This is what had happened to the word during the course
of centuries. First of all it had meant only the particular tool
which it represented. Then that meaning had been lost and it
had become the past participle of a verb. After several hundred
years, the Egyptians lost sight of both these meanings and
the picture {illust.} came to stand for a single letter, the
letter S. A short sentence will show you what I mean. Here
is a modern English sentence as it would have been written in
hieroglyphics. {illust.}

The {illust.} either means one of these two round objects
in your head, which allow you to see or it means ``I,'' the person
who is talking.

A {illust.} is either an insect which gathers honey, or it
represents the verb ``to be'' which means to exist. Again, it
may be the first part of a verb like ``be-come'' or ``be-have.''
In this particular instance it is followed by {illust.} which
means a ``leaf'' or ``leave'' or ``lieve'' (the sound of all three
words is the same).

The ``eye'' you know all about.

Finally you get the picture of a {illust.}. It is a giraffe
It is part of the old sign-language out of which the hieroglyphics
developed.

You can now read that sentence without much difficulty.