Egyptian hieroglyphics are best described as what?

• A. Abstract symbols representing sounds
• B. A musical notation
• C. Pictures representing words
• D. A type of sculpture

Answer: (C)

Hieroglyphics are a writing system built from pictorial signs that can stand for whole words or ideas—these are logograms. Many signs depict concrete objects, animals, or scenes, and used together they spell out words and meanings on monuments and in texts. Some signs also represent sounds, used to spell names or syllables, but the most straightforward way to describe them is as pictures representing words. They aren’t a musical notation system, nor a type of sculpture, and describing them as abstract symbols for sounds doesn’t capture the way many signs convey specific words or concepts.