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hieratic script
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Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieratic script, and demotic script
Stone with Egyptian hieroglyphs and a pottery shard with Greek script, linked by a blue arrow; faint pyramids in the background.
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Al-Jizah. Giza Necropolis, Giza Plateau, Cairo, Egypt. Side view of Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) rising in the background. The sides of all three of the Giza pyramids are astronomically oriented to be north-south, east-west (see notes)
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Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieratic script, and demotic script
Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieratic script, and demotic script Egyptian hieroglyphs and their cursive equivalents. The hieroglyphs depict (top to bottom) three fox skins tied together, a whip, a single-barbed harpoon, an adze at work on a block of wood, a stone jug with a handle, a scribe's outfit, and a roll.

hieratic script

writing system
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History

hieratic script, ancient Egyptian cursive writing, used from the 1st dynasty (c. 2925–c. 2775 bce) until about 200 bce. Derived from the earlier, pictorial hieroglyphic writing used in carved or painted inscriptions, hieratic script was generally written in ink with a reed pen on papyrus; its cursive form was more suited to such a medium than were the formal hieroglyphs. It was originally written vertically and later horizontally from right to left. After about 660 bce demotic script replaced hieratic in most secular writings, but hieratic continued to be used by priests in the transcription of religious texts for several more centuries.

Stone with Egyptian hieroglyphs and a pottery shard with Greek script, linked by a blue arrow; faint pyramids in the background.
Why Ancient Egyptian Writing Is More Than Just HieroglyphicsHieroglyphics weren't the only form of ancient Egyptian writing—just the first.
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Meg Matthias.