Hieroglyph

A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carving") is a character of Egyptian hieroglyphs, the ancient Egyptian writing system. Because the ancient Egyptian writing system is a logographic script which employs pictographic symbols to represent words or sounds, other scripts which have characteristics that are reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian script are sometimes also called "hieroglyphs".[1] In Neoplatonism, especially during the Renaissance, a "hieroglyph" was an artistic representation of an esoteric idea, which Neoplatonists believed actual Egyptian hieroglyphs to be. The word hieroglyphics refers to a hieroglyphic script.

Egyptian hieroglyphs typical of the Graeco-Roman period, sculpted in relief.
Glyphs: viper, owl, 'bread bun', folded cloth

The ancient Egyptians invented this pictorial script (a "pictorial script" is any writing system that employs images as symbols for various semantic entities, rather than the abstract letters used by alphabets). The appearance of these distinctive figures in 3000 BCE marked the beginning of Egyptian civilization. Though based on images, Egyptian script was more than a sophisticated form of picture-writing. Each picture/glyph served one of three functions: (1) to represent the image of a thing or action, (2) to stand for a sound or the sounds of one to as many as three syllables, or (3) to clarify the precise meaning of adjoining glyphs. Writing hieroglyphs required some artistic skill, limiting the number of scholars chosen to learn it.[2] Only those privileged with an extensive education (i.e. the pharaoh, nobility and priests) were able to read and write hieroglyphs; others used simpler versions more suited for everyday handwriting: first the hieratic script, and later the demotic.