Hieroglyphics

A hieroglyph is a character from a logographic or partly logographic writing system.
The term originally referred to the Egyptian hieroglyphs, but is also applied to the ancient Cretan Luwian, Mayan and Mi'kmaq scripts, and occasionally also to Chinese characters.

The word Hieroglyphs derives from the Greek words ἱερός (hierós 'sacred') and γλύφειν (glúphein 'to carve' or 'to write', see glyph), and was first used to describe Egyptian hieroglyphs.
The word "hieroglyphics" is derived from the fact that the Greeks called Egyptian hieroglyphs τά ἱερογλυφικά γράμματα 'hieroglyphic letters'; however, they sometimes simply dropped the word γράμματα, "letters", calling them τά ἱερογλυφικά 'the hieroglyphics' ('letters' being understood). This was used in informal use.

In the same way, although the term "hieroglyphics" is still used today, this usage adds a tone of informality, and is technically incorrect. It is more correct to use the noun "hieroglyphs" for both the language as a whole and for the individual characters that compose it, or to use the term "hieroglyphic" as an adjective (e.g., a hieroglyphic writing system).

Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieroglyphics

Picture: http://www.nku.edu/~anthro/hieroglyphics.jpg