12 Egyptian Hieroglyphs of Body Parts and People That Shaped Ancient Art

Key facts

• The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system first appeared over 5000 years ago and remained standardized for more than 3000 years.
• The woman giving birth hieroglyph depicts a squatting or kneeling posture, unlike contemporary Western delivery on the back.
• The bound prisoner sign was also used for magical figurines made to harm enemies, a practice that started with the king and spread to the general population.
• The child hieroglyph shows a figure with an index finger in the mouth, often representing the god Horus with a single lock of hair.
• The man with hand to mouth glyph was used for words related to eating, drinking, speaking, advice, and love.
• The man with stick sign wrote words like "strike," "strong," "take away," "plunder," and "teach," reflecting corporal punishment.
• The face hieroglyph uniquely shows a frontal face, unlike typical profile depictions, with ears in profile and an oversized beard.
• The phallus sign, used for "husband" and "in front of," is censored in some standard fonts by companies like Microsoft and Google.
• The Hathor-headed figure represents the cow goddess of love, motherhood, and happiness.
• The seated god glyph, with a long beard, marked divine or royal names and the word "I" when referring to a god or king.
• The worshipping figure shows open palms, a gesture still used by Coptic Christians today.
• The finger sign represented 10,000 in the base-ten system and appeared in words for "finger" and "precise."
• The seated man of rank glyph, showing a noble seated while others stand, wrote "courtier" and "noble."