These attempts were all based on the mistaken assumption that the hieroglyphs represented ideas and not sounds of a particular language. Other decipherment attempts were made in the 9th and 10th by Arab historians Dhul-Nun al-Misri and Ibn Wahshiyya, and in the 17th century by Athanasius Kircher. Many people have attempted to decipher the Egyptian scripts since the 5th century AD, when Horapollo provided explanations of nearly two hundred glyphs, some of which were correct. For everyday writing the hieratic script was used.Īfter the Emperor Theodsius I ordered the closure of all pagan temples throughout the Roman empire in the late 4th century AD, knowledge of the hieroglyphic script was lost. In some inscriptions the glyphs are very detailed and in full colour, in others they are simple outlines. The hieroglyphic script was used mainly for formal inscriptions on the walls of temples and tombs.
The latest dated inscription in hieroglyphs was made on the gate post of a temple at Philae in 396 AD. The earliest known examples of writing in Egypt have been dated to 3,400 BC. The word hieroglyph comes from the Greek hieros (sacred) plus glypho (inscriptions) and was first used by Clement of Alexandria.
The ancient Egyptians believed that writing was invented by the god Thoth and called their hieroglyphic script " mdju netjer" ("words of the gods").
Hieroglyphs representing three consonants.Hieroglyphs representing two consonants.