✔ Learn what hieroglyphics are.
✔ Find out who scribes were.
✔ Discover what Egyptians wrote on.
The ancient Egyptians did not write with letters like A, B, and C. They wrote with little pictures called hieroglyphics! There were more than 700 picture signs — birds, snakes, eyes, water waves, and more. Some pictures stood for sounds, and some stood for whole words.
Writing with hieroglyphics was hard. It took years to learn! Special writers called scribes went to school for a long time to master it. Scribes were very important people — they wrote letters for the pharaoh, kept track of grain, and recorded Egypt's stories.
Egyptians carved hieroglyphics on temple walls and painted them inside tombs. They also wrote on papyrus, a paper made from smashed river plants. Our word 'paper' comes from 'papyrus'!
1. What are hieroglyphics?
2. Who were the scribes?
3. What did Egyptians write on?
Write what each word means in your own words.
Write T for true or F for false in each circle.
Invent 3 of your own picture signs: one for your name, one for your favorite food, and one for your favorite animal.
1. Would you rather write with letters or with pictures? Why?
2. Why do you think scribes were so important in Egypt?
| I learned... | Circle one |
|---|---|
| What hieroglyphics are | YES / NOT YET |
| What a scribe did | YES / NOT YET |