Hieroglyphics (so called from the Greek hieros, sacred, and glypho, I engrave), is a term originally applied to the inscriptions sculptured on buildings in Egypt, in the belief that the writing was confined to sacred subjects, and legible only to the priests. The term has also been applied to picture-writing in general, such as that of the Mexicans and the still ruder pictures of the North American Indians.
Three different modes of writing were used by the ancient Egyptians, the Hieroglyphic, the Hieratic, and the Demotic. Pure hieroglyphic writing is the earliest, and consists of figures of material objects from every sphere of nature and art, with certain mathematical and arbitrary symbols. Next was developed the hieratic or priestly writing, the form in which most Egyptian literature is written, and in which the symbols almost cease to be recognizable as figures of objects. Hieratic writings of the third millennium BC are extant. In the demotic or enchorial writing, derived directly from the hieratic, the symbols are still more obscured. The demotic was first used in the 9th century BC, and was chiefly employed in social and commercial intercourse.
Down to the end of the 18th century scholars failed to find a clue to the hieroglyphic writings. In 1799, however, Bouchard, a French captain of engineers, discovered at Rosetta the celebrated stone which afforded European scholars a key to the language and writing of the ancient Egyptians. It contained a trilingual inscription in hieroglyphics, demotic characters, and Greek, which turned out
to be a decree of the priests in honour of Ptolemy V, issued in 195 BC. The last paragraph of the Greek inscription stated that two translations, one in the sacred and the other in the popular Egyptian language, would be found adjacent to it.
The discovery of an alphabet was the first task. The demotic part of the inscription was first examined by De Sacy and Akerblad, and the signification of a number of the symbols ascertained. The hieroglyphic part was next carefully examined and compared with the demotic and Greek. At last after much study Champollion and Dr. Thomas Young, independently of each other, discovered the method of reading the characters in 1822, and thus provided a clue to the decipherment of the ancient Egyptian writing.
Hieroglyphic characters are either ideographic, i.e. using well-known objects as symbols of conceptions, or phonetic, i.e. representing words by symbols standing for their sounds. The phonetic signs are again divided into alphabetical signs and syllabic signs. Many of the ideographic characters are simple enough; thus the figure of a man, a woman, a calf, indicate simply those objects. Others, however, are less simple, and convey their meaning figuratively or symbolically.
Water was expressed by three zigzag lines, one above the other, to represent waves or ripples of running water, milk by a milk-jar, oil by an oil-jar, fishing by a pelicanseizing a fish, i.e. fishing; seeing and sight by an eye; and so on.
The nature of the phonetic hieroglyphs, which represent simply sounds are more diffuclt to explain. Characters represent sounds, thus a picture of a knee represents a K sound. A lioncouchant represents the L sound. A reed represents the E sound The reed is doubled to represents the diphthong 'ai'. A noose represents the O sound. A mat represents the P sound. An eagle represents the A sound. The hand represents the T sound. A semicircle is found at the end of feminine proper names, and is the Coptic feminine article T.
The researches of Champollion satisfied him of the existence of homophones, or characters having the same phonetic value and which might be interchanged in writing proper names. The mouth, represents the R sound. The egg is found at the end of proper names of women, and is a feminine affix. The hook represents the S sound Vowels were only regarded by the Egyptians as they were needed to avoid ambiguous writing.
There are groups of hieroglyphs of which one element is an ideographic sign, to which a phonetic complement is added to indicate the pronunciation of the ideographic sign. The words of a text could be written in hieroglyphs in three ways: 1. By phonetic hieroglyphs, 2. By ideographic hieroglyphs; and 3, by a combination of both. According to Ebers, in the perfected system of hieroglyphics the symbols for sounds and syllables are to be regarded as the foundation of the writing, while symbols for ideas are interspersed with them, partly to render the meaning more intelligible, and partly for ornamental purposes, or with a view to keep up the mystic character of the hieroglyphics. Research Hieroglyphics
An iceberg is a mass of ice that has broken off from a glacier and is afloat in the sea. They are in fact pieces of glaciers detached from the parent mass by the action of the sea and by their own accumulating weight. They present the strangest and most picturesque forms, are sometimes miles in length, and rise to a height of perhaps 250 or 300 feet above the sea, the portion above water being calculated at about an eighth of the whole. Icebergs consist of clear, compact, solid ice, with a bluish-green tint. Their cavities contain fresh water, from the melting of the ice. They are frequently encountered in the North Atlantic and in the southern seas as well, and have caused many a wreck - the most famous perhaps being the Titanic which sank after striking an iceberg. The ice that forms on the surface of the sea, called field-ice, is porous, incompact, and imperfectly transparent. The field-ice forms in winter and breaks up in summer. A small field is called a, floe; one much broken up forms a pack. A piece of ice that breaks off from an iceberg is called a calf. Research Iceberg
Vellum (named from the old French Velin whih derives from the Latin vitulinus meaning of a calf) is a type of superior parchment made from the skin of a calf, kid or lamb, and given a smooth finish. The once celebrated Strasbourg vellum was prepared with remarkably fine pumice stones. Vellum, known since earliest times as a material for manuscripts and books, is now rarely used, though it was used for bookbinding during the late 19th century. Research Vellum
A manatee (round-tailed sea cow) is a herbivorous marine mammal of the family Manatidae of the order Sirenia inhabiting the warm shores and great river mouths of South America, Central America, Florida and west Africa.
Manatees live for between twenty and thirty years, and reach sexual maturity at around three to four. They breed all year round, producing one or sometimes two calves after a gestation period of about 170 days. The calf is then guarded by both parents and is suckled until it is about one and a half, and leaves the parents when it reaches the age of two. Research Manatee
The orang utan (Simia satyrus) is an anthropoid ape found only in Borneo and Sumatra, where its popular name means 'man of the woods'. The orang utan has very long arms, which reach to the ankle when the animal stands upright, and short, thick, twisted legs with a feebly developed calf, and narrow flat heels. The hair is very long, and is reddish orange in colour. The skull is without the prominent superciliary ridges of the gorilla, and is produced at the vertex, so as to give the animal the appearance of possessing a much elongated forehead. The central bone of the carpus, absent in man, the chimpanzee and the gorilla, is present in the orang utan. The great toe is very small and devoid of a nail in the adult, and is often devoid of its terminal phalanx. The orang utan lives in thick forests and is adapted for arboreal life, living mainly on fruit but also leaves, buds and young shoots. The animals live in small family groups and build shelters high in the trees which they move between by careful and deliberate swinging by the arms,
never leaping or jumping. Research Orang Utan
Aaron was a Jewish patriarch and the brother and assistant of Moses. Together with Moses he led the Israelites out of Egypt, and became the first Jewish high priest. Aaron was of the tribe of Levi. At Sinai, when the people became impatient at the long-continued absence of Moses, he complied with their request in making a golden calf, and thus became involved with them in the guilt of gross idolatry. The office of high-priest, which he first filled, was made hereditary in his family. He died at Mount Hor, allegedly at the age of 123, and was succeeded by his son Eleazar. Research Aaron
The anterior tibial veins pass between the tibia and fibula along the leg. These veins receive blood from the knee joint, muscles of the thigh, and upper calf and the join the posterior tibial and the popliteal vein. The veins have numerous valves to assist in the transport of blood against gravity up the leg. Research Anterior Tibial Vein
Each foot is made up of twenty-six bones which form the ankle, top and bottom of the foot, and toes. These bones are articularly specialized, allowing a wide range of flexibility, while being able to withstand the incredible amounts of stress placed upon them. It is estimated that each stride of an adult places 900 pounds per square inch on the bottom of the foot. Seven of these bones form the compact arrangement of the ankle, or tarsus, and the heel. These tarsal bones include the navicular, the three cuneiform, the cuboid, the talus, and the calcaneus bones.
These tarsal bones are arranged generally in two rows, the proximal and distal. The distal tarsals articulate with the five metatarsals. The long metatarsals form the broad, long structure of the foot, as seen in the superior view. These, in turn, articulate with the proximal phalanges. The proximal phalanges join with the middle phalanges, which articulate with the end sections of the toes, called distalphalanges. The large toe is the exception, as it lacks a middle phalanx. Ligaments connect the bones of the foot together and allow the muscles of the calf to remotely influence these bones. Research Bones of the Foot
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Hieroglyphics
