What Is It?
Hieroglyphics are picture writings. Much of what we know about ancient Egyptians comes from the hieroglyphics found on the walls of their tombs. This picture writing was a mystery for hundreds of years until the Rosetta Stone was found, which unlocked the language mystery. Hieroglyphics are written in rows or columns and can be read from left to right or from right to left. You can distinguish which way the text is to be read because the human or animal figures always face the beginning of the line.
References
I found my information at www.discoveringegypt.com