By far, I think the most interesting thing we talked about this semester was the writing systems used in ancient Egypt: hieroglyphs, hieratic, and demotic. These writing systems were not for the faint of heart and parts of them remain a mystery since today’s scholars don’t fully understand how the language would have sounded and a lot of textual information is found in pieces. The earliest form, hieroglyphs, were pictographic signs that were used as the most formal script and were found mostly on (and in) temples and tombs and various religious texts. These were separated into two basic types based on their complexity and whether or not they were used phonetically. Hieratic writing came about around the same time as hieroglyphs but were a much more informal script using slightly different symbols than hieroglyphs. Hieratic is more often found written on materials such as ostraca or papyri. Demotic script came about later in time in ancient Egypt and was considered even more informal than hieratic; it was also required to be read in word groups rather than individual signs more often than either hieroglyphs and hieratic were. With the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, scholars were able to begin understanding what these symbols meant, since the stone contained a passage of information written in hieroglyphs, demotic, and ancient Greek – a language that had already been understood by scholars for quite a while. While the information on the Rosetta Stone itself wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, its use of the three languages helped scholars begin translating hieroglyphs and demotic script all around Egypt. This understanding of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and demotic script unlocked not only information on religious and mortuary cults of the time, but also gave insight in day to day life throughout the different periods and areas of ancient Egypt. Examples of texts found and now understood by scholars include legal documents, government records, tax collections, building planning, instructional texts, letters, receipts for goods, trade agreements, and so much more. It was interesting to see how these systems coexisted with some being more informal than the others and used in more day to day settings rather than in religious contexts. It was also interesting to see that it was more common for the average ancient Egyptian to be illiterate and that the ability to read was reserved for individuals of higher status, whereas today it’s more unusual for anyone to be unable to read and write.