With this illustrated dictionary of hieroglyphics, anyone can understand their significance and unlock the mysteries of ancient Egypt. Whether sculpted, painted, or drawn on ceramics, hieroglyphics ornamented the temples, palaces, and tombs of ancient Egypt. What did those intriguing and elusive pictures mean? With this new approach to hieroglyphics, you'll step back 5000 years into the past and begin to understand their significance. More than 200 original hieroglyphs combine with detailed semantic explanations to bring a new dimension to drawings almost astonishing in their modernity. Go through it like a dictionary, reading phonetic and graphic interpretations: every element in each panel is broken down, revealing how and why a picture of two serpents, plus a rope and legs in movement, signified destruction. You'll feel as if a whole old world is opening up to you.