What color are hieroglyphics?

Answer 1

Hieroglyphs is usually written on papyrus or slabs of rock. On papyrus, hieroglyphs is generally written using black ink or for more elaborate use, such as religious means the Egyptians use colored ink. Hieroglyphs on slabs of rock is generally found in tombs, so they use colored ink to write over the hieroglyphs which have been carved into the rock.

Answer 2

Scribes used two colours of ink for writing on papyrus - red and black. Red was made from finely ground burnt ochre bonded with papyrus juice; black was a mix of soot and papyrus juice.

On the walls of some of the finest-quality tombs and temples, however, hieroglyphs were often first carved in low relief and then painted in naturalistic colours - many excellent examples of this technique can be seen in the tomb of Nefertari.

See links below for images: