Hieroglyphics is a formal writing system used in ancient Egypt, characterized by its use of pictorial symbols to represent sounds, words, and concepts. The term "hieroglyph" comes from the Greek words "hieros," meaning sacred, and "glyphe," meaning carving, as the symbols were often inscribed on temples, tombs, and monuments.
Hieroglyphics consists of two main types of signs: logograms, which represent whole words or ideas, and phonograms, which represent sounds or phonetic components. The system includes over 700 symbols and was used for religious texts, administrative documents, and monumental inscriptions. Hieroglyphics can be written in rows or columns and read from left to right or right to left, depending on the direction the characters are facing.
The use of hieroglyphics declined after the Roman conquest of Egypt and the rise of Christianity, and the script became largely forgotten until the early 19th century, when the Rosetta Stone was discovered. This artifact, which contains the same text in Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphics, was key to deciphering the ancient writing system.