What were the Medu Netcher?
"Medu Netcher" was the term ancient egyptians used to refer to the sacred (divine) words and writing system that were given to them by the gods (known as netcheru).
Nowadays there are several ways to write these term: "Medu Neter", "Medu Netjer", "Neter Metu" or any other possible fonetic variant. Nevertheless, we commonly refer to them as "hieroglyphics".
The Medu Netcher system was invented, at least, around 3200 BC (during the Predynastic era). The first records of any hieroglyphic remain in Egypt were found in the U-j tomb at the Umm el Qaab necropolis (near actual place of Abydos) for a king actually known as Scorpion I. And was in use until 24th of August, 394 CE, when the last known hieroglyphic text was inscribed in Hadrian's Gate at Philae Temple.
The writing system of Medu Netcher counted +8000 hieroglyphic signs through all its history, even though during the Old Kingdom (dynasties III-IV) "only" around 750 icons were documented.
What is the Medu Netcher catalogue?
Medu Netcher was born as a web oriented catalogue for ancient egyptian hieroglyphic writing. The goal was to get the power of the offline catalogues (such as JSesh) but accesible while travelling to Egypt or any museum with ancient egyptian artifacts. Right in the mobile phone with only an internet connection required.
The project soon became bigger and bigger, and the catalogue ended up being only the basis foundation for a huge application with lots of smaller yet powerful tools using it.