The hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt have fascinated people for over three thousand years. In this engaging new study, Penelope Wilson offers a wide ranging look at this ancient form of writing, touching on everything from basic principles of translation to its broader function in Egyptian culture. Sacred Signs illuminates the cultural significance of hieroglyphs, showing how it was used in monumental art and as the rarified language of the gods. Wilson points out that the Egyptian word for pictorial writing was "medu ...
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The hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt have fascinated people for over three thousand years. In this engaging new study, Penelope Wilson offers a wide ranging look at this ancient form of writing, touching on everything from basic principles of translation to its broader function in Egyptian culture. Sacred Signs illuminates the cultural significance of hieroglyphs, showing how it was used in monumental art and as the rarified language of the gods. Wilson points out that the Egyptian word for pictorial writing was "medu-netjer," which means "words of god." Hieroglyphs were an exalted mode of communication, used to speak with the gods or to guide rulers in the afterlife (for instance, hieroglyphs might describe a set of spells, rituals, and the route to the afterlife for use by the king or queen). Indeed, hieroglyphs differed from everyday writing and the average Egyptian was unable to read them--only the elite were taught the pictorial signs. Throughout the book, Wilson illuminates the writing system itself. We learn that hieroglyphs can be read either left-to-right or right-to-left and that animals, birds, people, serpents, and fish were drawn in profile, all facing the same way, so that readers would know which way to read the line. Also, individual signs derived from everyday objects in the Egyptian world, so that learning hieroglyphs is not only a linguistic exercise, but also an insightful introduction to Egyptian culture and daily life. Written by an authority on hieroglyphics, Sacred Signs is the only book available that presents up-to-date evidence in an accessible way, illuminating the function and importance of hieroglyphs within the framework of ancient Egyptian culture.
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Add this copy of Sacred Signs: Hieroglyphs in Ancient Egypt (Very Short to cart. $6.00, very good condition, Sold by Best and Fastest Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wantage, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by Oxford University Press, USA.
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Minor rubbing. VG., dustwrapper. 21x13cm, x, 157 pp. "Hieroglyphs were far more than a language. They were an omnipresent and all powerful force in communicating the messages of ancient Egyptian culture for over three thousand years; used as monumental art, as a means of identifying Egyptianess, and for rarified communication with the gods. In this exciting new study, Penelope Wilson explores the cultural significance of the script with an emphasis on previously neglected areas such as cryptography, the continuing decipherment post-Champollion, and the powerful fascination hieroglyphs still hold for us today"-Publisher' s description.
Add this copy of Sacred Signs: Hieroglyphs in Ancient Egypt to cart. $63.44, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by Oxford University Press.
Add this copy of Sacred Signs-Hieroglyphs in Ancient Egypt (Very Short to cart. $70.37, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2003 by Oxford University Press.
