Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs

by James P. Allen

• ISBN13: 9780521517966
• ISBN10: 0521517966
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-05-24
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Middle Egyptian introduces the reader to the writing system of ancient Egypt and the language of hieroglyphic texts. It contains twenty-six lessons, exercises (with answers), a list of hieroglyphic signs, and a dictionary. It also includes a series of twenty-five essays on the most important aspects of ancient Egyptian history, society, religion and literature. The combination of grammar lessons and cultural essays allows users to not only read hieroglyphic texts but also to understand them, providing readers with the foundation to understand texts on monuments and to read great works of ancient Egyptian literature in the original text. This second edition contains revised exercises and essays, providing an up to date account of current research and discoveries. New illustrations enhance discussions and examples. These additions combine with the previous edition to create a complete grammatical description of the classical language of ancient Egypt for specialists in linguistics and other fields.

Table of Contents

List of figures

Preface

Language and writing

The sounds of Middle Egyptian

Multiliteral signs

Nouns

Pronouns

Adjectives

Adjectival and nominal sentences

Prepositions and adverbs

Numbers

Adverbial sentences

Nonverbal sentences

Nonverbal clauses

Verbs

The infinitival forms

The pseudoverbal construction

The imperative and particles

The stative

The perfect

The subjunctive

The perfective and imperfective

The prospective and passive

The other forms of the suffix conjugation

The participles

The relative forms

Special uses of the relative forms

Middle Egyptian grammar

Sign list

Dictionary

Answers to the exercises

Index

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