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The Art of Writing
The idea of writing may have been introduced into
Egypt from Mesopotamia (the “Land between Two Rivers” the Tigris and
the Euphrates which occupied approximately the region of modern
Iraq). A people known as the Sumerians arrived in Mesopotamia c.3500
BC and established a civilization based on the concept of the
city-state.
One major achievement was the establishment of a writing system based initially on pictures of things or objects (pictographs). The Sumerians engraved these pictographs with a reed stylus on clay tablets. Because these writing implements produced lines and wedge-shaped impressions on the wet clay, the pictographs soon became stylized. Eventually this method of writing was used for the languages of other civilizations that developed later in the same region Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian. This writing system is known as “cuneiform.” Extant cuneiform texts predate those from Egypt perhaps because writing occurred first in Mesopotamia, but possibly because the Sumerian writing material (clay) was more durable than the Egyptian (papyrus and wood). It has been argued that the concept of writing may have been introduced to Egypt from elsewhere, perhaps Mesopotamia, in c.3400 BC. If the Egyptians did receive the idea of writing from outside, however, they quickly adapted it for their own purposes and used their own images from the world around them for their pictographs. Examples of the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphic writing found on slate palettes (c.3200 BC) indicate that the writing system was already fully developed and that the earliest hieroglyphs represented Egyptian and not Mesopotamian objects. Once they had developed their writing system the Egyptians adopted an almost obsessive preoccupation with the written word: They covered almost every monumental wall surface with hieroglyphs, and objects as well as papyri often carry a text written in hieroglyphs, hieratic, or demotic. Since the Egyptians regarded hieroglyphs as an art form as well as a means of conveying language, they devoted themselves to the skills associated with the production of hieroglyphs. Many of the pictorial signs reflect the natural beauty of the land and represent its flora and fauna. Texts are found not only on the outer walls or areas of monuments where they would impress the viewer but also within the innermost chambers and on funerary goods, which were intended to remain buried forever. The main purpose of writing was not decorative, and it was not originally intended for literary or commercial use. Its most important function was to provide a means by which certain concepts or events could be brought into existence. The Egyptians believed that if something were committed to writing it could be repeatedly “made to happen” by means of magic. Scenes and inscriptions in tombs and temples were intended to be ceremonially activated, or “brought to life,” through the ritual of “Opening the Mouth,” which was performed during the burial ceremony at the tomb or at the consecration of a temple. Gradually, writing (even hieroglyphs) developed secular uses, but the idea that the written word had intrinsic magical properties was never lost. .
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Monumental Inscriptions
Monumental inscriptions occur on the walls of pyramids, tombs, and temples. From Dynasty 5, the Pyramid Texts were placed on interior walls of pyramids to ensure the safe passage of the king to the next world; walls in tomb offering chapels and burial chambers were decorated with autobiographies of the owners (often inscribed on stelae), offering texts, funerary hymns, and hymns to the sun; and temple walls were covered with horizontal registers of scenes and inscriptions showing the rites performed there for the gods and dead kings, as well as formal, historical inscriptions and great festival texts that sometimes preserve the hymns sung to praise the gods at these events. .
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Inscribed Objects
Texts were also inscribed on objects placed in the tomb. The Coffin Texts (to ensure the successful passage of the deceased to the next world) and other divine or magical inscriptions appear on wooden, stone, or cartonnage mummy cases. Magico-religious texts also decorated tomb furniture and equipment (made from a variety of materials including wood, metal, pottery, ivory, and faience) to ensure that the object would function for the tomb owner in the next world. His name was often written on the object to ensure eternal ownership. The scarab (usually made of faience) placed over the heart of the mummy usually carried the spell to prevent the heart witnessing against its owner at the Day of Judgment. Ushabtis model mummiform figurines intended to relieve the owner of agricultural duties in the next world were inscribed with the owner’s name and a spell confirming they would undertake these duties. Inscribed objects also occurred in domestic contexts and in temples: Shrines and statues bearing their owners’ names were placed in temples so that they could receive the god’s bounty. .
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The Art of Writing
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