Women were viewed as living models of Isis, the goddess of motherhood.
Egyptian women had the same rights as men and held various jobs throughout the empire.
A New System of Writing
In ancient Egypt, they wrote using a system of pictures to stand for words called hieroglyphs.
Some symbols stood for words and other symbols stood for sounds. They began using hieroglyphs because of the empire’s growing wealth.
Writing Materials
At first, the Egyptians wrote on clay and stone like the Sumerians. Over time, they wanted to write on something more stable, so they chose papyrus.
Papyrus – early form of paper made from a reed found in the marshy areas of the Nile delta.
Papyrus was made by cutting the inner stalks into narrow strips, laying them side by side, wetting them and then letting them dry outside.
Papyrus Artwork
Unlocking a Mystery
Historians could not read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics until 1799 AD. A soldier found a large stone later called the Rosetta Stone while digging a fort in the Nile delta.
The Rosetta Stone contained 3 languages on it, hieroglyphics, demotic (later Egyptian writing), and Greek letters. In 1820, a French scholar named Jean Francois Champollion cracked the code.
Jean-Francois Champollion
Egyptian Legacy
Astronomers – scientists who study the stars and other objects. Egyptians were astronomers in that they knew when the Nile would flood based on Sirius (dog star).
Because of mummification, ancient Egyptians knew a great deal about the body. They learned how to perform surgery on broken bones. They also used plants to create medicines.