When you read sound signs, where do you start? English always goes left to right. Hieroglyphs can go left to right, right to left, or down in columns. Luckily, the signs themselves tell you.
Key idea
People and animals face the start of the line. If the birds face left, start reading at the left. If they face right, start at the right. In a column, read from the top down.
Why it works
Think of a parade walking toward you: you meet the leader first. Hieroglyph birds and people are like that parade, all facing the beginning. Egyptians chose the direction to fit the place: on a doorway, signs on the two sides could face each other, toward the door. Most often, they wrote from right to left.
Worked example: Where to start?
In a line of hieroglyphs, the owl and the quail chick face to the right. Which end do you start at?
- Signs face the start of the line.
- They face right, so the start is on the right.
Answer: Start at the right end.
Common mistake
Always starting on the left, as in English. Look at which way the birds face first, and start from that side. In a column, start at the top, and still check which way the signs face to know which column comes first.