Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Preface
- Lesson 1 Language and Writing
- Lesson 2 Unliteral Signs
- Lesson 3 Multiliteral Signs
- Lesson 4 Nouns
- Lesson 5 Pronouns
- Lesson 6 Adjectives
- Lesson 7 Adjectival and Nominal Sentences
- Lesson 8 Prepositions and Adverbs
- Lesson 9 Numbers
- Lesson 10 Adverbial Sentences
- Lesson 11 Non-verbal Sentences
- Lesson 12 Verbs
- Lesson 13 The Infinitival Forms
- Lesson 14 The Pseudo-verbal Construction
- Lesson 15 The Imperative and Particles
- Lesson 16 The Stative
- Lesson 17 The sdm.n.f
- Lesson 18 The sdm.f
- Lesson 19 The Other Forms of the Suffix Conjugation
- Lesson 20 Adverb Clauses
- Lesson 21 Noun Clauses
- Lesson 22 Relative Clauses
- Lesson 23 The Active Participle
- Lesson 24 The Passive Participle
- Lesson 25 Emphatic Sentences
- Lesson 26 Middle Egyptian Grammar
- Sign List
- Dictionary
- Text References
- Answers to the Exercises
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Preface
- Lesson 1 Language and Writing
- Lesson 2 Unliteral Signs
- Lesson 3 Multiliteral Signs
- Lesson 4 Nouns
- Lesson 5 Pronouns
- Lesson 6 Adjectives
- Lesson 7 Adjectival and Nominal Sentences
- Lesson 8 Prepositions and Adverbs
- Lesson 9 Numbers
- Lesson 10 Adverbial Sentences
- Lesson 11 Non-verbal Sentences
- Lesson 12 Verbs
- Lesson 13 The Infinitival Forms
- Lesson 14 The Pseudo-verbal Construction
- Lesson 15 The Imperative and Particles
- Lesson 16 The Stative
- Lesson 17 The sdm.n.f
- Lesson 18 The sdm.f
- Lesson 19 The Other Forms of the Suffix Conjugation
- Lesson 20 Adverb Clauses
- Lesson 21 Noun Clauses
- Lesson 22 Relative Clauses
- Lesson 23 The Active Participle
- Lesson 24 The Passive Participle
- Lesson 25 Emphatic Sentences
- Lesson 26 Middle Egyptian Grammar
- Sign List
- Dictionary
- Text References
- Answers to the Exercises
- Index
Summary
The decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing is one of the great success stories of modern archeology. Before 1822, the civilization of ancient Egypt was mute and mysterious, its images bizarre and incomprehensible to a world convinced that all thought of any worth began with the ancient Greeks. Today we are able to read the ancient Egyptian texts and, more importantly, to understand for the most part what they meant to the people who wrote them. In the process we have discovered a world of rich imagination, sophisticated thought, and profoundly moving emotion.
Learning Egyptian, however, presents a number of problems not encountered in studying most other languages. The culture of ancient Egypt differs from our own in more than just its language. Its texts are full of terms and concepts that have no direct counterpart in the modern world. To help you understand these, each grammatical lesson is also complemented by a short essay on some aspect of Egyptian society and thought. This foundation will make it possible for you not only to translate the hieroglyphic texts but also to understand what they have to say.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Middle EgyptianAn Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, pp. ix - xPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014