What are Egyptian hieroglyphics?

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs are the key elements of the ancient Egyptian writing system. It’s more than five millennia old, and the most prominent feature is that it relies on ideograms and pictures (e.g., the floods of the Nile). Therefore, it’s not a precursor to the modern English alphabet.

Those who used hieroglyphs were known as scribes. It took them quite a while to write anything with this method, which is why they developed a simplified form—Demotic script.

Nevertheless, the hieroglyphic script remained complex. Even though archeologists recognized hieroglyphs on tombs and pyramids, they couldn’t read them at first. They knew the symbols represented something but had no way of interpreting them.

The problem persisted until 1799, when Napoleon invaded Egypt. His army found an ancient stone called the Rosetta Stone, which helped 19th-century archaeologists decipher hieroglyphics.

Although it comprised pictures, it was phonetic. It also had three kinds of symbols (glyphs), which served as letters. Each type of glyph served a particular purpose. For example, logographic glyphs denoted short words, prefixes, and suffixes. Determinative glyphs narrowed down the meanings of other kinds of glyphs.

There were a few more scripts in ancient Egypt, including hieratic and Coptic Egyptian. Additionally, the ancient Egyptian language was distantly related to Arabic, Hebrew, and some other Semitic languages.

Must-read books on Egyptian hieroglyphics
Here are some books you can read to learn more about hieroglyphics:

Hieroglyphs: A Very Short Introduction
This is an exciting study of hieroglyphics by Penelope Wilson. She explores the significance of this writing system while placing a particular emphasis on cryptography, modern decipherment methods, and other neglected areas.

The author covers many fascinating topics, such as the beginning of writing in ancient Egypt, hieroglyphics and art, scribes, and modern writing. She also examines why hieroglyphics remain fascinating to this day.

Egyptian Hieroglyphics: How to Read and Write Them

Stephane Rossini takes you on a journey exploring hieroglyphics, teaching you how to transcribe them through 130+ phonetic elements. The work contains an introduction, word analysis, enlarged pronunciation tutorial, tables of signs, and many more valuable insights.

The highlight of the book might be the large illustrations. They allow you to gain a better understanding of each symbol and how to transcribe it.

There were a few more scripts in ancient Egypt, including hieratic and Coptic Egyptian. Additionally, the ancient Egyptian language was distantly related to Arabic, Hebrew, and some other Semitic languages.

Must-read books on Egyptian hieroglyphics
Here are some books you can read to learn more about hieroglyphics:

Hieroglyphs: A Very Short Introduction
This is an exciting study of hieroglyphics by Penelope Wilson. She explores the significance of this writing system while placing a particular emphasis on cryptography, modern decipherment methods, and other neglected areas.

The author covers many fascinating topics, such as the beginning of writing in ancient Egypt, hieroglyphics and art, scribes, and modern writing. She also examines why hieroglyphics remain fascinating to this day.

Egyptian Hieroglyphics: How to Read and Write Them

Stephane Rossini takes you on a journey exploring hieroglyphics, teaching you how to transcribe them through 130+ phonetic elements. The work contains an introduction, word analysis, enlarged pronunciation tutorial, tables of signs, and many more valuable insights.

The highlight of the book might be the large illustrations. They allow you to gain a better understanding of each symbol and how to transcribe it.