A colourful introduction to Egyptian hieroglyphs that demonstrates the enormous diversity of texts that have survived from a period that lasted 3,500 years. Colour photographs and short passages of text guide the beginner through the origins of the Egyptian language, the alphabet and grammar, the derivatives, types of inscriptions, their mystery and decipherment. The book concludes with the hieroglyphic names of the Pharaohs, a chronology and a brief list of major Egyptian collections across the world.