Hieroglyphics

Hieroglyphics - Egyptian alphabet

They come as a template which students can use to write. Why not make them write their names in Hieroglyphs. They can even do so on authentic Egyptian Papyrus. And why not order a class set of bookmarks for them to decorate. You will see how much they will love their history lessons, based on an exciting challenge.

In addition, they will learn the basics of the Egyptian characters and with them the beginnings of Egyptian culture, art and religion.

Egyptian hieroglyphs are the characters (letters) of the oldest known Egyptian writing system, dating back to about the years 3200 B.C. And they have been still in use up until about the year 300 A.D. Although the Egyptian characters then changed into Coptic, many older words were still preserved, even though Greek and Latin words entered the Egyptian language. Egyptian was originally a pure picture-writing, but later consonants and vowels were added, a form of writing used not only in Egypt, but also in Nubia. According to tradition, the ancient Egyptian God of Wisdom, Thoth, had created the hieroglyphs. The Egyptians called it thus the "font of the words of God". Historically, the beginnings of Egyptian script go certainly back to pre-dynastic times. Our oldest known hieroglyphs come from around the year 3200 B.C. and were unearthed in Abydos in the pre-dynastic tomb of prince U-j. The fully developed hieroglyphs were located on small tablets. These were attached to vessels and referred to the workshop. Some of the early signs of Egyptian hieroglyphs are similar to the Sumerian characters. They might have been influenced, or, the way around, the hieroglyphs could have influenced the Sumerian characters. Whichever way the influence went, the hieroglyphic script as it appears already in the oldest evidence seems to have been an accomplished system. The script itself can be a fascinating topic for students to explore.

Hieroglyphic alphabet of the Egyptians

The alphabet as stamps or template can be found in our Teaching Material on Egypt. Take the rubber side of the letters, use an inkpad with original antique ink which you can also purchase on The Roman Shop, and you can create your own word designs.