The oldest known example of Egyptian hieroglyphics can be found on several memorial palettes, which were created to eulogize and memorialize the dead. These palettes have been dated back to 3400 BCE. Historians have been able to trace the development of hieroglyphic writing from this starting date and have discovered that hieroglyphics remained in continual use until around the eleventh century CE. This lifespan of over four thousand years makes Egyptian hieroglyphics the longest-utilized language in known history.

One of the four varieties of Egyptian writing scripts, Coptic initially emerged during the first century CE. It quickly rose in popularity due to its inclusion of Greek letters and its display of vowels, both of which made Coptic much more user-friendly than past scripts. Although it eventually fell out of use sometime between 1100 and 1500 CE, it is still used today in Christian churches throughout Egypt (this particular faith is otherwise known as Coptic Christianity).

The Book of Kemyt was a collection of funerary texts and accounts of the lives of previous rulers. It was used, during the New Kingdom period and later, in Egyptian government training. Would-be scribes and young upper class males were educated to read and write Egyptian through rote memorization. They would copy out classic texts like the Book of Kemyt over and over again until they had learned to write.

Literacy was extremely uncommon in ancient Egyptian society. The only people who were educated to read and write were the wealthy sons of scribes who were themselves expected to train for and enter into government service.

The Satire of the Trades was written during the Middle Kingdom period. Its primary purpose was to teach scribes to venerate their own profession above all others. This is achieved by describing all the various failings and frailties of other professions in ancient Egyptian society.

The Pyramid Texts (Old Kingdom), Coffin Texts (Middle Kingdom), and the Egyptian Book of the Dead (New Kingdom) were all important aspects of Egyptian funerary literature. The Egyptians believed that the afterlife was incredibly complex and dangerous, and that any individual who died with an insufficient understanding of the underworld would not be able to proceed to heaven. The Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and the Book of the Dead were all designed to educate Egyptians about the afterlife and provide protection on their journey through the underworld.

There are more than 700 different hieroglyphs, which are pictographic in nature. Some may have began as early wall paintings. They took the form of animals, weapons, nature and food to name a few.

The Old Kingdom established the political, societal and cultural foundations of the Egyptians dynasties to come. During this time Egypt also began to acquire the diplomatic skills for which it became famous. Contacts between Egypt and other Middle Eastern powers began as a result of Egypt wanting to keep its borders safe and trade for materials.

The Royal Annals, which survive in seven known copies including the Palermo Stone, is a historical list written during the Fifth Dynasty, which narrates the reigns of the previous kings. The Merneptah Stele is also historical in nature, but it concerns the conquests of the Nineteenth Dynasty (New Kingdom) Pharaoh Merneptah. The Stele of Queen Tetisheri is also attributed to a specific king, Pharaoh Ahmose I of the Eighteenth Dynasty (also of the New Kingdom), while the Great Hymn to the Aten is a New Kingdom religious text associated with the radical reformer Akhenaten (of the Eighteenth Dynasty). The Book of the Dead is a continuum of works deriving from a tradition as old as the Old Kingdom, but it is a funerary text rather than a historical narrative or list.

The two earlier varieties of Egyptian script, Hieroglyphics and Hieratic, were each somewhat difficult to reproduce and casually recognize. Accordingly, the third style, known as Demotic, came into use during the eighth century CE. Unlike its two predecessors, Demotic was not pictorial in nature; instead, it was a simple, abbreviated version of Hieratic script that was very easily and swiftly produced and read. It quickly became the favored script for nearly all of Egypt’s literate classes, including scribes, merchants, priests, and other individuals whose professions necessitated their use of written language.