c. 3100 BCEReputable sourceWell documented
Egyptian Hieroglyphs
On the timeline · around c. 3100 BCE ·
What happened
At almost the same time, the ancient Egyptians developed hieroglyphs — a beautiful and complex script of pictures and symbols. Carved on temple and tomb walls, hieroglyphs were considered the 'words of the gods,' and a simpler cursive form was used for everyday writing on papyrus.
Why it matters
Egyptian hieroglyphs are one of the earliest writing systems, and their decipherment in the 19th century — using the Rosetta Stone — reopened three thousand years of Egyptian history that had been silent for ages.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Egyptian Hieroglyphs · Reputable source
Related timelines
- Ancient Egypt → — The sacred script of ancient Egypt