The written Egyptian language, hieroglyphics, is made up of three types of symbols.
Alphabetic signs correspond to a letter or sound produced by that sign.
Syllabic symbols stand for sounds produced by a group of letters, a syllable. Determinative signs relate to a specific object or idea, such as man, woman, and water. Hieroglyphics can be read from left to right, right to left, or top to bottom. The direction depends on the direction the symbols are facing. In 1799, French soldiers found a stone tablet near Rosetta, Egypt.