Chapter 4 Section 4-Ancient Egypt

Chapter 4 Section 4-Ancient Egypt

Egyptian Achievements

Egyptian Writing

Writing in Ancient Egypt was done using hieroglyphics which used picture symbols to represent sounds.

They wrote on papyrus which was a long-lasting, paper-like material made from reeds. They pressed the layers of reeds together by pounding them. The papyrus was rolled into scrolls. Scribes wrote on the papyrus with brushes and ink.

Hieroglyphics used more than 600 symbols, which were mostly pictures of objects. Each symbol represented one or more sounds in the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphics could be written horizontally or vertically. They could be written from left to right or right to left.

The Rosetta Stone

For a long time no one could read hieroglyphics. In 1799 a French soldier found the Rosetta Stone and gave it to historians. This helped historians read hieroglyphics.

Egyptian Texts

Papyrus did not decay in Egypt's dry climate so many of the texts survived! The Book of the Dead that tells about the afterlife is one such text that survived.

Temples, Tombs, and Art

Egypt's Great Temples were the homes of the Gods. People went to worship, offer the gods gifts, and to ask favors of the gods.

Features of temples were: sphinxes, gates, obelisks, drawings, columns, paintings, hieroglyphics, statues.

Multiple Select

What types of artwork were contained in Egyptian tombs?

• detailed carvings

• huge statues

• jewelry

• paintings