ancient writing
Hieroglyphs and cuneiform
Ancient writing refers to scripts and inscriptions from early civilizations—hieroglyphics, cuneiform, Linear B, and similar systems that predate modern alphabets.
The phrase often appears in contexts of archaeology, history, or fantasy: The tomb walls were covered in ancient writing.
It can suggest mystery or undeciphered knowledge: He spent years trying to decipher the ancient writing.
- Egyptian civilizationPharaonic culture of northeast Africa
- papyrusAncient plant-derived writing material
- hieroglyphicsSymbolic picture-based writing
- Rosetta StoneDecree in three scripts
- dead languagesLanguages without native speakers
codices · cuneiform · parchment · sacred texts · runes · clay tablets · quipu · paleography · Sumerians · religious texts · royal decrees · oracle bones · scrolls · carved in stone · stone inscriptions · Phoenician alphabet · Sanskrit · wax tablets
- Constructed ScriptsKlingon, Blissymbols, conscript
- DeciphermentRosetta Stone, hieroglyphics, cuneiform, cryptanalysis, code breaking
- visual symbolspictograms, pictographs, symbols, glyphs, ideograms
- MesopotamiaBabylon, Sumer, Tigris, Mesopotamia, Euphrates
- scriptsalphabet, Latin alphabet, Roman alphabet, Greek alphabet, Hebrew alphabet
ancient writingdigital text
Computerized written content
word processing · desktop publishing · e-books · SMS · text messages
ancient writingplain English
Unadorned, accessible wording
everyday language · living language · common parlance · plain text
ancient, anciently, ancientness, write, writing, writ, written, writer, writers