What are hieroglyphics? what does it stand for?

Answer 1

Hieroglyphics is a system of writing where each character (called hieroglyph or pictograph) corresponds to a word or a part of a complex word. All oldest writing systems were hieroglyphic. Alphabets were invented much later.

Answer 2

The word Hieroglyphs derives from the Greek words ἱερός (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 τά ἱερογλυφικά γράμματα 'hieroglyphic letters'; however, they sometimes simply dropped the "letters" part, calling them τά ἱερογλυφικά 'the hieroglyphics' ('letters' being understood).

While the adjective "hieroglyphics" is still used today by some as a noun and can add a humorous and informal tone (such as in the above example, in relation to remarks about the unreadability of a person's handwriting) this practice is technically incorrect.

Answer 3

Hieroglyphics are a phonetic writing system used by ancient Egyptians. Actually, they were not used by most Egyptians--only priests could read and write in hieroglyphics, and they were only used for very special purposes, like the wall paintings on tombs or inscriptions in temples. There was a simpler form of writing (hieratic) used for ordinary business and record-keeping. The Egyptians believed the hieroglyphs themselves were magical--one symbol used was a horned cobra, one of the most deadly snakes in Egypt, and at one point, the symbol was written in two separate halves, so the snake couldn't come to life and kill someone. When the hieroglyph for a person was written, it was circled, which is how they were finally deciphered. For centuries no one knew how to read them, but Napoleon's men found a tablet, the Rosetta Stone, which had an announcement on it written in three language--Greek, Hieratic, and Hieroglyphic. We knew the names of certain Pharoahs, and the person who deciphered the Rosetta Stone realized that the circled names on the stone must be the same in all three languages. He spoke the other two, so he figured out which symbols were used to spell out the sounds, and which words corresponded to the Hieratic spelling.

Answer 4

Its hieroglyphs, and it is a type of picture writing that represent the spoken Egyptian language. It is not a language of its own, it stands for the spoken language.

Answer 5

a language system like that used by ancient egyptians and other cultures


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieroglyphics

Answer 6

It doesn't "stand for" anything. It's a term that refers to the ancient Egyptian alphabet

http://logos.uoregon.edu/explore/orthography/egypt.html.

Here are some examples
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=heiroglyphics&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Answer 7

It doesn't stand for anything, that's the whole word. They are early Egyptian picture symbols that served as writing. Before formal alphabets.

Answer 8

it is an ancient form of writing. it used pictures for sounds or words.

Answer 9

its like little picutres of drawings, it doesn't mean anything, it's just radom mumbo jumbobo