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© Copyright 1997, Jim Loy
Normally, hieroglyphics
were written from right to left (with the birds, mammals, and people facing to
the right). Hieratic (script hieroglyphics) was always written from right to
left. The hieroglyphic texts on the left side of this page are right to left,
those on the right side are left to right. The text is shown both horizontally,
and in columns. They all represent the same sentence, "The sun rises in
the sky" (sun rise in sky).
Often, hieroglyphics
were written from left to right, to identify a person or god who is speaking,
or who is being spoken about. If a person, in a picture, is facing left, then
the words concerning him/her are usually written from left to right. Also,
hieroglyphics may be written from left to right for artistic purposes. The
signs on the left side of a doorway may go from right to left, while the signs
on the right side may be left to right.
In the four examples, here, the signs are read in the following order:
Words often run together, or even overlap. With a little practice, you can usually tell where one word ends and another begins, because a word usually ends in a determinative sign (one that clarifies the meaning of the word). The circles representing the sun (and the last sign representing the sky) are determinatives in the above sentence.
Nowadays, hieroglyphic texts are usually written from left to right, so that they can be more readily translated into English (or some other modern language), and so that they can fit in with the English text. Also, gaps are sometimes inserted between words, to improve readability.