To the Ancient Egyptians, words were art. Use the following links to learn more about the signs, pictures and symbols Ancient Egyptians used and get ready to use them. Create a list of important vocabulary words that help you understand what hieroglyphics are, how they came to be, what they represent, and how they were used.

Some questions to think about:

What are the three different kind of hieroglyphics?
Who were the scribes and what did they do?

1. British Museum - Ancient Egypt
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/home.html

Choose the Writing link then read the story of hieroglyphics, explore and take the challenge.

2. NOVA Online/Pyramids/Hot Science: Say What?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/hieroglyph

More information about hieroglyphics to help you build your vocabulary list.

3. Hieroglyphics
http://www.eyelid.co.uk/hiero1.htm

Activity 2:

What will your name look like in hieroglyphics? Use one of the following hieroglyphic translators to see how the letters of your name can become a hieroglyph.

1. Hieroglyphic Translator from the Royal Ontario Museum
http://www2.torstar.com/rom/egypt/egypt.html

2. Egyptian Name Translator
http://www.eyelid.co.uk/e-name.htm

3. Hieroglyphic symbols
http://www.seaworld.org/Egypt/hiero.html

Black and white symbols for you to try on your own. Cut and past into a word processing of draw document.