When it comes to beautiful writing systems, you can’t beat ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. It’s amazing to see such a blend of art, language, and symbolism. I fell in love with them on my visit to Egypt and wanted to share some of my favorites.

When the Egyptians began using hieroglyphs in earnest during the Middle Kingdom, they had only several hundred symbols. But by the time the Egyptian dynasties came to an end in the Ptolemaic period, that number had increased to several thousand. Here’s the largest wall of hieroglyphs that we know of—somewhere chronologically in the middle of all of that—from the New Kingdom Temple of Ramses III.

I can’t begin to understand or explain most of the hieroglyphs that I saw on my visit, but I’ll give translations of individual symbols where I can. Here are some of the ones I liked the most.

Things With Unexpected Feet

No idea what this is — but given the flying saucer shape, is it any surprise that some people think that there were aliens in Egypt? In all seriousness, the thing on top of the foot is probably a collar of some sort, but I still don’t know why it’s sitting on a foot.

The hieroglyph above apparently has to do with being pure or clean. And the one below, well, I just don’t know. A walking fish? Definitely too early to be thinking about evolution, but it does bring to mind certain bumper stickers:

A far more common sight is the symbol of legs with no torso. It’s all a bit eerie, but the Egyptians did a good deal with disembodied body parts in their writing (you’ll see a hand all by itself as well in the text string below).

Things With Unexpected Arms

Why does this lion have what appears to be an arm? I really can’t say.

Numbers

Ever wondered how ancient Egyptians counted? Here you go! Reading from right to left, the upside-down horseshoes each represent a unit of 10, the swirls represent 100, and so forth — with each frog representing 100,000 and the person indicating 1,000,000.

Gods

Above you’ll see Wadjet, the official goddess of the monarchy, and Heqet, a fertility goddess. Then we have an ibis-headed god below, which is probably Thoth, the scribe.

Finally, I’m a huge fan of Sobek (sometimes spelled Sebek), the crocodile god:

Tools of Measurement

What looks like an “A” above is a square level (also called a level square), one of the primary tools that ancient Egyptians used to measure angles.

Humans

The woman above is giving birth, and the man in the upper right below is an elder:

Boats

That thing in the bottom right is probably a funerary boat, but I wouldn’t swear to it.

Religious Symbols

I really wanted the tall tower above to be an air traffic control tower, but after doing some research, I’m pretty sure that it’s a symbol known as a djed, meant to represent stability.

Animals

Animals are often self-explanatory — though sometimes things that look like animals are actually gods, so that can be confusing. Beyond that, animals sometimes have extra meanings; they may be symbols, or they may be logograms. The horse above, for example, could refer to nobility, while the rabbit below represents a verb that means to be, to happen, or to continue.

Bees are extremely common, because they were the symbol of Lower Egypt (below you’ll see a bee under an eye, which itself can mean to make or to see):

I’m always in for an animal hieroglyph — I loved this winged jackal (likely related to one of two deities, Anubis or Wepwawet) …

… this falcon and ibis duo (probably representing the gods Horus and Thoth) …

… a trio of horned vipers (each one representing the letter “F,” accompanied by wavy lines that mean “N” and a loaf of bread that means “T”) …

… a smattering of scarabs, which refer to renewal and rebirth …

… a monkey, which may (or may not) convey the sound “nefer” …

… and what looks to be a cat, but is likely another jackal:

Animals are everywhere, often in interesting combinations …

… and even more interesting formations (if anyone can identify the two double-headed creatures below, I’d love to know).

Calendar

I can’t explain it without writing a whole new blog post, but those hieroglyphics above to the left of the goddess Sekhmet display part of the Egyptian calendar (specifically the transition from Month I to Month XII).

Where to See the Best Hieroglyphs

Where can you see hieroglyphs in Egypt? Well, they’re all over the place (except inside the Pyramids). The city of Luxor really offers the best of the bunch, especially at the Temple of Edfu, and also at the Temple of Kom Obu, Karnak Temple, the Temple of Hatshepsut, the Tombs of both Vizier Ramos and Vizier Rekhimere in the Valley of the Nobles, and the Tomb of Ramses V/VI In the Valley of the Kings.

Not able to make it down to Upper Egypt? If you’re in Cairo, seek out the nearby Tomb of Ptahhotep and His Son Akhethotep in Saqqarah (though note that it’s not always open).

In Cairo itself, you can find all sorts of hieroglyphs on different kinds of objects at the Egyptian Museum. Here’s one example from a Book of the Dead …

… and another from a beautiful alabaster jar:

While only a small section of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is open as of April 2024, you can still see several fine examples of carved hieroglyphs there.

If you love hieroglyphs, you’ll start seeing them all around the world! Here’s a beautiful set (including a scarab) on a gold bracelet that’s on display in the Netherlands at Leiden’s National Museum of Antiquities.

A Final Caveat

I write all of this as someone who is most definitely not an Egyptologist … so if anything looks incorrect, please let me know.

✨ Keep Exploring Ancient Egypt

If you’re fascinated by hieroglyphs and want to dive deeper into Egypt’s extraordinary past, check out these related posts:

• Visiting the Egyptian Museum in Cairo: Treasures and Troubles — Discover Tutankhamun’s treasures, mummies, and centuries of art in Egypt’s most famous museum.

• Explore Ancient Nubia: Egypt Beyond the Pyramids — Learn about the southern kingdoms that once rivaled the pharaohs, from the Nubian Museum to Aswan’s colorful villages.