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[[Image:Hieroglyphs.jpg|thumb|right|Egyptian hieroglyphs at the British Museum in London.]]

[[Image:Hieroglyphs.jpg|thumb|right|Egyptian hieroglyphs at the British Museum in London.]]

'''Hieroglyphics''' are a form of [[pictograph]]ic [[writing]] developed in ancient [[Egypt]]. There exists two different sets of hieroglyphs: a more complex form used in carving, and a script known as [[Hieratic]] used for writing on papyrus (along with its later form, [[Demotic]]). Hieroglyphs are no longer used in Egypt.

'''Hieroglyphics''' are a form of [[writing]] developed in [[Ancient Egypt]], and was used to write the [[Egyptian language]]. Other cultures, most notably the [[Maya]] civilization also used hieroglyphic writing systems, though the Maya system developed much later, and was much less more restricted in it's usage and complexity. Whilst Egyptian hieroglyphs were first deciphered in the 19th century by [[Jean Francois Champollion]], Maya hieroglyphs have only recently begun to be understood, and much work remains to be done.

 

Contrary to popular belief, Egyptian hieroglyphs are not pictographic. Like the Latin and Greek alphabets, glyphs record the sounds that make up a word. Unlike these alphabets however, one sign can convey up to three consonants, whilst some words also feature an additional silent sign at the end as a determinative, that helps convey the meaning of the word, and avoiding confusion between words that would otherwise be spelt with exactly the same signs.

[[Category:Writing systems]]

[[Category:Writing systems]]

[[category:Ancient History]]

[[category:Ancient History]]