Why did the Ancient Egyptians create papyrus? To write, of course. They could write. They could read. But they did not have a language like ours. They had their own way of writing. They used hieroglyphics.
It means holy marks. They had no letters. They had pictures. There are over 700 pictures. We can see them on pyramids. We can see them on stones. We can see them on murals. We can see them on paper.
Ancient Egyptians thought their names were important. They wanted to be remembered. That is how they would live in the afterlife.
Lots of messages have been found inside pyramids. They talk about life after death. They thought the messages would help the dead. They wanted to protect the pharaohs.
Pictures were carved into stone. A chisel was used to carve the stone. Sometimes, paint was added. Carvings can be found in lots of places. They are in temples. They are on statues.
On paper, writing was different. They used cursive hieroglyphics. Scribes wrote important texts. They were taught to write. They used a stylus. It is like an old pen. They used black ink. Their writing had to be perfect.
For a long time we did not understand the writing. But that changed in 1799. We found the Rosetta Stone. It is a big, grey stone. It has carvings on it. It showed us what the little pictures said. It helped us understand old texts. It helped us match pictures with our alphabet.
Writing has changed over time. But it has the same purpose.To pass on a message. We are lucky to find old texts. Texts from the past teach us how people lived. But there was history before writing. How much will we never know about?