How did people come to understand ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics?

first, the Rosetta stone was found in 1801. Then in 1822 J.F. Champollion was able to decipher hieroglyphs. He could read both Greek and coptic. he started to match the cartouches on thestone with the greek letters.

Archeologists and linguists worked hand and hand in doing their job of rediscovering ancient texts to make connections of the past to the present thereby understanding the history including the very ancient texts or symbols.

The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in Egypt by French soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars.

The Rosetta Stone had ancient royal texts that were inscribed in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and other ancient languages. Archaeologists and linguists could cross-examine the hieroglyphics with the other languages. From there, they unlocked the secrets of hieroglyphics and how they work.

BY TRANSLATING DRAWINGS INTO WORDS

ils ont pu déchiffrer les symboles utilisés par les égyptiens dans leurs anciens récits 

The modern answer to this is that in 1799 a French soldier in Napoleon's army discovered a stone near the town of Rosetta that contained inscriptions in three languages: Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian Demotics and Greek. The Greek passage announced that the three inscriptions had the same meaning, thus providing a translation.

i think that knowing their methology and their daily life had definetly help a lot to get to know the simbols because every single signe has somethingb to do whith their lives and believes

07Mar17.....All the early languages had their base from the Persian language which is where the numbers used today derived as well.  There was a time when Persia ruled the greater part of the old world ( around the cradle of civilization ) until Alexander The Great ( Greek ) came along and put the Persian king - Darius - to route and eventually cutting off his head and marrying his wife....making himself King of Persia.  Thereafter the Greeks ruled the world until the Romans came along and did their thing.  Old Persian ( Iranian ) Texts still exist today and have been there for thousands of years which led to early anthropologists ( just a few short years in the span of history ) studying them to get a handle on deciphering the writings of the Egyptians.

pwm believes this stuff to be wonderful and has led to such interesting understandings about history.  Ps:  Make no wonder so many millions of tourists visit the Egyptian antiquities.  Too bad that the Iranians are so backward and paranoid in their existence as to not allow Westerners inside to study their culture.....Much Obliged...pwm..