You will be redirected to OpenEdition Search. The main aim of the present paper is to open a debate of the multiple features related to the origin of writing in Egypt. Although some questions arose in the past, overall referred to the original place where emerged the Egyptian writing, there are still many other questions waiting for discussion: why was the writing invented?
How was the writing constructed? Which was the origin of some of the earliest signs? These are just some of several questions that arise when we approach to the subject. In the present article, some ideas will be exposed together with an historic and cultural contextualization of the period in which writing emerged in Egypt.
Keywords: cemetery U of Abydos , origin of writing and state , Gebel Tjauti , early logograms , Horus , Hierakonpolis. Thus, it is quite certain that this process was in parallel to the increase of complex societies along the Valley of the Nile fig. With the first symptoms of the appearance of the complexity in all the spheres of the life social, economic, religious and political , the visual communication was commoner and more abundant than before.
Therefore, scenes with specific meanings multiplied on pots, as well as on plateaux of proper rock surfaces fig. That dynamic extended to other planes, such ceremonial objects, seals and even for the decoration of restricted spaces, as Tomb at Hierakonpolis. As a continuous process, it might be considered a futile debate to establish if the writing originated before the State or together with the State 1. Under my point of view, artistic depictions, writing and the State formation developed together, responding to the social, economic, politic and religious necessities of a dynamic culture.
The latter innovation is one of the most important steps for the birth of writing, because the standardized icons just represent the most recognizable features of an element. It was just not only an artistic depiction, but also a message whose elements were schematized and, then, understood by a familiarized watcher.
