The secptrum of Egyptian scripts 2

The spectrum of Egyptian scripts 2

Cursive scripts derived from hieroglyphs, where the hieroglyphic base can still be recognised: these are known as 'hieratic' (Greek for 'related to the sacred': at the time of ancient Greek contact with Egypt, these scripts were used mainly for religious manuscripts).

Old Hieratic; Middle Hieratic; Late Hieratic; Inscriptional Hieratic Over time, hieratic developed increasingly cursive combinations of signs: Old Hieratic shows few ligatures, Middle and Late Hieratic have many. However, there is a reverse trend, whereby at certain points the script was standardised with returns to forms closer to the underlying hieroglyphic base. As a result, hieratic of the early New Kingdom (about 1550-1069 BC) seems less cursive than hieratic of the late Middle Kingdom.

There was increasing differentiation in script according to type and content of document. This arose probably from the layout of writing on manuscripts that varied in size and format according to content (letters, accounts, literary compositions, ritual manuscripts). In late Middle Kingdom hieratic papyri, this helps us to distinguish types of manuscript even where the surviving fragments are small. In Late Hieratic the script has fissioned according to use: a fine calligraphic style of script was used for more formal, literary and religious manuscipts, while a highly cursive style evolved for less formal letters and economic writing.

Inscriptional Hieratic is the term adopted here for the 'frozen' formal handwritten script of the first millennium BC. After the New Kingdom a version of the calligraphic hieratic script was used for religious manuscripts, and in some instances for literature. In contrast to constant changes in earlier hieratic, the last phase of the script shows remarkable consistency in forms over long periods. Study of these forms is closer to epigraphic study of hieroglyphic inscriptions, than to the palaeographic study of handwriting with earlier phases of hieratic. At these times, the third, more cursive group of scripts existed alongside hieratic, replacing it for most 'mortal' writing.

UC 32124