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A 'hieroglyph' is a character from a logographic or partly logographic writing system. The term originally referred to the Egyptian hieroglyphs, but is also applied to
the ancient Cretan
Luwian, Mayan and Mi'kmaq scripts, and occasionally also to Chinese characters.

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Etymology

See also

Etymology

The word ''Hieroglyphs'' derives from the Greek words (''hierós'' 'sacred') and γλύφειν (''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 contexts - carved on temple walls and funerary structures, as well as on official monuments.
The word "hieroglyphics" is derived from the fact that the Greeks called Egyptian hieroglyphs 'hieroglyphic letters'; however, they sometimes simply dropped the word , "letters", calling them 'the hieroglyphics' ('letters' being understood). This was used in informal use.
In the same way, although the term "hieroglyphics" is still used today, this usage adds a tone of informality (such as in the above example of Greek practice), and is technically incorrect. It is more correct to use the noun "hieroglyphs" for both the language as a whole and for the individual characters that compose it, or to use the term "hieroglyphic" as an adjective (e.g., a hieroglyphic writing system).

See also

★ ''Hieroglyphica'' see also "Conversations with Mariam"

★ Character (sign)