ancient Egyptian cursive writing, used from the 1st dynasty (c. 2925–c. 2775 BC) until about 200 BC. Derived from the earlier, pictorial hieroglyphic writing used in carved or painted inscriptions, hieratic script was generally written in ink with a reed pen on papyrus; its cursive form was more suited to such a medium than were the formal hieroglyphs. It was originally written vertically and later horizontally from right to left. After about 660 BC demotic script (q.v.) replaced hieratic in most secular writings, but hieratic continued to be used by priests in the transcription of religious texts for several more centuries.