in Chicago ]] A hieroglyph is a character of a logographic or partly logographic writing system. The term originally referred to the Egyptian hieroglyphs used by Ancient Egyptians, but is also applied tothe ancient CretanLuwian, Mayan and Mi'kmaq scripts, and occasionally also to Chinese characters. Ancient Egyptian writing consisted of over 2,000 characters whereas the English alphabet consists of only 26. Each hieroglyphic character takes the form of a common object from their day. Etymology The word Hieroglyphs derives from the Greek words (hierós 'sacred') and ??????? (glúphein 'to carve' or 'to write', see glyph), and was first used to describe Egyptian hieroglyphs. The Greeks who came to Egypt prior to and during the Ptolemaic Period (305 BC - 30 BC) observed that while demotic script was employed for secular documents, pictorial characters were frequently found in religious conte

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