46 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
46 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
<!-- factbase:68261c -->
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# Egyptian Hieroglyphics
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## Overview
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Egyptian hieroglyphics were the formal writing system of ancient Egypt, used for ~3,500 years on monuments, temples, and tombs. Deciphered by Jean-François Champollion in 1822 using the Rosetta Stone.
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## Key Facts
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- Origin: ~3200 BCE (earliest examples from Abydos; bone/ivory tags dated 3400–3200 BCE) @t[~3200 BCE] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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- Period of use: ~3200 BCE – ~400 CE @t[~3200 BCE..~400 CE] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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- Number of signs: ~700 in classical usage (expanded to ~5,000 in Ptolemaic period) <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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- Deciphered by: Jean-François Champollion (1822) using the Rosetta Stone @t[=1822] [^1] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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## System
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- Three sign types: logograms (word-signs), phonograms (sound-signs), and determinatives (semantic classifiers) [^3] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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- Written left-to-right, right-to-left, or top-to-bottom (direction indicated by which way figures face) <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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- Hieratic: Cursive form for everyday use (~2600 BCE onward) @t[~2600 BCE..] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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- Demotic: Later cursive form (~650 BCE onward) @t[~650 BCE..] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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- Coptic: Final stage of the Egyptian language, using Greek alphabet with Demotic-derived letters (~300 CE onward)
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## Key Artifacts
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- Rosetta Stone (196 BCE): Trilingual decree (hieroglyphic, Demotic, Greek) that enabled decipherment @t[=196 BCE] [^2] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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- Narmer Palette (~3100 BCE): Among the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions @t[~3100 BCE] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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- Book of the Dead: Funerary texts with hieroglyphic illustrations, used from the New Kingdom (~1550 BCE) to ~50 BCE @t[~1550 BCE..~50 BCE] [^4] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
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---
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[^1]: Robinson, A. *Cracking the Egyptian Code* (Thames & Hudson, 2012)
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[^2]: Parkinson, R. *The Rosetta Stone* (British Museum, 2005)
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[^3]: World History Encyclopedia. "Egyptian Hieroglyphs." worldhistory.org (2025)
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[^4]: Wikipedia. "Book of the Dead." en.wikipedia.org (accessed 2026)
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---
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## Review Queue
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<!-- factbase:review -->
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 18: "Coptic: Final stage of the Egyptian language, using Greek alphabet with Demot..." - when was this true?
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 9: Malformed temporal tag @t[~-3200..~400 CE] — see docs for valid syntax
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 23: Malformed temporal tag @t[~-1550..~-50] — see docs for valid syntax
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- [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 18: "Coptic: Final stage of the Egyptian language, using Greek alphabet with Demot..." - what is the source?
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