Taken from http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/theme/egypt02.htm
Most people don't understand that Mdw Ntr and hieroglyphs are similar words; they are just two different languages. It is the same thing as water and its Spanish equalivant agua. In the beginning Mdw Ntr signs were used to keep record of the king's possessions. Pictograms is the simpler term for hieroglyphs. Scribes could easily make these records by drawing a picture of a cow or a boat followed by a number. As the language became more complex more pictures were needed. Eventually the language consisted more than 750 individual signs. The word hieroglyphs, a Greek word that means "sacred carving," is a symbol language that was used to communicate information on temples and monuments. It could be written with pen and ink on papyrus or painted or carved into stone. It was carefully drawn to make the signs as accurate as possible. Mdw Ntr appeared about 5,000 years ago. The Kemetians first used Mdw Ntr for inscriptions carved or painted on temple walls. This form of writing was also used on tombs, sheets of papyrus, wooden boards covered with a stucco wash, potsherds, and fragments of limestone. Mdw Ntr is written in columns or in horizontal lines. It is commonly read from right to left and from top to bottom. Sometimes, the script is read from left to right. The reader can find out which way to read it by looking at the animal and human figures. If they face towards the left of the text you read from left to right. If a figure faces right, the text should be read from right to left.
The
reader is to read toward the face of the animal and/or human figures.
For example if a figure faces right, the text should be read from right
to left. The text below is read from left to right because the faces
in the humans and animals are turned to the left. |
Taken from http://www.nilemuse.com/hieroscribe.html
There are six different stages
of the Mdw Ntr writing and they are:
|
How
to read Mdw Ntr |
Write
down the Hieroglyph .. ex: /\/\/\/\/\/\/\ |
Transliterate
the Hieroglyph .. ex: n ('en') |
Translate
the Transliteration .. ex: water |
This video clip further explains Mdw Ntr and KMT
(If you would like to
download this video right click here then click "Save
Target As")
Mdw Ntr is only one of the three scripts which was used in KMT. It was the start of a chain. From Mdw Ntr came Hieratic and from Hieratic, Enchorial was developed. Enchorial is also known as Demotic. None of these writings ended the use of the other ones. There is a difference between Hieratic and Demotic. In the Graeco-Roman age Hieratic was the usual script the priests used. Hieratic comes from the Greek word hïeratikos meaning priestly. Demotic is the more popular language. Demotic comes from the greek word dëmötikos and Enchorial comes from the Greek word enkhörios. Demotic means popular and Enchorial means native. The earliest dechiperers used the term Enchorial. Demotic made its first appearance at the time of the Ethiopian Dynasty. During the Ptolemaic and Roman age it was the writing of daily life. There are three kinds of Phonograms. Uniliteral and Alphabetic are the first. They are signs that represent single consonants. The second is Biliteral and that is the combination of two consonants. The last is Triliteral and the are the combinations of three consonants. Hieroglyphic writing ignored vowels. Ideograms that serve to determine a considerable number of different words can naturally express the kind of sense borne by these, and no their specific meanings were called Generic Determinatives. |
Ideas from Mdw Ntr are used in many places today. To find more information click here. The Rosetta Stone was an essential link for the Western world to decipher the meanings of the Mdw Ntr. To learn more about the Rosetta Stone click the link below. |
Taken from http://www.davidk.net/media/portfolio/photographs/egypt/hieroglyphs_words.jpg
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_language
http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/writing/demotic.html
