hieratic

(noun)

A writing system used in pharaonic Egypt that was developed alongside the hieroglyphic system, primarily written in ink with a reed brush on papyrus, allowing scribes to write quickly without resorting to the time consuming hieroglyphs.

Related Terms

Examples of hieratic in the following topics:

  • Sculpture in Mesopotamia

    • Each register features hieratic scale, in which the queen (upper register) and the king (lower register) are larger than their subjects.
    • Like the cylinder seal found in Queen Puabi's tomb, the figures in the Tell Asmar Hoard show hieratic scale.
    • In typical hieratic fashion, Naram Sin appears larger than his soldiers and his enemies.
    • Each figure is set apart from his or her subjects through hieratic scale.

  • Carolingian Metalwork in the Early European Middle Ages

    • Metalwork subjects were often narrative religious scenes in vertical sections, largely derived from Late Antique paintings and carvings, as were those with more hieratic images derived from consular diptychs and other imperial art, such as the front and back covers of the Lorsch Gospels.

  • Manuscript Printing

    • The scale of the figures is hieratic; The Virgin and Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist tower over the donor and his wife, who are themselves slightly larger than the faithful sheltered by the Virgin's robe.
    • The scale of the figures is hieratic; The Virgin and Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist tower over the donor and his wife, who are themselves slightly larger than the faithful sheltered by the Virgin's robe.

  • Linear Perspective and Three-Dimensional Space

    • The most important figures are often shown as the highest in a composition, also from hieratic motives, leading to the "vertical perspective" common in the art of Ancient Egypt, where a group of "nearer" figures are shown below the larger figure(s).

  • Sculpture of the Early Dynastic Period

    • As in the art of many cultures of ancient times, the palette contains hieratic scale, in which Narmer is the largest figure.

  • Sculpture of the Early Christian Church

    • The subjects were often narrative religious scenes in vertical sections, largely derived from Late Antique paintings and carvings, as were those with more hieratic images derived from consular diptychs and other imperial art.

  • The Book of the Dead

    • Later in the Third Intermediate Period, the Book of the Dead started to appear in hieratic script as well as in the traditional hieroglyphics.