Early Egyptian Writing and Communication

William Hunse 2020, 253-03

Help Received:

http://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Hieroglyphs/

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/writing.htm

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/home.html

Throughout history, different civilizations have come up with their own forms of writing and communication.  There have been many forms of writing throughout history.  One of the earliest forms of writing was hieroglyphics.  Hieroglyphics were a type of pictogram that consisted of drawing pictures to represent an object.  The ancient Egyptians were the first known civilization to use this form of writing and communication.  The Ancient Egyptians were the best civilization at adapting their writing and communication to better fit the changing needs of their society.

Throughout their history they developed other, more advanced styles of writing.  One of the other styles of writing that they developed was called ideograms which were drawings that represented an idea.  Another and more advanced form of writing was logograms which were drawings that represented both an idea and an object.  All of these newer forms of writing were based off of hieroglyphics.

Egyptian hieroglyphics are believed to come from the ibis-headed Egyptian god of writing, Thoth.  In an ancient picture, King Ramesses is depicted helping the god Thoth by holding his writing instruments.  It is believed that Thoth gave the Egyptians writing.  Herodotus and other important Greeks believed that the Egyptian hieroglyphics were sacred because of their pictorial elegance.  Due to this belief, the word hieroglyph comes from the Greek hiero “holy” and glypho “writing.”  The earliest form of Egyptian writing consisted of hieroglyphics.  From hieroglyphics came a newer form called hieratic.  Hieratic was a simpler form of hieroglyphics.  They developed this to make their writing faster and easier.  After this form of writing came another new form, Demotic.  Demotic was an even more simplified form of hieroglyphics and contained no pictorial trace.  As the needs of their society grew and changed, they adapted better writing styles to fit their needs.

The ancient Egyptians wanted a way to communicate and record religious and government information.  Ancient Egyptian writing’s main function was to provide a way that concepts, ideas and events could become real.  The Egyptians used these forms of writing for several different things.  One thing that they used them for was to communicate information to each other.  By using these hieroglyphics, they could leave important information for other people to read.  Another use for their writing was story telling.  They would write down stories using the pictograms and would read them later for entertainment or information.  A third use for writing in the ancient Egyptian culture was for history and record keeping.  With writing they could keep track of important events and deals that needed to be documented.  By doing this, they could look back and see who bought certain goods and for how much.  In addition to this, the Ancient Egyptians also varied what they wrote on in order to make the transfer of information easier and more efficient.

The ancient Egyptians would write in several places.  They wrote on clay tablets to keep important information such as religious or government information.  They also wrote on the walls of temples and other buildings.  The writings on the walls were not just decorative, they did this to also tell stories and keep information.  Another surface the Egyptians would use for writing on was a papyrus scroll.  This was a common method because it was easily transferable and easier to store.

The Ancient Egyptians were the best civilization at adapting their writing and communication to better fit the changing needs of their society.  The Ancient Egyptians were one of the earliest civilizations to use writing.  They used it to pass down stories, communicate, learn and keep track of religious and government information.  They used different surfaces to write on based on what their writing was for.  As their society got larger and smarter, they adapted their writing to better fit their needs.  They went from the first hieroglyphics to hieratic to demotic.  Each new form better adapted to fit their society.

Citations

“Egyptian Hieroglyphics.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. Web. 15 February 2017

“Egypt: History of Ancient Egyptian Writing (hieroglyphs), A Feature Tour Egypt Story.” Tour         Egypt. Web. 15 February 2017

“Writing.” Ancient Egypt. Web. 15 February 2017

Pony Express

William Hunse, CIS-270

Help Received:

1. Introduction

Over the past couple of centuries, communication has become significantly easier.  Today, we can send a text message or an email and the intended recipient can see it instantly.  We can call someone that is on the other side of the world and talk to them instantly.  This was not the case one hundred and fifty years ago.  In the 1800s communication was very slow and not as common.  Sending a message to someone in another state could take weeks.  Not only did communication take so long, it was also expensive for anyone but the wealthy few.  The railways and telegraph system had not yet been made accessible for everyone.  There was one method of communication in the 1800s that stands out; The Pony Express.  The Pony Express was a system of riders on horseback that would deliver mail across the western part of the United States.  They would ride for lengthy periods of time stopping at outposts to either get a new horse or switch riders when one got tired.  Although the Pony Express was short lived, it was one of the most unique and successful methods of communication.  This essay will describe the unique aspects of the Pony Express and why it was effective.

2. History of the Pony Express

            The Pony Express started in April 1860.  Due to the Gold Rush in 1849 and the thousands of people that moved west of the Oregon Trail in the 1840s, a need for a mail delivery system was obvious.  The need for a new mail delivery system was made even more prominent when the postmaster general at the time, Joseph Holt, moved the overland mail service back to California and to the central part of the United States.  The Leavenworth and Pike’s Peak Express Company by William H. Russell, Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell was then created in April 1860 to answer this problem. This company later became known as the Pony Express.  [1]

     2.1

            The route that the Pony Express riders would take started in St. Joseph, Missouri and end in Sacramento, California.  The riders could make this journey in as little as ten days.  This was the fastest mail had been able to travel that far up to that point.  The company had an estimated eighty riders along with roughly four hundred horses.  The riders were paid an average of fifty dollars per month.  Fifty dollars per month was good wages in the 1800s.  In order to ensure quick delivery, the riders would stop numerous times along their route at posts and change to a fresh horse.  With fresh horses every twenty miles or so and new riders every day, the mail could be delivered quickly and efficiently.  [2]

 2.2

            Congress passed the bill that authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to subsidize the building of a transcontinental telegraph system that would connect the country from the Missouri River to the west coast on June 16, 1860.  The Pony Express had only been operational for ten weeks before this bill was passed.  While this new method of communication was being built, the Pony Express operated normally and was unrivaled by any other competitors.  When the Transcontinental Telegraph system was finished and San Francisco was put into direct contact with New York City on October 26, 1861, the Pony Express was official terminated.  The Pony Express only lasted for eighteen months. [1]

3. Conclusion

The Pony Express was created out of a need for a better and faster overland mail delivery system.  The Gold rush in 1849 and the great migration of thousands of people west of the Oregon Trail in the 1840s made clear this need.  The Pony express was created by William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell in April of 1860.  Until the completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph System in June of 1861, the Pony Express was unrivaled by any other mail system.  The Pony Express was an incredible accomplishment.  The Pony Express was a revolutionary method of communication for its time.  The Pony Express was by far the greatest way that mail had been delivered before the transcontinental railroad was built.  Without the Pony Express, our country would not have been able to grow the way that it did.   Although the Pony Express was short lived, it was one of the most unique and successful methods of communication.

4. References

https://www.nps.gov/poex/learn/historyculture/index.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express