Page 24 - July18LivingSCCLmagazine

Fun Facts about Hieroglyphics
• The Egyptians created hieroglyphics some 5,000 years ago, and the word means “holy writing.”
• The complex language uses logos, alphabet characters, and syllables; and it contains more than 1,000 distinct characters.
• The alphabet uses no vowels.
• Symbols can represent a letter or a sound.
• Typically written from right to left,
hieroglyphics also could be written left to
right and bottom to top.
• The language uses no punctuation marks,
but names, represented by a combination
of characters, are encircled in text.
• The “ink” used in writing hieroglyphics
consisted of such items as charcoal and the juice of berries; messages were written on papyrus and wood or carved in stone.
• Scribes—those who recorded events in the reign of a pharoah—were among the few who knew how to write hieroglyphics. L
List of 36 small hieroglyphs and the letters or words/sounds they represent.The original source for this image is a page from an 1888 travel guide, A Handbook for Travellers in Lower and Upper Egypt. One can only imagine European tourists standing before a wall of hieroglyphs, attempting to impress their fellow travellers by reading the ancient writings.
Identify the Ruler
See if you, using the chart above, can identify these well-known Egyptian rulers. See page 32 for answers.
1. Hint:conquered Egypt in 3232 BC.
2. Hint:last ruler of Egypt.
24 LIVING @ SCCL, July 2018