Anatolian hieroglyphs reveal forgotten writing system of ancient Türkiye

When most people hear the word “hieroglyph,” images of pyramids, mummies, and the Nile spring to mind. Popular culture—from Hollywood to history books—has long linked hieroglyphic writing exclusively to Ancient Egypt. Even the term “hieroglyph” originates from Greek, combining hieros (sacred) and glyphein (to carve), inspired by the sacred inscriptions early Greek travelers saw in Egyptian temples.

Yet, this intricate form of writing was not unique to Egypt. Civilizations across the globe, from the Maya in the Americas to the Minoans on Crete, developed their own hieroglyphic systems. One of the lesser-known yet deeply fascinating variants emerged not in Africa, but in the heart of Anatolia—modern-day Türkiye.

Meet the Luwians

Before diving into Anatolian hieroglyphs, it’s essential to meet the people behind them: the Luwians. Their language, Luwian, was part of the Indo-European family and is classified among the ancient Anatolian languages. Uniquely, Luwian was recorded using two different writing systems: cuneiform and hieroglyphs.

Cuneiform Luwian texts, unearthed in the Hittite capital of Hattusa, were primarily used for state matters and religious rituals—rarely seen or understood by the general population. But the hieroglyphic form was a different story.

Anatolian hieroglyphs were used for over 700 years across Anatolia and Syria

The so-called “Anatolian hieroglyphs,” more commonly referred to by scholars as Hieroglyphic Luwian, served as the everyday script of ancient communities. These symbols adorned rock reliefs, official seals, letters, and land sale documents—used not by priests in temples but by commoners and officials in marketplaces and palaces alike.

Dating back to around 1,400 B.C., the system saw its golden age between 1000 and 700 B.C., flourishing for nearly seven centuries. Inscriptions have been found across southeastern Türkiye—including Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Sanliurfa, and Malatya—and even as far as modern-day Syria. This region is now considered the epicenter of Hieroglyphic Luwian. Still, discoveries extend to the Aegean, with striking examples such as the Karabel Monument near Izmir.

From Karatepe to Paris: Decoding an ancient language

It wasn’t until the 20th century that significant progress was made in deciphering this forgotten script. French Hittitologist Emmanuel Laroche led the way with his groundbreaking 1960 publication Les Hieroglyphes Hittites, building upon earlier efforts by E. Forrer, B. Hrozny, P. Meriggi, and I. Gelb.

The real breakthrough came in 1947, when Turkish archaeologist Halet Cambel and German scholar Helmuth Bossert discovered bilingual inscriptions in Phoenician and Hieroglyphic Luwian at Karatepe. This Rosetta Stone-like find opened the floodgates for deeper understanding.

Later, scholars such as J.D. Hawkins, A.M. Davies, and G. Neumann refined earlier interpretations, correcting mistakes and offering fresh insights. By the late 20th century, a more accurate picture of the language and script had emerged, leading to the abandonment of the term “Hittite hieroglyphs” in favor of “Anatolian hieroglyphs” or “Hieroglyphic Luwian.”

Hieroglyphic Luwian used logograms and syllables—not an alphabet

According to archaeologist academic Muammer Irec, unlike alphabets, which use simple letters, Hieroglyphic Luwian used a combination of logograms (symbols representing entire words) and syllabic signs. The language featured only three vowels: a, i, and u—each with both short and long forms.

Syllables could be composed of various combinations of consonants and vowels (e.g., ma or tan). The writing followed a unique format known as boustrophedon, in which the direction of writing alternated with each line—right to left on one line, then left to right on the next.

How emojis mirror the spirit of ancient hieroglyphs

By the first millennium B.C., the rise of alphabetic systems—with their simplicity and efficiency—made complex hieroglyphic systems obsolete. Yet the soul of Anatolian hieroglyphs lives on in the modern world.

Today’s emojis, used daily in texts and social media, echo the ancient function of symbols to represent ideas, emotions, and actions. Interestingly, the Japanese writing system—which helped inspire emojis—also uses logograms alongside phonetic scripts, creating a full-circle connection to humanity’s earliest attempts to communicate in writing.