Egyptian Hieroglyphs - Ankh, Scarab and Horus Eye

Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs

The Ankh

The Egyptian hieroglyph of the ankh is one of the best known good luck charms.

In Ancient Egypt the hieroglyph 'ankh' meant ‘to live’.

It is often seen on wall paintings and as a charm in the form of jewellery. Many hieroglyphic symbols are still used today in the design of modern jewellery.

As a symbol of life, it was adopted as a cross design ( the Coptic cross ) by the early Christians in Egypt.

The Scarab Beetle

The scarab beetle was a symbol of great power in Egyptian mythology.

It was said that it pushed the sun into the sky at the dawn of each day.

Scarabs are common dung beetles and are often seen pushing around a huge ball of dung, many times their own size and weight.

The myth probably grew from the great strength and determination that they display in this practice.

The Eye of Horus

Eye of Horus

The Eye of Horus, also known as the wedjat eye, was thought to have magical powers. It was believed to have protective and healing powers.

Pairs of wedjat eyes were painted on coffins or tombs to protect against 'the evil eye'.

The lines drawn beneath the ‘wedjat’ eye represent the markings on a falcon’s face.

The Ancient Egyptians admired the physical qualities and instincts found in animals.

Various creatures were used as symbols of their gods, who were usually represented as figures with the head of an animal on the body of a human.

Horus was an Egyptian god who was usually shown with the body of a man and the head of a falcon.

His name means 'Far-Above-One' and he was the god of the sky who posessed the qualities of light and goodness.

Osiris ( the god of the underworld ) was his father and Isis ( the goddess of nature ) was his mother.

In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Seth ( the god of darkness and evil ) attacked and killed his brother Osiris as he was jealous of his power and wanted his throne.

Horus, who was the true heir to Osiris' throne, avenged his father's death by defeating and finally destroying Seth after a series of contests.

Hieroglyphic Alphabet

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

CH

PH

SH

TH

Ankh

Cartouche

Horus Eye

Pectoral

Rosetta

Scarab

The A to Z of Hieroglyphs
Click on one of the hieroglyphs above for more information

Our simplified Hieroglyphic Alphabet is designed for fun to let you translate English words into Hieroglyphs.

Before you translate your words into hieroglyphs, break them down into their basic sounds of their syllables. For example, the word hieroglyph itself has ten letters but only eight sounds: h-i-r-o-g-l-y-f. Therefore, you would only need eight hieroglyphs to represent it.

Treat all double letters as single sounds. That should help you cut back on the number of hieroglyphs you need to use.

Sometimes the same hieroglyph is used to represent different letters. If that happens, change the colour of the hieroglyphs to avoid confusion.

Arrange your hieroglyphs to create interesting designs rather than the straight lines that we use to arrange our letters and sentences.

Try our Ancient Egyptian Quiz


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