Ancient Egypt.Only one name of this country is a sense of mystery and riddles, mystery and a certain magic.With this full-flowing Nile edge associated with many legends and myths, mysteries and adventures.Who has not wanted to get their hands on the legendary treasure of the Pharaohs?Who has not heard about the curse of the rulers of this state?Who has not dreamed at least once in a lifetime to visit the cradle of human civilization, and to touch the wall, which knocked the Egyptian icon letters?Perhaps these people do not find, because here every stone breathes history.And each object able to move at a time when people worshiped the gods with animal heads.
culture in the Nile Valley
This country is very different from other ancient civilizations, its mythology, ideology, religion and culture.Also varies widely icon Egyptian letters from the letters of the ancient world, Phoenicia, Mesopotamia.Until now, scientists have puzzled over the true purpose of monumental pyramids.We, the inhabitants of the twenty-first century, it seems absurd to build a tomb for the pharaohs.Also, it is unclear for what purpose the inhabitants of the Nile valley carved out of stone Sphinx - a reclining lion with a human head.We know a lot about the customs of the Egyptians, the high level of development of science, astronomy, medicine, engineering.But at the same time, we have a myriad of questions that have not yet been answered.
Writing System
High culture in the country demanded the development of writing.And it appeared in the Nile Valley around the fourth millennium BC.At first, each letter of the Egyptian icon display the subject that meant.For example, the sun is depicted a circle with a dot in the center of the water - a few wavy lines, and so on.But it is difficult to convey the image of the name of a god or pharaoh.Therefore, the Egyptians found out - they shared the word into syllables for each word select appropriate character.For example, if a person had to write the word grain (Peret), the first syllable was an icon of the Egyptian writing, indicating the house (feathers).
It should be noted that the system was quite complicated, so the scribes enjoyed a special honor at the court of the Pharaohs.But to do that they had to study long and hard.
Content for books
As mentioned earlier, the icon of the Egyptian name of the letter is simple - the character and the system called hieroglyphics.Now I want to stay for more detail on what the inhabitants of the country more used Hapi to create their books.Letters knocked on stones and rocks on the walls of temples, palaces and tombs, on pottery, metal plates, wooden boards, canvas.But the most common material was papyrus, which grew on the banks of the sacred river.
To prepare the sheet "paper" the cane is cut lengthwise into two parts and delaminate.Then the strips were wetted with water and densely stacked on a table in a particular order.Next it was necessary to put pressure evenly on the formation rock or a stick round - so he Stavan homogeneous, monolithic and durable.After drying, the papyrus was suitable for use in the writing business.Reed stick and spray-painted with special paints sheet rolled up and tied with string.These scrolls can be stored for a long time without losing valuable information.That they are found during the excavation of scientists.
What do the characters
interesting question about what was needed icon of Egyptian writing.In ancient Egypt recorded not only business expenses, such as how many slaves were involved in the construction, how many and what kind of food they were given, how many coins to pay for this or other items.With the characters are engraved on stones, people brought us their hopes and aspirations, talked about their beliefs about grief for the dead man.There are real and literary works, fairy tales, heroic stories about faraway countries of the travails of ordinary people.Often, archaeologists found inscriptions that read about the cruel wrongs and injustice that poor people are forced to endure from the nobility.But most of the characters recorded hymns to the gods, wishes dead, songs that helps the soul to go into the afterlife.
hardest decryption
It is worth noting that the Western world for a long time did not know what it means to each icon of the Egyptian writing.The answer to this question was found later, after the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte.Young and talented military leader, whose idol was Alexander the Great wanted to conquer the planet.Notes he took with him scholars and artists, researchers and historians.So Europe has got acquainted with the culture of Egypt.Then he was discovered the Rosetta Stone, which helped Jean Champollion, brilliant expert on ancient languages, solve the mystery of hieroglyphics.Years of hard work - and the dead stones talking from time immemorial!Today, each person can independently read the mysterious letter.
