Product Description

This book provides a thorough introduction to the writing system of ancient Egypt and the language of hieroglyphic texts. It is designed as a textbook for university and college classes, and is also suitable for individuals learning ancient Egyptian on their own. It contains 26 lessons, exercises (with answers), a list of hieroglyphic signs, and a dictionary. It also includes a series of 25 essays on the most important aspects of ancient Egyptian history, society, religion and literature. The combination of grammar lessons and cultural essays allows users not only to read hieroglyphic texts but also to understand them. The book gives readers the foundation they need to understand the texts on monuments and to read the great works of ancient Egyptian literature in the original. It can also serve as a complete grammatical description of the classical language of ancient Egypt for specialists in linguistics and other related fields.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #318559 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 524 pages

Review
"Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, by James P. Allen, is a much needed addition to the meager literture available to Egyptologists, scholars and amateurs today interested studing the basic of ancient Egyptian...Middle Egyptian will always remain a difficult language to tackle, and much of the success of gaining a good grasp of the language depends on the effort of the student. Allen's book, however, will make the task a much easier, and an enjoyable one for students who have a serious interest in taking up the language." Nora Shalaby, Cario Times Vol. 4, no.32

"One particularly happy feature of Allen's volume is that the abundance of exercises that follow every lesson is accompanied, in the back of the book, with the answers to them all... Allen's textbook should now be the first text of choice for teaching Egyptian." William J. Fulco, Ancient History Bulletin

"Allen, a leading scholar of ancient Egyptian grammar and syntax, has drwan upon his own extensive teaching experience to provide an up-to-date and accessible grammar that could well become the standard textbook in English." Religious Studies Review

Customer Reviews

Middle Egyptian
This updates and extends the great work of Gardiner, it is succint, and amply illustrated, and an excellent introductory work in the language. I have worked with this book for a number of weeks, and find it easier to comprehend than gardiner, although I cannot help refering back to the master! { old habits die hard }.

But within this work you will find everything you need to get up to speed, and quite far along the road into middle egyptian it is well worth owning.

Excellent introduction
An up-to-date version of Gardiner's classic Egyptian Grammar, this is an excellent introduction to the language of the Middle Kingdom - both grammar and vocabulary. Accompanied with copies of Wallis Budge's extensive, if somewhat outdated, dictionaries, this book allows the reader to achieve a basic proficiency in the language of 12th dynasty Egypt.

Very useful!
As an Egyptology student forced to study from Gardiner I find that this book helps to clarify the more confusing grammar points. If you are used to using the Gardinarian transliteration system then the system used by Allen can be a nuisance at first but he does take the time to lay out the diferent systems at the front. He also makes a point of mentioning the outdated grammar terms used in Gardiner, making it possible to find them. This book helped me pass my hieroglyphs exam and I thoroughly recommend this either for grammar work or text translation.