hieratic character

1 definition found

hieratic character - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Hieratic \Hi`er*at"ic\, a. [L. hieraticus, Gr. "ieratiko`s; akin
     to "iero`s sacred: cf. F. hi['e]ratique.]
     Consecrated to sacred uses; sacerdotal; pertaining to
     priests.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Hieratic character, a mode of ancient Egyptian writing; a
        modified form of hieroglyphics, tending toward a cursive
        hand and formerly supposed to be the sacerdotal character,
        as the demotic was supposed to be that of the people.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It was a false notion of the Greeks that of the
              three kinds of writing used by the Egyptians, two --
              for that reason called hieroglyphic and hieratic --
              were employed only for sacred, while the third, the
              demotic, was employed for secular, purposes. No such
              distinction is discoverable on the more ancient
              Egyptian monuments; bur we retain the old names
              founded on misapprehension.           --W. H. Ward
                                                    (Johnson's
                                                    Cyc.).
        [1913 Webster]