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Hieroglyphics : the Writings of Ancient Egypt. Hardcover – January 1, 1996

by Maria Carmela Betro: (Author)

4.7 80 ratings

A complete handbook revealing the secrets of the hieroglyphic writing of the Nile Valley, which provides a still-vivid snapshot of the gods, the people, and the everyday life of the Ancient Egyptians. Both literal and highly lyrical, hieroglyphics bring alive a distant world, with descriptions of the natural environment, the art, the society, the religious beliefs, and even the philosophical basis of a culture that flourished 5,000 years ago. Presenting and explaining almost 600 of the figures used in the classic phase of Egypt's "sacred writing," this fascinating volume traces the origins and the meaning of each sign, as well as its graphic stylization. An opening essay reveals the secrets of the hieroglyphic system, including its development and its structural characteristics, and emphasizes the sacred, evocative, even magical power of the form, which ― unlike our own abstract alphabet ― is immediate and expressive. Concluding the book are a complete glossary, a bibliography, and an index, designed to make this book invaluable to the casual reader as well as the student and specialist.

Print length

251 pages
Language

English
Publisher

New York: Abbeville Press, 1996.
Publication date

January 1, 1996
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00GPS2VYO
Publisher ‏ : ‎ New York: Abbeville Press, 1996. (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 251 pages

Customer Reviews:
4.7 80 ratings

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4.7 out of 5

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Kindle Customer

Excellent resourse

Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2016

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This is not a book that you get to learn to read hieroglyphics. This is a book about WHY individual hieroglyphics mean what they mean. It will show you a hieroglyphic, explain what it means, show examples of more modernized and simplified versions... and then it tells you the whys. Example: There is a hieroglyph that, in my mind, I called the "Greek Key design thingy". It means a country shelter. I had no idea how anyone could make a Greek Key design thingy mean country shelter until they explained that it is literally looking down on the floor plan. There would be an open area for congregating (like a front porch) and the closed off area (inside the key) was a private area (for women to visit and for sleeping). These were the simple designs of country shelters. So now I can see HOW they got the design and I know more about the culture of the time. When I see it written on a wall at a museum, I can say with pride and confidence, "This is a country shelter. I had no idea what they are saying about it or doing with it, but I know that somehow a country shelter is involved in the conversation." It also helps you to appreciate the skill and commitment of the ancient scribes. We are such a media centered society that we fail to understand that, long ago, the act of writing something down was very important. Only people trained in this art could do this and I can only imagine the years it took to master the skill. I also noticed that there are similarities to other pictorial languages. The hieroglyph from "mountain" is so similar to the Chinese character that I automatically translated "mountain" before I saw the translation. The two characters are not identical but they are very close. If you wish to learn how to read all the hieroglyphics on a wall, this is not the book for you. It will not teach grammar. If you wonder why they chose a certain picture to mean a certain thing, this is the book you want. You will learn hieroglyphs for many items and ideas as well is details about the culture that shaped them.

12 people found this helpful

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User98745

Great Book For Leaning Origins Of Pictographic Hieroglyphics

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2018

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To be clear, this is not a book for absolute beginners. This is a book that explains why individual hieroglyphs mean what they mean, by breaking down their image, history, background, and giving variations. It is not a book that teaches you how to read sentences or how to read King Tut's tomb. However, this is precisely what I was looking for - a book that explains pictographs and gives the historical meaning behind them - as any true Egyptologist would want and need. Most of the other books are not written for this purposes and highlight the Egpytian alphabet (Hieroglyphics are part alphabet, part pictograph) and not the pictographs and their origins. So this book is exactly what I was looking for.

2 people found this helpful

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Sr. Patrick

Love love LOVE!!!

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2020

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This is one of the most descriptive books I have found on the subject. I use it in conjunction with “hieroglyph detective” and I am learning quickly!!

3 people found this helpful

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Patricia A Canestaro

Great book, novel take

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2020

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We lost our first copy of this book, and it was good enough that we replaced it.

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cleo48

hieroghlyphics the writings of ancient egypt

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2010

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for a beginner this book at first was quite daunting but on the second reading got to understand it better the book is exalent.

3 people found this helpful

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.Olatunji Mwamba

Informative book

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2021

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The product meets my expectations

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2020

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Good for kids too.

One person found this helpful

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Lion King

Legacy

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2018

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This is a great book that I hope will be a source for prospective changes to come.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Malcolm

Engrossing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

This was a replacement, and it was great to see it again as it shows and explains the meanings, developments and uses of a fair number of hieroglyphics.

MAM

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 28, 2011

Verified Purchase

This book cost me roughly 4 pounds. It was supposed to be a used one but it is in fact new. (Excellent). It is a 1996 edition of a very accurate list of hieroglyphics with phonetic values, photographic reference of where it is to be found, cursive evolution, relation to the object and different meanings in other contests. GREAT BOOK! Thanks.

5 people found this helpful

christopher niblett

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2015

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very good book

kay

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2015

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