
PRE-20TH-CENTURY INFLUENCESI
HIEROGLYPHICS
EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS
Abydos, Upper Egypt
c. 2500 BCE
Beginning in approximately 2500 BCE, the
walls, surfaces, and passages of Egyptian pyra-
mids were covered with hieroglyphic (in Greek,
“sacred carving”) writings of myths, hymns,
and prayers supporting the Pharaoh’s life in the
afterworld. Hieroglyphics, a picture-writing sys-
tem used in ancient Egyptian culture, consisted
of three types of glyphs—phonetic or single-
consonant characters that functioned similar
to an alphabet; logographic; and ideographic.
Hieroglyphics was a remarkably efficient writing
system used by the Egyptians for over three and ...