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What are hieroglyphs?

  • Hieroglyphs are symbols that show words and sounds.
  • The ancient Egyptians invented a writing system using hieroglyphs in about 3000 BC.
  • They had about鈥 700鈥痙ifferent signs for objects and animals.
  • The people who wrote hieroglyphs were called鈥scribes.
  • They went to a special school to learn all the symbols.
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The hieroglyph alphabet

  • This is the closest version to our modern English alphabet.
  • There were no symbols for vowels (鈥榓鈥, 鈥榚鈥, 鈥榠鈥, 鈥榦鈥 or 鈥榰鈥), so the alphabet below shows the closest sounds.
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What is the Rosetta stone?

  • The Rosetta stone was discovered in 1799.
  • It is a three-foot high stone containing hieroglyphs, everyday ancient Egyptian language and a Greek translation.
  • Egyptologists translated the Greek into modern European languages.
  • Then they used those words to understand the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
A photo of the famous Rosetta Stone. It is a large, dark grey piece of granite with rough edges. It has inscriptions carved into it.Image source, The Trustees of the British Museum
Image caption,
This is the Rosetta Stone. It is made from granite and it has three sets of inscriptions carved into it: Demotic, Hieroglyphs and ancient Greek. The broken top and bottom edges suggest it was part of a much bigger piece of stone.
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Where have we found hieroglyphs?

  • Hieroglyphs can be seen on tombs, pottery and walls on ancient Egyptian remains.

  • They tell us about beliefs, gods, clothing and everyday life.

  • The ancient Egyptians also used papyrus and writing boards to keep records of thing like laws.

  • This is different from societies living at the same time who used no writing, such as the people who built Stonehenge.

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Examples of hieroglyphs

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 5, In this image an official of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II called Maati sits in front of an offering table. It looks like a carving related to a funeral because the table is a stand with tall leaves. Food offerings float above the table and below it is a bowl for Maati to wash himself. The hieroglyph text on the right are traditional passages carved to remember the dead., Stone carving of Gatekeeper Maati, ca. 2051鈥2030BC In this image an official of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II called Maati sits in front of an offering table. It looks like a carving related to a funeral because the table is a stand with tall leaves. Food offerings float above the table and below it is a bowl for Maati to wash himself. The hieroglyph text on the right are traditional passages carved to remember the dead.
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Activities

Use the hieroglyph alphabet below to help you complete the activities.

The hieroglyphic alphabet

Activity 1: Spell with hieroglyphs

Use the hieroglyph alphabet above to help you spell the word.

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Activity 2: Crack the hieroglyph code

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Activity 3: Write your name in hieroglyphs

Download the ancient Egyptian alphabet and try to copy them. Can you write your name in hieroglyphs?

Practise your ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
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Activity 4: Hieroglyph quiz

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Activity 5: History Explorer game

Play this game to test your knowledge and learn even more facts about Ancient Egypt.

History Explorer: Secrets through time

History Explorer: Secrets through time: KS2 History

History Explorer: Secrets through time
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Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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