Egyptian Hieroglyphic writing

The first known incidence of cryptography. A scribe used nonstandard hieroglyphs in an inscription. About Hieroglyphs: From the greek meaning "sacred writing", this is the picture language that was used most often to decorate temples and monuments. It could be written with pen and ink on papyrus, painted or carved into stone. It was carefully drawn to make the signs as accurate as possible. Hieroglyphs were used to write the ancient Egyptian lanauge. In the beginning hieroglyphic signs were used to keep records of the king's possessions. Scribes could easily make these records by drawing a picture of a cow or a boat followed by a number. But as the language became more complex more pictures were needed. Eventually the language consisted of more than 750 individual signs.