LIST OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS - hieroglyphic writing in Middle Egyptian

Oct 3, 2026

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Compilation describing the most common Middle Egyptian hieroglyphic signs, aiming to enumerate their forms, identify the objects depicted, and explain how the signs are used. The text emphasizes that Egyptian hieroglyphs remained a pictorial system whose variants change with context, making typesetting difficult and facsimile reproduction preferable. It also discusses traditional forms from early dynasties, interpretation challenges, and how correct sign understanding supports lexicographical conclusions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages112

Reading Time4 h 42 min

AccessFree to download

List of Hieroglyphic Signs

Purpose and scope: common signs in Middle Egyptian

Pictorial nature and variation of hieroglyphs

Publishing methods: facsimile, autography, and type printing

Traditional forms, obsolescence, and misinterpretations

# LIST OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS In the following pages an attempt is made to enumerate the commonest hieroglyphsfound in Middle Egyptian,to determine the objects depicted by them,and to illustrate theiruses.It would be easy enough to augment our list very considerably,though there might bedifficulty in finding good forms of the rarer signs which would then have to be included.Butsuch an augmentation might well do more harm than good,by unduly dispersing the student'sinterest,instead of concentrating it upon the signs most frequently met with.It must neverbe forgotten that in the eyes of the old Egyptians the hieroglyphic writing always remaineda system of pictorial representation as well as a script.Hence the capricious varietyexhibited in the more elaborate inscriptions.To take but one example,the sign for'statue'饼(A22)is apt to change sex,head-gear,dress and accoutrements according as the context orthe scribe's fancy may dictate.This is the principal reason why the printing of hieroglyphictexts is so unsatisfactory.No fount of type is sufficiently rich or sufficiently adaptable to dojustice to the Egyptian originals.Indeed,there is only one wholly satisfactory method ofpublishing hieroglyphic texts,namely reproduction in facsimile.Two possibilities here presentthemselves,facsimile by hand and facsimile by photography.The objection to facsimile byhand is,of course,the very laborious nature of the process.Facsimile by photography hasthe disadvantage that it will serve only for perfectly preserved texts.As a second-bestalternative,the employment of autography is to be recommended,as in Sethe's Urkunden der I8.Dynastie and in the Brussels Bibliotheca Aegyptiaca.The printing of hieroglyphic textsin type is really suitable only for grammatical or lexicographical works,especially where thehieroglyphs are to be combined with European characters.The discussion of this questionis not without a practical purpose;it aims at impressing upon the student the greatdesirability of a good hieroglyphic handwriting.Far too lax standards in this respect havebeen tolerated in the past,and one of our principal aims in creating the new fount of type hereemployed for the first time was to give a fresh impetus to this side of the hieroglyphic scholar'straining.The forms shown in the new fount are those normally used in the tombs of theEighteenth Dynasty,though in some cases earlier forms had to be added in order to elucidatepictorial meanings which by that time had become either modified or forgotten.The beginnermay safely use our types as his models,but he must realize that copying from the actualmonuments gives a knowledge of hieroglyphic writing unobtainable in any other way. The commonest hieroglyphs received their traditional,relatively stereotyped,forms in thevery earliest Dynasties.Misinterpretations and confusions may,therefore,be expected atleast as far back as the time of the Pyramid-builders.Some of the objects depicted may havebeen obsolete at a still more remote date,exx.the three-toothed harpoon of bone|(T 2o)andthe form of mast represented by((P6).In other cases it is the method of depiction,not theobject itself,which had become obsolete by the time that inscriptions began to be plentiful. LIST OF HIEROGLYPHIC SIGNS Who would have guessed that似(D 61)represents human toes?This interpretation is,however,supported by the form of that sign in the tomb of Metjen(Dyn.III),where thetoe-nails are clearly marked,and is clinched by the fact that the wordssh means'toe'.The investigation of the pictorial meaning of the hieroglyphs is for this reason a very difficulttask.But it is a task the interest of which is not confined to archaeology alone,sinceimportant lexicographical conclusions depend on the right understanding of the signs.Wehave a clue to the central meaning of the obscure verbmdd now that the sign o-(Aa 24)is known to depict the warp being stretched between two uprights.Fromwe learnat least something of the quality of the action

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this list of hieroglyphic signs?

To enumerate the commonest Middle Egyptian hieroglyphs, determine the objects depicted, and illustrate their uses.

Why does the text say printing hieroglyphic texts in type is unsatisfactory?

Because no typefoundry is sufficiently rich or adaptable to reproduce the Egyptian originals; the preferred method is facsimile reproduction.

What kinds of difficulties are discussed for interpreting hieroglyphs?

Obsolete objects and outdated depiction methods can obscure meanings, and misinterpretations or confusions—often tied to hieratic forms—can lead to using the wrong sign.

Oct 3, 2026

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