Editing Hieratic (section)

==Development==
Hieratic developed as a cursive form of [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphic script]] in the [[Naqada III]] period of Ancient Egypt, roughly 3200–3000 BCE.<ref>Friedhelm Hoffmann (2012), '' Hieratic And Demotic Literature'', OUP.</ref> Although [[manuscript hieroglyphs|handwritten printed hieroglyphs]] continued to be used in some formal situations, such as manuscripts of the [[Egyptian Book of the Dead]], noncursive hieroglyphic script became largely restricted to monumental inscriptions.

Around 650 BCE, the more cursive [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic script]] developed from hieratic.{{sfn|McGregor|2015|p=306}} Demotic arose in northern Egypt and replaced hieratic and the southern shorthand known as abnormal hieratic for most mundane writing, such as personal letters and mercantile documents. Hieratic continued to be used by the [[priest]]ly class for religious texts and literature into the third century AD.