Meroitic Hieroglyphs is a Unicode block which can be characterized as a formal hieroglyphic. It presents various characters for writing Meroitic Egyptian. Here are the most important facts about this alphabet:

  • The Meroitic script is basically an alphabet of 23 symbols used from the II century BC till the V century AC in Nubia and Northern Sudan.
  • It has two varieties: hieroglyphic (known from inscriptions on monuments, comes from The Egyptian hieroglyphic writing) and Cursive (from demotic writing).
  • The hieroglyphic symbols were written in columns, from top to bottom, from right to left. The more common cursive form was written from right to left, from top to bottom.
  • The alphabet was decoded at the beginning of the XX century by Francis Llewellyn Griffith; however, most symbols and meanings still remain unclear
  • 4 vowels + 14 consonants + 5 syllables
  • Apparently, the Meroitic script was also utilized for writing the Old Nubian language (the ancestor of Meroitic written mostly in Coptic or modified Greek)

Properties

Range 10980–1099F
Characters 32

List of Characters

Table of Characters

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