Abstract:Uniquely amongst the earliest writing systems, the Egyptian hieroglyphic script was sometimes enhanced by colouring the signs. This was not done in an arbitrary fashion, but was conventional, with each colour used in a conscious attempt either at materialism, naturalism, semi-naturalism or as a metaphor. This study aims to shed some light on the processes involved in writing in colour. The methodology, theory, analysis and extended commentary are to be found in Volume 1.The study shows that a polychrome canon was in use, in a remarkably coherent and stable fashion, during some two thousand five hundred years, from the Old Kingdom right through to the Ptolemaic period. A palaeography, showing the best examples of each hieroglyph together with a brief commentary, forms the whole of Volume 2. These exemplars are taken from a database of polychrome hieroglyphs: a collection of over three thousand six hundred signs extracted from fifty-two monumental inscriptions. They cover 67% of all the hieroglyphs found in Gardiner’s sign list. Those signs in the collection that possess coloured images can all be found in Volume 3. The palaeography is intended to be a practical tool, as is the application created in order to facilitate the navigation, consultation and update of the database.In the process of analysing this data, several commonly held ideas about colour symbolism and the identification of certain hieroglyphs were brought into question and rectified, where possible. However, many unanswered questions remain, leaving the door open to further fascinating research. / Doctorat en Langues, lettres et traductologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished