An entirely fresh and accessible approach to reading ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs by a proven expert, this step-by-step introduction assumes no previous knowledge of grammar or ancient languages, but guides you through the inscriptions, from simple to more complex, supported by full explanations and translations.

You will see your knowledge and skills grow as Bill Manley clearly explains the mysteries of hieroglyphs without jargon or technical terms, guiding the reader step by step through 27 real-life, unaltered texts from stelae, tombs and portable objects. Specially commissioned line drawings present engaging texts clearly and elegantly, while fact boxes bring to life images of monuments of high officials and kings, giving glimpses of ancient Egyptian society and beliefs.

This guide is essential reading for anyone interested in Ancient Egypt, hieroglyphs or ancient languages and contains all the knowledge you need in order to start deciphering hieroglyphic texts for yourself.

The art and architecture of Egypt during the age of the pharaohs continue to capture the imagination of the modern world. Vivid, graceful forms decorating monuments that emanated ambition and authority spark our wonder about this distant culture. Ever youthful and elegant men and women encounter odd, animal-headed gods and monsters amid scenes of work and leisure, in a paradise of plain, bright colours, where hieroglyphic texts hint at grand ideas. The tombs and temples of ancient Egypt seem to reveal how art and monumental building first flowered at the heart of civilization, and the many ways in which they may adorn and articulate the human condition, and our relationships with the eternal and our time on earth. Among the great creative achievements of ancient Egypt we discover a set of constant forms: archetypes in art and architecture, which state clearly and concisely the contemporary view of authority, divinity, beauty and meaning. Whether adapted to fine, delicate jewellery or colossal statues, these forms maintain a human face - with human ideas and emotions as their explicit inspiration. These artistic templates, and the ideas they articulated, were refined and reinvented through dozens of centuries, until scenes first created for the earliest kings, around 3000 BC, were eventually used to represent Roman emperors and the last officials of pre-Christian Egypt. Bill Manley's account of the art of ancient Egypt draws on the finest works of a uniquely successful and enduringly compelling civilization through more than 3,000 years, including celebrated masterpieces, from the Narmer palette to Tutankhamun's gold mask, as well as their contexts of origin in the tombs, temples and palaces of the pharaohs and their citizens.

A brand-new translation of a philosophical classic of the ancient world, The Teaching of Ptahhatp, written in Egypt 4,000 years ago. The Teaching of Ptahhatp, composed two millennia before the birth of Plato, is the oldest surviving statement of philosophy in the ancient world and the earliest witness to the power of the written word. It ought to begin the list of the world’s philosophy classics, yet it has been largely forgotten since it was rediscovered in the nineteenth century. Egyptologist Bill Manley’s new translation corrects this oversight, rendering into approachable modern English for the first time Ptahhatp’s profound yet practical account of ‘the meaning of life’, written many centuries before the supposed dawn of western philosophy. Manley introduces Ptahhatp, who served as Vizier to the Old Kingdom pharaoh Izezi (c. 2410–2375 BC), and the world of dynamic ideas and new technologies – writing among them – within which he worked, illuminating the nuances of his language and philosophy. In addition, Manley’s new translation of Why Things Happen, the oldest surviving account of creation from anywhere in the world, reveals how Ptahhatp’s account of the human condition is founded in distinctive ancient Egyptian beliefs about the nature of truth and reality. Taken together, Manley’s new translations and expert commentary provide a new perspective on the Pyramid Age and overturn traditional prejudices about the origins of writing and philosophy. The ‘oldest book in the world’ is a testament to a common thread that connects humanity across time; Ptahhatp grapples with the pitfalls of greed, ambition, celebrity, success, confrontation, friendship, sex and even the office environment, and his teachings remain remarkably relevant in the modern day.

This is the first guide to reading hieroglyphs that begins with Egyptian monuments themselves. Assuming no knowledge on the part of the reader, it shows how to interpret the information on the inscriptions in a step-by-step journey through the script and language of ancient Egypt.

We enter the world of the ancient Egyptians and explore their views on life and death, Egypt and the outside world, humanity and the divine. The book draws on texts found on some thirty artifacts ranging from coffins to stelae to obelisks found in museums in Egypt, America, and Europe, and selected across two thousand years. The texts are then explained clearly, and are supported by full translations, photographs, and line drawings.

Who were the young woman and child buried with magnificent gold and luxurious finery in an Egyptian mummy dated around 1550 BC? Evidence suggests the woman may have been a queen. If so, the National Museums Scotland houses the only Egyptian royal burial seen anywhere outside Cairo. Sixty-five stunning funerary items, coffins, mummy-cases, masks, portraits, jewelry and other adornments of the well-equipped mummy are illustrated and annotated in this new hardcover that is as reader-friendly as it is comprehensive. We are reminded of the humanity here these coffins began with a life and text provides a glimpse into their stories. Included are the coffin of the priest Iufenamun and the double mummies of half-brothers, Petamun and Penhorpabik. Annotations include item owner, dating, dimensions, materials, description, provenance and mode of acquisition. Organized sequentially, the expert authors explain styles and techniques and the changes in each epoch taking their story from the age of the pyramids around 2,000 B.C.to the time of Roman Rule ending in the third century A.D., after which Egypt would transform into a Christian society. Concordances, chronology of Egypt, and a glossary are included. *For the Egyptologist - laypeople and professionals alike, for collectors, curators, historians, archeologists *Unveils information on a superb collection

The latest archaeological evidence is used to cast new light on the vast legacy of the world's first great nation. Full color maps and illustrations throughout.