Hieroglyphics
Hieroglyphics was one of the earliest forms of writing invented. The Ancient Egyptian priests used it to write special prayers to the Gods on the walls of their temples, and so it is called Hieroglyphics which means ‘Sacred Symbols’ or ‘Holy Writing’. The Ancient Egyptians didn’t write with letter like we do, instead they used pictures or hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphics can be read up and down, right to left, and left to right. The way to tell how to read them is to look which direction the figures are pointing and read that way. Each hieroglyph represents a sound. They could also be used as a kind of picture of what they are representing. For example, a bird would be represented by a picture of a bird or the verb "to answer" would be represented by a man with his hand near his mouth. Click on the scarab to go straight to some hieroglyphics!!
The Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone uncovered the mystery of hieroglyphics. The Rosetta Stone, written in 196 B.C., is made of black basalt. It is 3 feet 9 inches high, 2 feet 4 1/2 inches wide and about a foot deep (really heavy). The Rosetta Stone has three different types of writing: Hieroglyphics, Demotic (every day Egyptian), and Greek each telling the same story about King Ptolemy. In 1779 the Rosetta Stone was rediscovered. In 1821 a Frenchman named Jean Francois Champollion figured out how to read the hieroglyphics and which word was represented by which hieroglyphic. Since Jean Francois Champollion discovered how to read hieroglyphics we have been able to read things that are in tombs, temples, and monuments about Ancient Egypt. You can see the Rosetta stone at The British Museum London, England.
| Sound or Letter | Example | Hieroglyph | Sound or Letter | Example | Hieroglyph |
| cat, bar |  |
long O | rose, sew, mow, boat |  |
|
| make, air, way, hey |  |
OO | food, blue |  |
|
| B | baby |  |
OO | book, push |  |
| soft C | nice, circus |  |
P | pet |  |
| hard C | camel, sick, Christmas |  |
QU | Q+U sounds like K+W, so combine the K and W hieroglyphics |  |
| CH | cheese, catch, picture |  |
R | rain |  |
| D | dog, delta |  |
soft S | sit, nice, rats | |
| earn, pet | |
sharp S | dogs, fission, measure |  |
|
| be, bleach, Mary, radio |  |
SH | ship, sugar, mission, friction, machine |  |
|
| F | fish, phone, tough |  |
T | tiger |  |
| soft G | gorgeous, gym, judge |  |
TH | Egyptians had no sound for TH. D is probably the closest match. | |
| hard G | girl, ghost |  |
TH | They also didn't have a sound for the TH in thing. Closest match is probably T. | |
| H | how, who | |
short U | cut, about, ugly | |
| short I | hid, bit | |
long U | rude, food, blue | |
| long I | hide, byte | |
V | viper |  |
| J | jungle, judge | |
W | wind, what, cow | |
| K | pick, kid, technology, clique | |
X | X sounds like K+soft S, so combine the K and soft S hieroglyphs |  |
| L | lead, bell |  |
hard Y | you, rayon |  |
| M | mummy |  |
vowel Y | use hieroglyph for long E in words like ready and Mary | |
| N | Nile |  |
vowel Y | use hieroglyph for short and long I in words like gym and byte | |
| short O | dog, all, shawl | |
Z | zebra, dogs, fission, Xerox | |