Handwritten hieroglyphs, or hieroglyphic book hand, are a form of Egyptian hieroglyphs commonly used for religious documents written on papyrus, such as the Book of the Dead. It was particularly common during the Ramesside Period and many famous documents, such as the Papyrus of Ani, utilize it. It was also employed on wood for religious literature such as the coffin texts.
Manuscript hieroglyphs should not be confused with the cursive form of hieroglyphs known as hieratic. Hieratic has a large number of ligatures and signs unique to itself. However, there is a certain degree of influence from hieratic in the visual appearance of some signs. One significant difference is that the orientation of manuscript hieroglyphs is not constant, reading right to left or left to right depending on the context, whereas hieratic is always read right to left.[1]