Lesson Objectives

To understand how the Ancient Egyptians learned to communicate in writing

Ancient Egypt One of the most advanced civilisations

of ancient times.

What do you associate with ancient Egypt?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqGLLOqOhLQ&safe=active

Egyptian Language

Emerged around 3000 B.C. The Egyptians developed hieroglyphics

as a way of communicating. They were very time-consuming to

produce, and were mainly written in the tombs and pyramids of royalty. They were also sometimes written on papyrus or wood.

Hieroglyphics are similar to ideograms. They can represent individual letters or

numbers

= A = 2

They can represent word sounds

= CH

Or whole words

= Strength

Presentation Note that the Egyptians, when writing hieroglyphs, generally drew each hieroglyph in a square (or rectangular) area. Sometimes there might be one, two or more hieroglyphs in the one area. The secondary hieroglyphs were usually smaller than the main one, though a number of small hieroglyphs could be used instead.

Direction of Writing Hieroglyphs could be read in a number of directions, depending on how the hieroglyphs are set out. It is usually easy to tell - you read into the face of the hieroglyphic animals. For example, if the hieroglyph of the snake (or bird, etc) is facing to the right, you read the hieroglyphs from left to right... and vice versa! If there are two hieroglyphs in the same area, read the top-most one first, then the one(s) under in the correct direction.This goes for hieroglyphs set out in rows or columns. Rows are, of course, read in the correct direction, and downwards... and columns are read across ways!

How do we know what they mean? For centuries, nobody was able to

understand hieroglyphics. Historians knew they were part of an alphabet, but they couldn’t read them.

The discovery of the Rosetta Stone made this possible.

When the Rosetta stone was carved in 196BC, Egyptians were beginning to speak in newer versions of Egyptian, and in Greek. The old language was eventually forgotten about.

http://www.history.co.uk/this-day-in-history/July/19/about.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvw6Kn3kwlQ&safe=active

Can you draw and write these animals in hieroglyphs?

Task

Use the alphabet sheet to write your full name using hieroglyphics

EXT: Write a short statement about something you’ve learned today using hieroglyphics. See if another member of the class can decipher it.