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[[File: NarmerPalette.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|The Front and Back Sides of the Narmer Palette. The <i>Serekh</i> Is in the Top Middle above the King]]__NOTOC__
Ancient Egypt was one of the world’s first two literate societies, having discovered the art/science of writing around the year 3,100 BC, not long after the first scripts were invented in Mesopotamia. But writing in Egypt developed very differently than in Mesopotamia. The initial development of writing in Mesopotamia can be followed along a very gradual, yet definite path, while in Egypt , the appearance of the first written texts was somewhat sudden.
The Egyptians quickly mastered writing , and before too long , they used it in a number of several different literary genres. During the period known as the Old Kingdom, Egyptians used writing to convey their ideas about the afterlife in tombs and on monumental inscriptions, and they first began to experiment with what would be known as “literature” in the modern sense. It was during the Middle Kingdom, though, when the Egyptian written language flourished the most , and literary works were written that were dutifully copied for centuries by countless scribes. By the time of the New Kingdom, the Egyptian written language had evolved to the point where written texts were quite ubiquitous , and alternate forms of writing became common. In addition to the hieroglyphic script, the Egyptians developed cursive scripts known as <i>hieratic</i> and <i>demotic</i>, which were essentially shorthand versions of the hieroglyphic script, used primarily for documents written on papyrus. When the Romans, Byzantines, and Arabs ruled over Egypt, the native forms of the written language eventually died. However, although a vestige of them was retained in the liturgical language of Coptic.
===Early Egyptian Writing===
[[File: RIIPrenonem_Karnak.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|An Example of Hieroglyphic Writing. It Shows the Prenomen/Throne Name of Ramesses II, Usermaatresetepenre]]
The earliest forms of documented writing in Egypt are found in the Early Dynastic tombs in the necropolis of Abydos. The oldest example is believed to be a tomb known as “U-j,” which belonged to one of the first Egyptian kings, who ruled just before 3,100 BC. The earliest inscriptions are quite simple, consisting of little more than a few words at most, but the hieroglyphic system of writing appears to have been already fully formed. The early Egyptian hieroglyphic script consisted of both ideographic and phonetic signs rendered in about 200 signs. <ref> Bard, Kathryn A. “The Emergence of the Egyptian State (c. 3200-2686 BC).” In <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.</i> Edited by Ian Shaw. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 78</ref> The hieroglyphic script could be quite adaptable, which often confounds modern scholars of the language. For instance, the sign that corresponds to a “t” sound was a hieroglyph of a loaf of bread: it could, therefore, be employed phonetically as a “t” sound in a word or as an ideogram to indicate bread or something to do with bread.
Monumental inscriptions were carved in the stone of Egyptian temples and on stelae, but the countless administrative documents, as well as literature and other texts, were written on papyrus. Papyrus is a reed that was once quite abundant in Egypt’s Nile Valley and could function as a form of paper. In fact, the modern word “paper” is actually derived from Greek word “papyrus.” In order to utilize papyrus as paper, it simply had to be cut down and rolled out, which allowed it to be used in individual sheets. Scribes could write on either side of a papyrus roll and it could also be used as a palimpsest – if the writer made a mistake, he could simply erase what he wrote and restart. <ref> Shaw, Ian, and Paul Nicholson. <i>The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt.</i> (New York: Henry N. Abrams, 1995), p. 219</ref>
Writing evolved quickly evolved through the Early Dynastic Period , and by Egypt’s Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2125 BC) , the texts were longer, more complex, and much more common. The most developed writings from the Old Kingdom also happened to be the texts that reveal the most about ancient Egyptian religion during the period. Beginning in the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2494-2345 BC), the scribes began inscribing the interiors of the pyramids with religious texts known today as the <i>Pyramid Texts</i>. The <i>Pyramid Texts</i> relate described the importance of the afterlife as well as the primacy of many of the deities, including such as Osiris, Re, Isis, and Seth. <ref> Malek, Jaromir. “The Emergence of the Egyptian State (c. 3200-2686 BC).” In <i>The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.</i> Edited by Ian Shaw. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 78</ref>
But religious inscriptions were not the only important texts created during the Old Kingdom; a genre of writings known as “didactic literature” or “instructions” also became popular. These texts, such as “The Instruction of Ptahhotep,” instruct the reader how to live life as an upstanding, moral and ethical Egyptian. <ref> Lichtheim, Miriam, ed. <i> Ancient Egyptian Literature</i>. Volume 1, The Old and Middle Kingdoms. (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006), pgs. 5-7</ref> The <i>Pyramid Texts</i> and the didactic texts of the Old Kingdom provided a base for writing and literature in the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055-1650 BC), which is considered by many modern scholars to be the classical age of the ancient Egyptian written language.
