Hieratic

A cursive shorthand of Egyptian hieroglyphs used from ~3200 BC to the 4th century AD. Simplified for rapid writing with a reed pen on papyrus, it was used by Egyptian scribes and officials for administrative documents. "Hieratic" means "priestly" — from its later role as a religious text script. Important medical and mathematical papyri (like the Ebers Papyrus, 1550 BC) survive in this script.