Writing and knowledge of the ancient Egyptians. Stages of language development. Evolution of science and medicine

The civilization that originated along the banks of the Nile more than 4000 years ago, contains many secrets. Favorable conditions in this area, a mild climate, contributed to the very early development of various branches of science and art. The writing and knowledge of the ancient Egyptians is the subject of research by many scientists of the world. The first texts from among those that reached us were created approximately in 3000 BC. E., later evolved and represent monuments of art and history. Well, let's look at them in more detail and understand with what secrets the ancient civilization left behind .

General ideas about language and skills

All the information that we have today about Ancient Egypt, obtained as a result of archaeological excavations. Various documents were found, composed in dead languages. For decades they have been deciphering them. They contained information about all spheres of life within the framework of this civilization, beginning with laws and church service, ending with recipes for cooking. It turns out that the writing and knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, which we can study now, are inextricably linked. Deciphering the grammar of this people, we will be able to open much of its secrets. Therefore, it is from the history of writing that we begin, dividing it into four main periods.

Period one: hieroglyphs

The ancient writing of the Egyptians appeared in the pre-dynastic period, when as such the state did not even exist. However, the gods and priests for this people were something sacred and inviolable at all times, and it was thanks to the notions of these "rulers of the world" that the Egyptians created their first writing system. Hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt was very different from modern Chinese or Japanese. These were colorful pictures (today we find them monochrome due to the destructive influence of time), which depicted objects, events, people. In short, people drew what they saw, simplifying the objects a little. Writing hieroglyphs could have any direction - from right to left or vice versa, sometimes even from top to bottom. The main thing is that the result should be beautiful.

Period two: Hierality

The Hellenistic period for Egypt is closely connected with Greece and the Roman Empire. In addition to exchanges of military experience, there was a language assimilation. The writing and knowledge of the ancient Egyptians were systematized thanks to the alphabet that came from ancient Europe. There was a first type of cursive - hieratic. Then this new literary language was accessible only to the cream of the society, and sacred texts and legal acts were compiled on it.

The third stage of development: demotic

At the turn of the era, assimilation was already taking place in the population of ancient Egypt. Arabs came here, bringing their traditions, beliefs and, of course, language. Among all the layers of the people, a fundamentally new type of writing has become popular - a demotic one, which in appearance resembles modern Arabic. Public documents, general access literature, biographies and memos were made on it. Nevertheless, the hieratics was still the official letter of the country and was used in worship and jurisdiction.

Fourth period: Coptic

This is the last stage of the development of ancient Egyptian speech and writing, which replaced demotics. Unlike its predecessors, the Coptic letter had its own alphabet, a different manner of pronunciation, writing, addition of syllables and words into a sentence. In many ways this language is similar to Greek, but it is referred to the Afrasian language family. The writing and knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, which belong to earlier periods, the scientists were able to decipher only thanks to Coptic cursive writing. In this language, the Egyptians translated older documents and summaries of their ancestors. Until the 19th century, the language of the Copts was used in worship, and was later identified in the ranks of the dead.

Pyramid is a repository of secrets

The knowledge of the ancient Egyptians became the basis for modern science. None of the civilizations so advanced as this one, and at no point in the world at that time there was such a developed domestic system. It is in the records that were stored in these buildings that we find the first medical benefits. They talk about how to heal craniocerebral trauma, it is painted, what herbs treat us from these or other ailments. The Egyptians knew what are the stars in the sky, why they appear at night and where they disappear in the daytime. In addition, ancient Egyptian mathematics is what we teach today in school. The volume of figures, the ratio of mass and parameters, equations with unknowns and fractions - all this was invented in the valley of the Nile.