Are hieroglyphics an example of visual thinking?

Only a little bit. Hieroglyphics seldom represent the things they're pictures of. Champollion discovered that they were actually phonetic, and this was the great breakthrough that made it possible to read them. read more

Also, the hieroglyphics we’re most familiar with, on tomb paintings and sarcophagi and so on, are really just the most formal form, and not used in regular writing and record-keeping. A simplified form of hieroglyphics called hieratic was developed for use with a pen. read more

is a very early example of how letterforms are driven by changes in tools. Thousands of pictographs were consolidated into 560 cunieforms. Still, imagine how hard it would be to learn 560 symbols in order to read and write. Literacy was, in fact, limited to a select few. read more

Using hieroglyphics for ideation is an unusual but potentially viable lateral thinking technique from Tom Wujec's excellent book, Five Star Mind. Unusual or random stimuli can often serve as powerful catalysts for personal brainstorming. read more