The Boy and the Boy King Reviews

What do the enigmatic images on ancient Egyptian artifacts mean? What royal names adorn the walls of some of the world’s oldest temples? What kind of lives did the people buried in the ancient tombs lead? The keys to unlock this fascinating civilization lie within the glyphs of its sacred language. Appearing a little before 3,000 BC, Egyptian hieroglyphs were used for thousands of years to write names, label commodities, commemorate historical events, and convey complex stories. This definitive educational tool provides a systematic, step-by-step approach to learning ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, complete with fun and increasingly challenging exercises and easy-to-reference sign and word lists. By the end of chapter one, readers will begin to decipher simple inscriptions; after completing the entire book, they will be ready to tackle tomb and temple walls. While learning to decipher the language of the ancient Egyptians, readers will also learn about their history, social structure, and funerary beliefs. An invaluable resource, this book will appeal to amateur Egyptologists, as well as those looking to enhance their museum-going and travel experiences.

The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt provides a lively and accessible introduction to ancient Egyptian life and culture set in the specific geography of the land and its river, the Nile, within the historical framework of the dynastic sequence. The nearly independent chapters provide a comprehensive and entertaining survey of ancient Egypt and its rich and well-documented culture. The principal topics incorporate significant older as well as more recent scholarship, spiced with ideas based on the author’s long experience in the study of ancient Egypt, making stimulating and thought-provoking reading. In addition to individual chapter bibliographies there is a general bibliography, an annotated list of important museum collections, a king list with a selected set of illustrated royal cartouches, and a general index. Highlights include: • Lively overviews distilled from the latest discoveries and research • Maps, plans, reconstruction drawings, chronologies, site lists and recommendations for further reading • Hundreds of color and black-and-white illustrations