Gyibhildho

A Gyibhildho (Sonkhai: Gyíbhildho) is a type of Sonkhai ideographic symbol, which are used to encode history, stories, myths, and legends in a written form. Gyíbhildo are not true logograms, instead they more closely resemble pictograms or ideograms. The word “Gyíbildho” is a compound that literally means “clan symbol,” and they are most used and associated with the various noble houses of Sonkhai history. In addition, symbols can be combined to convey stories or narratives, and backed with rote oral history, serves as the primary form in which Sonkhai history was recorded for centuries. The tradition of Gyibhildho is believed to have originated circa the 12th century CE. Although ideographic recording has been found in Sonka prior to that point, the style of ideograms resembling that of modern day Gybhildho began to appear most commonly around the 1100s. They are commonly found among sacred or holy places to the Sonkhai, where they usually chronicle various Sonkhai myths and legends. They have also been found on various royal artifacts and on the walls of royal palaces used by Sonkhai kings, which tend to be the most well preserved. Though the Sonkhai people had been exposed to various writing systems from Ekuosia and beyond, they would ultimately fail to supplant the native ideograms until the arrival of the Balak Empire in the 19th century. This was largely due to their close ties with traditional Sonkhai religion, where priests served as holy record keepers are reciters of oral history, who's place would only be supplanted with the larger adoption of Zarasaism and the Vaniuan script by the Sonkhai people.