hieroglyphs
Ancient pictorial script
Hieroglyphs are the picture-based characters of ancient Egyptian writing—stylized images of birds, eyes, hands, and other objects that represented sounds or whole words.
The term extends to any pictographic writing system, and figuratively to handwriting so bad it might as well be ancient script: I can't read your hieroglyphs.
Trilingual Egyptian artifact
- cartoucheOval framing royal hieroglyphs
- PharaohEgyptian royal title
- papyrusAncient plant-derived writing material
- scribeManual document copier
demotic · Ptolemaic · Thoth · Anubis · Osiris · Isis · Horus · Ra
Edged carving implement
- bas-reliefSculpture projecting slightly
- inciseCut into material
- engravingCarving into hard surfaces
- reliefEasing of distress
stone · granite · limestone · stele · obelisk · monument · frieze · quarry
Symbol drawn as image
- ideographSymbol representing meaning directly
- representationDepiction or likeness
- emblemRepresentational sign or device
- motifRecurring thematic element
iconography · signifier · meaning · symbolism · sacred · divine · royal · ankh
Written words for performance
- inscriptionText permanently marked
- pictogramSymbol using visual likeness
- logogramSymbol representing entire word
- ideogramSymbol representing concept directly
determinative · phonogram · alphabet · cuneiform · transcription · codex · manuscript · orthography
Obscure in meaning
- enigmaticPuzzling and obscure
- arcaneUnderstood by few
- undecipheredNot yet interpreted
- ancientVery old indeed
esoteric · puzzling · inscrutable · secret · hidden · occult · mystical · lost knowledge
Rosetta
Trilingual Egyptian artifact
- cartoucheOval framing royal hieroglyphs
- PharaohEgyptian royal title
- papyrusAncient plant-derived writing material
scribe · demotic · Ptolemaic · Thoth · Anubis · Osiris · Isis · Horus · Ra · Sphinx
chisel
Edged carving implement
- bas-reliefSculpture projecting slightly
- inciseCut into material
- engravingCarving into hard surfaces
relief · stone · granite · limestone · stele · obelisk · monument · frieze · quarry · carver
pictograph
Symbol drawn as image
- ideographSymbol representing meaning directly
- representationDepiction or likeness
- emblemRepresentational sign or device
motif · iconography · signifier · meaning · symbolism · sacred · divine · royal · ankh · scarab
script
Written words for performance
- inscriptionText permanently marked
- pictogramSymbol using visual likeness
- logogramSymbol representing entire word
ideogram · determinative · phonogram · alphabet · cuneiform · transcription · codex · manuscript · orthography · bilingual
cryptic
Obscure in meaning
- enigmaticPuzzling and obscure
- arcaneUnderstood by few
- undecipheredNot yet interpreted
ancient · esoteric · puzzling · inscrutable · secret · hidden · occult · mystical · lost knowledge · forgotten
- ancient scriptscuneiform, Phoenician, Phoenician alphabet, Sumerian, Akkadian
- Egyptian textsBook of the Dead, royal decrees, inscriptions, stelae, annals
- hieroglyphicscartouche, determinative, ideogram, ideograms, logogram
- Egyptian languagedemotic, Coptic, cartouche, cartouches, phonograms
- African inscriptionscartouches, demotic script, stelae, stone inscriptions, Rosetta Stone
- Ancient Egyptpharaoh, pharaohs, sphinx, pyramids, pyramid
hieroglyphsalphabet
Language's letter system
Latin alphabet · Roman letters · ABC · shorthand · Morse code
hieroglyphsplain text
Unencoded readable characters
plain language · clear writing · plain English · vernacular · everyday language
hieroglyphscontemporary writing
Recently produced text
digital text · texting · emojis · typeface · sans-serif
- hieroglyphic writingAncient Egyptian picture script
- Egyptian hieroglyphsAncient pictorial writing system
- Egyptian hieroglyphicsAncient pictorial script