10 Interesting Facts about Hieroglyphics


The writing system developed in the ancient period will be elaborated on Facts about Hieroglyphics. The famous hieroglyph in the world is Egyptian hieroglyph.  The term hieroglyph is taken from the Greek word. The meaning is sacred writing. There are a number of hieroglyph scripts in the world. Egyptian hieroglyph is only one of them. The other ones include Ojibwe hieroglyph, Anatolian hieroglyphs, Olmec hieroglyphs, Hungarian hieroglyphs, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Aztec hieroglyphs, Chukchi’s hieroglyphs, Mayan hieroglyphs and Cretan hieroglyphs. Look at the detail post for more information about hieroglyphs:

Facts about Hieroglyphics 1: the formal writing system

Hieroglyphs were considered as the official writing system during the ancient Egyptian era.

Facts about Hieroglyphics 2: elements

It will be hard for the lay people to read Egyptian hieroglyphs. The elements on this ancient writing system include alphabetic, syllabic, and logographi elements. It consists of 1,000 different characters.

Facts about Hieroglyphics
Facts about Hieroglyphics

Facts about Hieroglyphics 3: the religious literature

The religious literature of ancient Egypt would be written using the cursive hieroglyphs. The wood and papyrus were the media.

Facts about Hieroglyphics 4: the origin of hieroglyphs

The origin of hieroglyphs was traced back in the Early Bronze Age. It was evolved from the proto-literate symbol system. In 28th century BC, the Egyptian language was written for the first time using hieroglyphs.

Hieroglyphics Facts
Hieroglyphics Facts

Facts about Hieroglyphics 5: Middle Kingdom period

During the Middle Kingdom period, the ancient Egyptian people had already realized and mastered the hieroglyph writing system. The monuments often featured the hieroglyph inscription. It had at least 900 different symbols.

Facts about Hieroglyphics 6: Late Period

In the Late Period, people still employed the writing system.  The usage was extended into the fourth century AD during the Roman occupation.

Hieroglyphics Pic
Hieroglyphics Pic

Facts about Hieroglyphics 7: the extinction of hieroglyphs

Hieroglyph writing system was extinct in the fifth century when the pagan temples were closed. In the medieval and early modern period, the hieroglyph scripts had not been deciphered.

Facts about Hieroglyphics 8: Jean-François Champollion

Jean-François Champollion was the first man who deciphered hieroglyphics in 1820s due to the discovery of Rosetta stone.

Hieroglyphics
Hieroglyphics

Facts about Hieroglyphics 9: Rosetta stone

In 1799, Napoleon’s troops discovered Rosetta stone, which provided a breakthrough to the decipherment of hieroglyphics. Champollion was the first person who provided the complete decipherment though some scholars attempted to solve it before.

Facts about Hieroglyphics 10: a complex system

Hieroglyphics is considered as a complex system of writing for it combines phonetic, symbolic and figurative writing at the same time.

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