hieroglyphic

Hieroglyphics from the tomb of Prince Rahotep at Medun, from about 2800 BC. The prince is shown together with inscriptions representing the articles with which he was buried.

Egyptian hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics developed as a system of writing in several stages; after remaining essentially unchanged for some 2,000 years, the number of symbols dramatically increased to several thousand in c. 500 BC. Hieroglyphic writing, along with the ancient Egyptian religion, died out with the rise of Christianity.

Hieroglyphics on pillars in an ancient building, Egypt. Hieroglyphics were a form of writing, and were also used for decorative purposes, inscribed on stone monuments such as temples or tombs.

Egyptian writing system of the mid-4th millennium BC–3rd century AD, which combines picture signs with those indicating letters. The direction of writing is normally from right to left, the signs facing the beginning of the line. It was deciphered in 1822 by the French Egyptologist J F Champollion (1790–1832) with the aid of the Rosetta Stone, which has the same inscription carved in hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek. The earliest hieroglyphics were discovered by German archaeologist Gunter Dreyer on clay tablets in southern Egypt in 1998, and record linen and oil deliveries and also taxes paid. From the tomb of King Scorpion I, they are dated to between 3300 BC and 3200 BC and challenge the widely held belief that Sumerians were the first people to write. Hieroglyphics were replaced for everyday use by cursive writing from about 700 BC onwards.