In this hour-long class, students will learn the history and usage of Egyptian hieroglyphs. I will reinforce the lesson with myriad examples from my personal collection of photos to illustrate all materials and points discussed. Following this brief history, we will discuss who discovered the meaning (i.e., cracked the code!) of the hieroglyphs in order to illustrate the basics of how the writing system is structured. Finally, students will spend the last half of class examining and practicing how the symbols used as an alphabet are formed. They will take away with them their own cartouches, the cartridge-shaped rectangles surrounding pharaonic names, thus introducing them to the beautiful writing system of Ancient Egypt.