Signs in Ancient Egypt: Another Look at the Relations of Figure to Hieroglyph

Abstract

This article presents another attempt to solve the enigma of the peculiar manner employed by the ancient Egyptians to depict the human figure; it looks at the figure as a sign rather than as the result of a naive or pre-Greek method of representation. The figure functions as a part of the inscription. It has a scriptorial role as a determinative to specify a grammatical function. The conventions which shaped the formation of the figure as a hieroglyph also influenced the way figures which were not parts of inscriptions were drawn. The figure first appears either in a pictorial text or as part of a hieroglyphic text rather than as a vehicle for depicting human activities only.