3 ms·

wouldn’t egyptian hieroglyphs count as them from waay back ?

• OJFord 5y ago
  No, because they weren't (as far as I know?) used within a body of text written using a different alphabet system?
  • pbhjpbhj 5y ago
    I may be mistaken but I seem to recall that when [Egyptian] pictograms were later adapted to be syllabic representations (letters) there was a crossover period where the pictogram was used both as a 'word' (representing the whole thing the pictogram showed, a horned viper say) and also used in the same text to represent a sound/syllable (f; which is a 90 degree rotated viper!). I cannot recall where I got this from however, possibly from a YouTube lecture by Irvin Finkel (I think it was he) or from the recent Netflix on the Saqqara tomb (less likely)?? https://collector.com/12-animal-hieroglyphs-and-how-the-ancient-egyptians-used-them/ https://collector.com/12-animal-hieroglyphs-and-how-the-anci... lends credence to this without getting us all the way there.