Hieroglyphs
Hieroglyphs are a form of writing developed in Ancient Egypt, and was used to write the Egyptian language. Other cultures, most notably the Maya civilization also used hieroglyphic writing systems, though the Maya system was an entirely independent development, taking place several thousand years laterd, and was much more restricted in it's usage. Whilst Egyptian hieroglyphs were first deciphered in the 19th century by Jean Francois Champollion, Maya hieroglyphs have only recently begun to be understood, and much work remains to be done.
Note: This article only deals with Egyptian Hieroglpyhs.
Basic Concepts
Contrary to popular belief, Egyptian hieroglyphs are notpictographic. Like the Latin and Greek alphabets, glyphs record the sounds that make up a word. Unlike these alphabets however, one sign can convey up to three consonants, whilst some words also feature an additional silent sign at the end as a determinative, that helps convey the meaning of the word, and avoiding confusion between words that would otherwise be spelt with exactly the same signs. This is especially important as, like in modern Arabic and Hebrew alphabets, vowels are not included in the text. Only consonants are recorded.