The total number of distinct Egyptian hieroglyphs increased over time from several hundred in the Middle Kingdom to several thousand during the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
In 1928/1929 Alan Gardiner published an overview of hieroglyphs, Gardiner's sign list, the basic modern standard. It describes 763 signs in 26 categories (A–Z, roughly). Georg Möller compiled more extensive lists, organized by historical epoch (published posthumously in 1927 and 1936).
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Deshret (Ancient Egyptian: 𓂧𓈙𓂋𓏏𓋔, romanized: dšrt, lit. 'Red One') was the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. It was a red bowl shaped with a protruding curlicue. When combined with the Hedjet (White Crown) of Upper Egypt, it forms the Pschent (Double Crown), in ancient Egyptian called the sekhemti.
The Red Crown in Egyptian language hieroglyphs eventually was used as the vertical letter "n". The original "n" hieroglyph from the Predynastic Period and the Old Kingdom was the sign depicting ripples of water.