This article attempts a historical, archaeological and social analysis of the practice of mutilating hieroglyphs apparent from the end of the Middle Kingdom and then continues throughout the Second Intermediate Period. The analysis leads to some new observations about the use and eventual abandonment of this custom, pinpointing its origin around the end of Amenemhat III's reign. The practice seems to have moved with the royal entourage from the north to the south of the country, where it is attested in a slightly later period. At Thebes, the incomplete hieroglyphs system is at first handed down unchanged, but soon becomes inconsistent and then gradually forgotten before finally disappearing entirely.