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What are hieroglyphs?

The ancient Egyptians invented one of the earliest known writing systems used from around 3000 BC.

The symbols they used were called鈥hieroglyphs, which comes from a Greek word meaning鈥鈥榮acred carving鈥.

The ancient Egyptians believed that hieroglyphs had been invented by the gods.

The Rosetta stone was discovered in 1799 AD. It is a three-foot high stone containing hieroglyphs, everyday ancient Egyptian language and a Greek translation. Since Greek was understood, the hieroglyphs could then be translated into modern European languages, so the Rosetta stone was the key to the hieroglyphic code.

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Who used hieroglyphs?

  • In Ancient Egypt, the people who wrote hieroglyphs were called鈥scribes.
  • A scribe had to go to a special school because it was very complicated.
  • Hieroglyphs included around鈥700鈥痙ifferent signs of objects and animals.
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How were they written?

A cartoon of a hand writing symbols on a piece of papyrus.

Some signs were pictorial or symbolic and stood for whole words. Some signs were phonetic, which means they stood for sounds. Hieroglyphs inspired the first alphabets, including the Latin alphabet which we use today.

Hieroglyphs could be written vertically, horizontally, left to right, or right to left! The鈥痯honetic鈥痟ieroglyph alphabet is the closest version to our modern English alphabet. It is not exactly the same because the ancient Egyptians did not have symbols for vowels (鈥榓鈥, 鈥榚鈥, 鈥榠鈥, 鈥榦鈥 or 鈥榰鈥), but the alphabet below includes the closest sounds.

A cartoon of a hand writing symbols on a piece of papyrus.
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What can hieroglyphs tell us about ancient Egypt?

The ancient Egyptians wrote the names of their gods and royal people in an oval shape called a鈥cartouche. The oval shape represents a rope with special powers to ward off evil spirits and keep the name inside it safe.

Hieroglyphics are found on seals, plaques, tombs, pottery and walls on ancient Egyptian remains which tell us about beliefs, gods, clothing, everyday life and culture.

The ancient Egyptians also used papyrus and writing boards which recorded laws, taxation and government business.

These written records of ancient Egypt give us information about the beginning of history. This is in contrast to societies that had no written record, such as the people who built Stonehenge between 3000-2000 BC, the exact same time as ancient Egypt.

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Examples of hieroglyphs

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 5, In this image an official of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II called Maati sits in front of an offering table. It looks like a carving related to a funeral because the table is a stand with tall leaves. Food offerings float above the table and below it is a bowl for Maati to wash himself. The hieroglyph text on the right are traditional passages carved to remember the dead., Stone carving of Gatekeeper Maati, ca. 2051鈥2030BC In this image an official of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II called Maati sits in front of an offering table. It looks like a carving related to a funeral because the table is a stand with tall leaves. Food offerings float above the table and below it is a bowl for Maati to wash himself. The hieroglyph text on the right are traditional passages carved to remember the dead.
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Activities

Use the hieroglyph alphabet below to help you complete the activities.

The hieroglyphic alphabet

Activity 1: Spell with hieroglyphs

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Activity 2: Crack the hieroglyph code

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Activity 3: Write your name in hieroglyphs

Download the ancient Egyptian alphabet and try to copy them. Can you write your name in hieroglyphs?

Practise your ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
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Activity 4: Hieroglyph quiz

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Activity 5: History Explorer game

Play this game to test your knowledge and learn even more facts about Ancient Egypt.

History Explorer: Secrets through time

History Explorer: Secrets through time: KS2 History

History Explorer: Secrets through time
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Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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