1824. ] 
A. 9. The different phonetic hierogly- 
phics, employed to represent the vowel 
signs, do not possess a more invariable 
and definite sound than the aleph, the 
lod, and van of the Hebrews. 
A.10. The hieroglyphic texts very 
often exhibit abbreviations of phonetic 
groups. ; 
4.11. The phonetic characters, as 
necessary and inseparable elements of 
the Egyptian sacred writing, exist in 
Egyptian texts appertaining to the most 
ancient, as. well, as, the most recent 
epochs, 
A. 12. The value of a hundred pho- 
netic. characters has already been ascer- 
tained, among..which, are found those 
which exhibit themselves most’ frequent- 
ly in. the.texts of all ages. 
A, 13, All the hieroglyphical: inserip- 
tions, traced upon monuments of the 
Egyptian style, refer to a single system 
of writing, composed, as has been stated, 
of three orders of signs simultaneously 
employed. 
A. 14. It is demonstrated by a series 
of public monuments that the sacred 
writing, at once pictural, symbolic, and 
phonetic, was in uninterrupted use in 
Eyypt from the nineteenth century be- 
fore the vulgar era to the total conver- 
sion of the Egyptians to Christianity 
when under the Roman empire, at which 
epoch all the Egyptian styles of writing 
were superseded by the Coptic, that is 
to’ say the Greek alphabet, augmented 
by a/ certain number of signs for sounds 
observed from the ancient demotic 
writing of the Egyptians. 
APTS. Certain ideas are occasionally 
represented in the same hieroglyphic 
text, “sometimes by a pictural character, 
sometimes bya symbolic, sometimes in 
fine°by ‘a group’ of phonetic signs, ex- 
pressing the representative word of that 
same idea in the vulgar tongue. 
-A:1V6. Other ideas are designated 
either by a group formed of a pictural 
‘and symbolic sign, or by the combina- 
tion of apictural or symbolic sign with 
phonetic characters. 
AAT. Some Egyptian bas-reliefs, or 
paintings composed of the images: of 
physical beings, and especially of mons- 
trous figures grouped and combined, do 
not appertain to the hieroglyphical wri- 
ting = these are scenes purely allegorical 
or symbolic} which the ancients have 
designated by the nate anaglyphs—a 
o¥ute which we ought to preserve. 
9 A518) A certain number of images 
: ' Corimon to the hieroglyphical 
w 3 pr peAly so-called, and the sys- 
tem of sa¢red’paiitting, or rather to the 
Monruty Mac. No. 402. 
Hieroglyphic System of the Ancient Figyptians. 
305 
system of writing, which produced the 
anaglyphs. 
A.19. These anaglyphs appear to be 
pages of that sacred writing which the 
ancient Greek and Roman authors in- 
form us were solely known to the priests 
and such as were initiated in their mys- 
teries. As to the hieroglyphic writing, 
it was never secret, and all persons of 
any education in Egypt understood it. 
A. 20. Two new systems of writing 
originated in process of time from the 
hieroglyphic writing, and were invented 
to render the art of writing more rapid 
and common. 
B. 21. The hieratic, or sacerdotal 
writing, is only a mere tachygraphy of 
the sacred writing, and immediately de- 
rived from it; and in this secondary sys- 
tem, thé form of the signs is consider- 
ably abridged. 
B. 22. In its strictest, form it is 
like tke other, composed of pictural, 
symbolic, and phonetic signs;. but 
the two. former orders of characters 
are often superseded, either, by groups 
of phonetic characters or by arbitrary 
characters, no longer preserving the 
form of their correspondent sign in the 
hieroglyphical system. 
B, 23. All the extant hieratic ma- 
nuscripts (and we possess some apper- 
taining to the epoch of the Pharoahs, 
the Greeks, and the Romans), belong 
to a single system, whatever difference 
may be distinguished, at a first glance, 
in the tracing of the different characters. 
B. 24. The use of the hieratic writing 
appears to have been limited to the 
transcription of texts referring to sacred 
matters and to a particular class of in- 
.Scriptions, but always of a religious 
nature. 
C. 25.-The demotic writing, episto- 
lographic or enchorial, is a writing dis- 
tinct from the higroglyphic, as well as 
the hieratic, whence it is immediately 
derived. 
C, 26. The signs employed in. the 
demotic writing are simple characters 
borrowed from the hieratic.. 
C. 27. The demotic writing nearly 
excludes all pictural characters. 
C. 28. It, however, admits a certain 
number of symbolic characters, but only 
for the purpose, of expressing idéas es- 
sentially connected with the. religious 
system. _ 
C. 29. The greater part of each de- 
motic text, consists of phonetic charac- 
ters, or signs of sound. © 
C..30,.,The characters used in the 
demotic writing»are considerably more 
numerous than those of the other systems. 
2R C. 31, 
