “Egyptian Texts,” by the same author, and “Egyptian Grammar,” by P. Le Page Renouf. The two latter works are published in Bagster’s series of Archaic Classics. Wilkinson’s “Ancient Egyptians,” and Cooper’s “Egyptian Obelisks,” are instructive volumes. The author obtained much help from the works of Champollion, Rosellini, Sharpe, Lepsius, and from Vol. II. of “Records of the Past.”
