Ancient Symbols & Signs

Hieroglyph Facts

Hieroglyph Facts

You can find plenty of information on Hieroglyphics on our main site, but I’ve decided to throw in a few ‘fun facts’ about this Ancient Egyptian alphabet here on our blog. Hopefully we’ll build on this over the next few months, so let me know if you have any information you think we should include.

1. Hieroglyphs can be written left to right, up and down, or right to left. You can tell which way a piece of text should be read by looking at which way the bird symbols face – just follow the beak!
2. It is believed that the Egyptians first began developing this system of writing about 3000 BC.
3. There is no punctuation or spacing in Hieroglyphic writing.
4. The symbols represented both single letters and full words.
5. Even with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, it took another 20 years for historians to fully translate the hieroglyphs.
6. The hieroglyphs were eventually translated by Jean-Francois Champollion in the 1820’s.