what are the contributions of egyptions to mankind?
Answers
Art of Writing:
To express the thinking of their mind, the Egyptians invented art of writing. Although from the very beginning they were not acquainted with the alphabets, still then they were able to express their idea through different pictures. So, their writing was popularly known as ‘Hieroglyphy’ or ‘sacred writing’ because those were written by the priests.
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At first, the Egyptians used pictures and then they used around 2000 pictographic signs. In due course of time their number was reduced and limited to 700 only. At last they invented 24 alphabets. They engraved those alphabets on stone. The ‘Rosetta Stone’ preserved in the British Museum in London is its classic example. Later on the Egyptians used pen and paper
Paper, pen, ink and inkpot:
On the banks of Nile, a plant named ‘Papyrus’ was plentily available. The leaves of Papyrus tree were joined through gum and the long roll was prepared. By polish such rolls were glazed. In a Papyrus roll of twenty to forty feet length and five to ten inches breadth the Egyptian wrote their idea. The modem name ‘Paper’, perhaps, has been derived from the term ‘Papyrus’.
They took juice of plants and prepared ‘ink’ by mixing gum and water with it. In several cases they also prepared ink by missing gum with black particles found from kitchen house or lamps.
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They sharpened the edge of the steam of a plant and prepared ‘reed pen’. By dipping the pen inside the ‘ink pot’ they wrote on Papyrus. At last, pieces of Papyrus were rolled and preserved inside the earthen pots. Writing was indeed a noble invention of the Egyptians.
Literature:
The ancient Egyptians had created immortal literature. They composed literature concerning astrology, metallurgy, weaving and cooking. Besides, they also reflected legends, adventures, thrilling experiences, religious thought etc. in their literature. Among their prose writings, ‘The tale of two brothers’, ‘The tale of Sinuhi’, ‘The legend of the doomed prince’ and ‘The story of the ship-wrecked Sailor’ were very famous. Their religious literature contained books like ‘The Pyramid Text’, ‘The Coffin Text’, ‘The Book of the dead’, ‘A dialogue between the disgusted Man and his soul’, ‘The Maxims of Ptahotep’ and ‘Hymn to Aton’ (written by Akhnaton).
Answer:
The Egyptians developed a writing system to express the contents of the mind. At first, the system used was not alphabetic, but used images to express ideas.
Subsequently, around 2000 pictographic signs were used to write, which were reduced to 700 with the passage of time.
Finally, they developed the alphabet, which is engraved on the Rosetta stone (preserved in the British Museum).