Ancient Egyptian Writing

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Paragraph 1: The ancient Egyptians’ hieroglyphs (writing) could not be deciphered until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, a meter-high fragment of dark grey stone, in a place known as Rosetta (today’s el-Rashid). The Rosetta Stone has since become one of the most famous pieces of rock in the world. It was dug up by chance in 1799 by Napoleon Bonaparte’s soldiers, during the French occupation of Egypt. Fortunately the officer who found it realized it was a significant artifact and immediately ensured its safe-keeping. What made it special was that it had the same bit of text inscribed in three different scripts. The top section was written in formal hieroglyphs, which at the time they were carved, around 196 B.C.E., had been the traditional script for stone inscriptions. The middle section was written in the everyday script of literate Egyptians, the informal demotic hieroglyphs, and at the bottom was Egypt’s then language of officialdom, Greek. When the initial shoulder-high slab of stone, or stela (a decorated commemorative stone), had fallen from the wall of a temple, it broke in such a way that its bottom half included enough of the known Greek and the unknown Egyptian scripts for the correspondence between the scripts to be discovered. While parts of the surface were damaged, the bottom Greek script was able to provide some of the clues that eventually led the French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion to complete the hieroglyphs decipherment in 1822. With the ancient language unlocked, a more informed study of Egyptian culture could begin.

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1. According to paragraph 1, how was the Rosetta Stone discovered??

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O French scholars traveled to Rosetta to study the hieroglyphs there.?

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O Napoleon Bonaparte ordered his soldiers to search for artifacts containing hieroglyphs.?

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O Several hieroglyphic scripts indicated the location of the Rosetta Stone.?

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O A French officer recognized the value of an ancient artifact.

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2. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 1 about the function of the Rosetta Stone in ancient times??

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O It included information about an Egyptian temple.?

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O It included messages sent to Egypt by the Greeks.?

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O It was a translation tool used by literate Egyptians.?

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O It was a commemorative stone on a building wall.

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3. According to paragraph 1, why was the work of Jean-Francois Champollion important??

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O He realized that the Egyptian and Greek scripts on the Rosetta Stone correspond to each other.?

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O He contributed to the study of ancient Egypt by deciphering Egypt’s writing system.

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O He was the first scholar to study the Egyptian script on the Rosetta Stone.?

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O He realized that the Rosetta Stone contains descriptions of important elements of Egyptian culture.?

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Paragraph 2: The Rosetta Stone’s two hieroglyphic scripts provide a vivid example of the tendency for all scripts to develop in two main directions, a formal script for ceremony or public display, and an informal one for everyday use. Writing is never solely utilitarian and commonplace, nor is it always beautiful and exclusive. Both sets of needs have to be served. The first informal or cursive hieroglyphic to be developed is called hieratic (meaning priestly). Its form was a response to the implements used and the surface it was written on. The fluid, linear, and overtly handwritten shapes of hieratic were a natural consequence of ink flowing off the tip of the Egyptian scribes pen or brush and onto the smooth sheets of papyrus (a thick paperlike material made from the papyrus plant). An example of a classic poem that was made in around 1200 B.C.E. by a junior scribe called Inena shows some of the vigor and intricacy of this cursive form.?Where previously each hieroglyph would have stood out in splendid isolation, as in the Book of the Dead (a text aimed at assisting a dead person’s journey to the afterlife), here many of the pictures are run together, sometimes forming abbreviations or stark contractions of several symbols into smaller single shapes.?The way the ink has been pushed and stroked across the papyrus suggests that Inena wrote quickly, though with enough control to set the series of complex word shapes and their dynamic movements along a more or less even baseline (the imaginary line on which the writing appears to sit).?

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4. The word “intricacy” in the passage is closest in meaning to

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O accuracy?

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O beauty?

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O variation?

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O complexity

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5. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information?

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O In the Book of the Dead, many hieroglyphs form abbreviations or stark contractions of several symbols into smaller single shapes.?

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O In the Book of the Dead, many hieroglyphs do not stand out in isolation as they did previously, but instead appear in abbreviations.?

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O Previously, such as in the Book of the Dead, each hieroglyph stands out in isolation, but here, many hieroglyphs are run together.

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O Previously, hieroglyphs are run together, but here, like in the Book of the Dead, many hieroglyphs form abbreviations.?

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6. According to paragraph 2, all of the following statements about the hieratic script are true EXCEPT:?

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O It was intended for ceremony and public display.

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O It was written with ink on sheets of papyrus.?

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O Its hieroglyphs had smooth, linear shapes.?

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O It was sometimes used to record poetry.?

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Paragraph 3: By using a red ink for headings and emphasis, or for the dots marking the ends of the lines of verse, Inena was following the conventions of the time, as he was by writing from right to left. The foundational form of writing, the inscribed hieroglyph, would have been easier to carve from the right when hammering into stone with the right hand, and though this directional preference was less favorable for writing with ink on papyrus—smudging (smearing the ink) was likely when writing from the right with the right hand—it became the default direction for all kinds of Egyptian writing. Most writing in North Africa and the Middle East continues to follow this right-to-left convention. However, this directional preference was never a strong one. It could be ignored if doing so better served the needs of the overall design. On tombs and in illustrated papyri, hieroglyphs often appeared from left to right, or sometimes even in long vertical columns.?

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7. Why does the author provide the information that “On tombs and in illustrated papyri, hieroglyphs often appeared from left to right, or sometimes even in long vertical columns”?

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O To support the claim that the right-to-left preference was not strong

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O To show that Egyptians often ignored the overall design needs of tombs and illustrated papyri?

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O To provide evidence that Egyptian writing differed from most writing in North Africa and the Middle East?

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O To provide additional examples of how Inena followed the conventions of his time?

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8. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is one difference between carving inscriptions on stone and writing in ink on papyrus?

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O Ink on papyrus was the conventional form of writing, while carved inscriptions were reserved for tombs and poetry.?

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O Inscriptions on stone were carved from right to left, while hieroglyphs on papyrus were usually written in the opposite direction.?

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O Using ink to write on papyrus was considered less favorable than carving inscriptions on stone.?

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O For right-handed people, carving is easier to do from right to left but writing in ink works better from left to right.

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Paragraph 1: The ancient Egyptians’ hieroglyphs (writing) could not be deciphered until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, a meter-high fragment of dark grey stone, in a place known as Rosetta (today’s el-Rashid). █ The Rosetta Stone has since become one of the most famous pieces of rock in the world. █ It was dug up by chance in 1799 by Napoleon Bonaparte’s soldiers, during the French occupation of Egypt. █ Fortunately the officer who found it realized it was a significant artifact and immediately ensured its safe-keeping. █ What made it special was that it had the same bit of text inscribed in three different scripts. The top section was written in formal hieroglyphs, which at the time they were carved, around 196 B.CE, had been the traditional script for stone inscriptions. The middle section was written in the everyday script of literate Egyptians, the informal demotic hieroglyphs, and at the bottom was Egypt’s then language of officialdom, Greek. When the initial shoulder-high slab of stone, or stela (a decorated commemorative stone). had fallen from the wall of a temple, it broke in such a way that its bottom half included enough of the known Greek and the unknown Egyptian scripts for the correspondence between the scripts to be discovered. While parts of the surface were damaged, the bottom Greek script was able to provide some of the clues that eventually led the French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion to complete the hieroglyphs decipherment in 1822. With the ancient language unlocked, a more informed study of Egyptian culture could begin.?

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9. Look at the four squares █ that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage?

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There was writing on it describing the achievements of an Egyptian king, but it was not this historical information that made the stone so important for scholars

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Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square █ to add the sentence to the passage?

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10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the 3 answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

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The Rosetta Stone provided important clues about ancient Egyptian writing.

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Answer Choices

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O French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion was the first person to realize the importance of the Rosetta Stone in studying ancient Egyptian culture and ensured its safety during a time of war.?

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O The Rosetta Stone played a key role in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs because it was carved with the same text in both Egyptian hieroglyphs and Greek.

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O Conventions for creating headings and emphasis as well as conventions for adding dots at the ends of verse lines in Egyptian scripts originate from a form of writing used for inscriptions on stone.?

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O Egyptian scripts developed in two main directions, one formal and one informal, and the hieratic is an example of a script that mainly served informal purposes.

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O A classic poem authored by the poet Inena around 1200 B.C.E. shows how the beauty of the Egyptian language was enhanced by the formal Egyptian script.?

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O Writing in ancient Egyptian usually went from right to left, like most writing in North Africa and the Middle East still does, although other directions were also used when needed.