is my understandind correct, about the ancient egyptian communication?

Question

that the earliest writing system, Hieroglyphic, arose around 3000BC. and also the papyrus was what they wrote on when they wanted to send a message. the papyrus was delivered by a messenger who would travel by foot? sometimes the message reached the receiver when it was too late maybe?
i suck in historyT^T
please help

Answer 1

Your dating for the earliest use of Egyptian hieroglyphs is essentially correct.

Hieroglyphs were usually used for more formal inscriptions. By the mid Old Kingdom the more cursive hieratic script was used for letters, administrative documents, lists, etc. Papyrus was used for record keeping and letters, but tended to be expensive. A number of ancient societies used broken pottery to write notes, do sketches, and in some cases to send messages. These are called ostraca, occasionally spelled ostraka after the Greek word from which the term comes. The singular form is ostracon.

Until the introduction of the horse to Egypt in the late Second Intermediate Period, and even after, most messages would have gone by foot, possibly by donkey, or by boat.

There is also some evidence to suggest that smoothed boards were used for some writing and evidence to suggest that boards covered with wax were used as re-usable writing tablets in the ancient world. How frequently they were used in Egypt is somewhat open to question.

It is very likely that in Egypt, as in much of the ancient world, most messages were purely oral as most people were not literate. Of course we would not have reliable, consistent records of such communications. However, the formula for letters in the ancient world, especially those from Egypt and from the Levant and Mesopotamia suggest that this may have been the case. The formula - similar to our modern formal letters in the English speaking world beginning with a salutation (Dear John, or To whom it may concern:), a body (I hope you are well. I need to know about something that happened two weeks ago, etc.), and a conclusion or parting. (Love/Sincerely/Regards/Thank you, Bob) - consisted of an opening such as "Say to John" or "words to be spoken to John." Letters were typically written by a hired scribe and in the case of letters sent to those who were not themselves literate, were read to the recipient by a hired scribe.

Depending on the distance the message needed to travel, yes, it is entirely possible that time-sensitive information may not have reached a recipient in time for it to be acted upon. However, a reasonably efficient system of communication could be set up if necessary using relays.

Answer 2

According to Wiki, you are correct that Egyptian heiroglyphs started about 3,000 BCE. Originally they seem to have been carved in stove or pressed into clay tablets, but later a simplified version was created which was written on papyrus. Sorry but I couldn't find anything about the way messages were actually transmitted.
The link below takes you to Wikipedia's article about Egyptian heiroglyphs, and you can follow other links from there, if you wish.

"Egyptian hieroglyphs are a writing system used by the Ancient Egyptians, that contained a combination of logographic, alphabetic, and ideographic elements.

Hieroglyphs were 'engraved characters' on monuments (such as stelae, temples and tombs).

Hieroglyphs emerged from the preliterate artistic traditions of Egypt, circa 4000 BC. The earliest known hieroglyphic inscription was the Narmer Palette, dated to circa 3200 BC.

As writing developed and became more widespread among the Egyptian people, simplified glyph forms developed, resulting in the hieratic (priestly) and demotic (popular) scripts. These variants were also more suited than hieroglyphs for use on papyrus."

Answer 3

Hieroglyphics were only used by priests. There was another type of writing used by the Egyptians who were literate, Hieratic (sp?). There is debate about who created the first writing, the Egyptians or the Sumerians. But recently, Egyptologists have found clay tags with symbols on them in a merchant's shop in northern Egypt. The symbols seem to designate what different containers had in them, and where they were bound for. They are the oldest form of writing ever found, and may prove that the Egyptians were first.

Foot messengers were the order of the day even into the Greek era. That's how we get the marathon--a Greek messenger ran the distance between Marathon and Athens (26 miles), and upon reaching it, died from exhaustion.

Answer 4

i think the ancient iraqies, the sumerians, beat the egyptians to the first writing, and did it on clay tablets. paper and paper substitutes came later. but life moved slower back then. and whats wrong with horseback?