Ancient Egyptian writing is known as hieroglyphics ('sacred carvings') and developed at some point prior to the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 -2613 BCE). According to some scholars, the concept of the written word was first developed in Mesopotamia and came to Egypt through trade. While there certainly was cross-cultural exchange between the two regions, Egyptian hieroglyphics are completely Egyptian in origin; there is no evidence of early writings which describe non-Egyptian concepts, places, or objects, and early Egyptian pictographs have no correlation to early Mesopotamian signs. The designation 'hieroglyphics' is a Greek word; the Egyptians referred to their writing as medu-netjer, 'the god's words,' as they believed writing had been given to them by the great god Thoth.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 3200 BCEHieroglyphic writing develops in Egypt.
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c. 3150 BCEHieratic script develops following hieroglyphic script in Egypt.
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c. 700 BCEDemotic script replaces Hieratic script in Egypt, though Hieroglyphics still in use.
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c. 350 CECoptic script developed with the rise of Christianity and earlier Egyptian scripts forgotten.