Egyptian Hieroglyphs ?

a reply to: andy06shake

The IRS has a lot of auditors. They should get on it.

a reply to: Phage

Well, it would mean them leaving some other poor bastard alone.

Keep them busy as well.

They might actually even produce some tangible results. LoL

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: andy06shake

The IRS has a lot of auditors. They should get on it.

The Sumerians needed a lot of auditors because of their pyramid-shaped beer coolers.

Can't just be having beer going everywhere!!!

(inside joke about Phage's major discovery that he is too modest to admit).

a reply to: Lumenari

Hail Ninkasi!

a reply to: Phage

mmm Double Red
Ninkasi is a damn fine brewery

a reply to: Gargoyle91

1. Highly skilled craftsmen were hired to do the work.

2. Highly skilled engineers supervised their work.

3. Together they planned how to approach the work.

4. Once work was underway, both artisans and engineers proofed and monitored progress. Mistakes were caught immediately.

It's not rocket science.

originally posted by: Gargoyle91
I've not heard this addressed. Just how did the Egyptians carve these Hieroglyphs without making mistakes ? If you look at some of the glyphs theres no margin for error if a mistake was made entire walls , statues , obelisk would have to be replaced . They had to have some sort of stencils or programable carvers - Has anyone come up with a theory on this subject?

They had models that they sent to studios, and only the best were allowed to carve them. This would have been done by craftsmen who worked for kings or temples, not ordinary scribes.

They draw the hieroglyphs in red ochre (as others have said) on the surface and then they're carved... so it's two stages. The people carving aren't the ones doing the writing. They're error free as a rule, which means they're checked and re-checked before carving.

Now... not all hieroglyphs are carved and we do see errors in papyri and coffins (which were created by local scribes and carvers, not by the workshops of the kings.)

Almost all the population was illiterate. Only a few could read and write, and not everyone who could read and write were good enough to become scribes and craftsmen for the pharaohs. It's this small number of experts who were carving the inscriptions in stone.

originally posted by: Byrd


They draw the hieroglyphs in red ochre (as others have said) on the surface and then they're carved... so it's two stages. The people carving aren't the ones doing the writing. They're error free as a rule, which means they're checked and re-checked before carving.

Yeah. Have to figure they would probably "pencil" the glyph first. Then do a light cut with a scraping tool, to get started.

You're not going to have a guy with a big mining pick, swinging at it.

Maybe a small chisel and a penny hammer, tapping at it. Boring millimeter by millimeter until it takes form. Then sanding the edges.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Phage

Yes, they did seem to have been rather obsessed with accounts.

Its the other areas of there everyday lives and historical accounts that remain somewhat of a mystery.

Then again my understanding is that there are literally 1000s, possibly 100,000s of Sumerian tablets that remain to be translated lying around in various museums and sites across the globe.

Most of those are small clay impressions made by cylinder seals. Used for receipts and in a manner similar to business cards. Also as official signatures.

Harte

originally posted by: Byrd

originally posted by: Gargoyle91
I've not heard this addressed. Just how did the Egyptians carve these Hieroglyphs without making mistakes ? If you look at some of the glyphs theres no margin for error if a mistake was made entire walls , statues , obelisk would have to be replaced . They had to have some sort of stencils or programable carvers - Has anyone come up with a theory on this subject?

They had models that they sent to studios, and only the best were allowed to carve them. This would have been done by craftsmen who worked for kings or temples, not ordinary scribes.

They draw the hieroglyphs in red ochre (as others have said) on the surface and then they're carved... so it's two stages. The people carving aren't the ones doing the writing. They're error free as a rule, which means they're checked and re-checked before carving.

Now... not all hieroglyphs are carved and we do see errors in papyri and coffins (which were created by local scribes and carvers, not by the workshops of the kings.)

Almost all the population was illiterate. Only a few could read and write, and not everyone who could read and write were good enough to become scribes and craftsmen for the pharaohs. It's this small number of experts who were carving the inscriptions in stone.

Interesting that the structure is so similar to what we do today in sending mock-ups and proofs out to customers and the creative director oversees the project through to finish, including the proof-readers. Imagine, unveiling a nice new wall of hieroglyphs and someone spots a mistake.