Writing System

Writing Systems
The Middle Egyptian language was written using two major writing systems: the monumental Hieroglyphic (and along with it "cursive hieroglyphic" which was used for written paper documents) and the everyday, cursive, quasi-shorthand Hieratic. Hieroglyphic Egyptian evolved from the Hieroglyphic writing system used to write Old Egyptian. Hieratic, on the other hand, was developed for everyday use, as a simpler and more efficient writing style for paper (papyrus) documents and day-to-day records.

Hieroglyphic EgyptianEgypt-luxor-1p-medinet-habu-temple-coloured-hieroglyphs.jpg
The Hieroglyphic Egyptian script is comprised of four major types of signs:  monoliterals, biliterals, triliterals , and determinatives. Each type has its own purpose and can be interpreted in several ways. All signs (except determinatives) can be interpreted phonetically, just was we interpret the glyph "A" to have the sound of the letter A or as the French interpret "ch" to sound like the English "sh." All signs (including determinatives) can be interpreted logographically, that is, all signs can directly represent the idea that they depict, so a picture of a house could either read "pr" phonetically (the word for house)  or it could read "house" conveying the idea of a house.

Hieratic Egyptian


Hieratic Egyptian is arguably harder to read, as it is handwritten and full of various ligatures and shorthands. Here is a good beginner's guide to reading Hieratic.