;66 



THE HUMAN SPECIES 



of the later cuneiform writing, we come to the ancient Cretan 

 hieroglyphs which are of quite exceptional importance, owing 

 to the fact that they are the parents of not only the Aryan 

 but also of the Semitic characters. They are very similar to 

 the hieroglyphs of the Heths and the peoples of Asia Minor, 

 and to a certain extent to those of the Egyptians, and were 

 evolved in the nineteenth century B.C. 



In the Egyptian hieroglyphics many parts of the human 

 body are used as signs, as also are various plants and animals, 

 weapons and tools, gates and walls, half-moons and stones and 

 numerous geometrical figures. 



FIG. 187. Example of a Chinese inscription of Yu. (Karpeles.) 



The Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters (Fig. 187) 

 are derived from a similar hieroglyphic origin ; but whereas 

 these nations have exchanged their hieroglyphics for letters 

 proper a thousand years ago, the Spanish conquerors found the 

 natives of Central America still using their ancient and obscure 

 hieroglyphics, in which both realistic pictures and conventional 

 signs were used to express ideas. 



In the far East the Chinese exchanged their hieroglyphs 

 for letters proper, turning the original pictures and symbols 

 into the well-known characters which are arranged from above 

 downwards one below the other. They are painted on paper 



