Homepage ›
Unicode ›
Blocks ›
Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Here we have some examples of the native writing systems of Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian language includes both the Egyptian hieroglyphics and Hieratic from Protodynastic times, and the 13th century BC cursive variants of the hieroglyphs which became popular.

Most remaining texts in the Egyptian language are primarily written in the hieroglyphic script. However, in antiquity, the majority of texts were written on perishable papyrus in hieratic and (later) demotic, which are now lost.

There was also a form of cursive hieroglyphic script used for religious documents on papyrus, such as the multi-authored Books of the Dead in the Ramesside Period; this script was closer to the stone-carved hieroglyphs, but was not as cursive as hieratic, lacking the wide use of ligatures. Besides, there was a variety of stone-cut hieratic known as lapidary hieratic.

In the language's final stage of development, the Coptic alphabet replaced the older writing system. The native name for Egyptian hieroglyphic writing is “writing of the words of god.” Hieroglyphs are employed in two ways in Egyptian texts: as ideograms that represent the idea depicted by the pictures; and more commonly as phonograms denoting their phonetic value.

For example, the hieroglyph representing the biliteral pr is typically used as an ideogram to denote the word 'house'. The same glyph is used as a phonogram to write the word pr(y), meaning 'to go out'. The pronunciation is similar though. So how do we differentiate between these words?

To leave no doubt as to which word is actually meant, a vertical stroke or a pair of legs are drawn underneath the glyph. To further clarify the pronunciation, the hieroglyph for mouth ro is typically added in between the house and the walking legs. Therefore, hieroglyphic writing is an intricate mixture of phonetic and semantic components.

Properties

Range	13000–1342F
Characters	1072

List of Characters

Table of Characters

12F90–12FFF Cypro-Minoan 13430–1345F Egyptian Hieroglyph Format Controls

0: Basic Multilingual Plane

1: Supplementary Multilingual Plane

2: Supplementary Ideographic Plane

3: Tertiary Ideographic Plane

4-13: Not Used

14: Supplementary Special-purpose Plane

15: Supplementary Private Use Area Plane – A

16: Supplementary Private Use Area Plane – B

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Properties

List of Characters

A. Man and his occupations

B. Woman and her occupations

C. Anthropomorphic deities

D. Parts of the human body

E. Mammals

F. Parts of mammals

G. Birds

H. Parts of birds

I. Amphibious animals, reptiles, etc.

K. Fishes and parts of fishes

L. Invertabrata and lesser animals

M. Trees and plants

N. Sky, earth, water

NL. Nomes of Lower Egypt

NU. Nomes of Upper Egypt

O. Buildings, parts of buildings, etc.

P. Ships and parts of ships

Q. Domestic and funerary furniture

R. Temple furniture and sacred emblems

S. Crowns, dress, staves, etc.

T. Warfare, hunting, butchery

U. Agriculture, crafts, and professions

V. Rope, fiber, baskets, bags, etc.

W. Vessels of stone and earthenware

X. Loaves and cakes

Y. Writings, games, music

Z. Strokes, signs derived from Hieratic, geometrical figures

Aa. Unclassified

Addition to group V