HIEROGLYPHICS HIEROGLYPHS are pictures that were used to write the ancient Egyptian language. In the beginning hieroglyphic signs were used to keep records of the king's possessions. Scribes could easily make these records by drawing a picture of a cow or a boat followed by a number. But as the language became more complex more pictures were needed. Eventually the language consisted of more then 750 individual signs. AS in other languages, words in Egyptian were …showed first 75 words of 1003 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1003 total…make the signs as accurate as possible. Hieratic: This was the cursive form of writing, as script is to printed letters. It was much quicker to write since the picture quality of the language was reduced to a pattern of lines and squiggles. Demotic: This was a shorthand version of the Hieratic script which was used during the Late Period. Demotic means "the people's writing." It got this name because many people could read it.