Egyptian Language: Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics [Paperback]

Sir E. A. Wallis Budge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1983

Budge gives the history of hieroglyphic writing, its evolution into hieratic and demotic scripts, and the fascinating tale of its decipherment by Young, Champollion, Åkerblad, and others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; 8th edition (1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486213943
• ISBN-13: 978-0486213941
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Ancient > Egypt
  • #43 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Middle East > Egypt
  • #100 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > African > Instruction

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars out-dated before it was ever published, November 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Egyptian Language: Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics (Paperback)

The works of E.A. Wallis Budge were out of date before they were even published. His sole gift to Egyptology was the popularisation of the field, leading at the least to extended availability of funding. While interesting as a piece of scholarly history, no beginner should work from this book alone; Budge's understanding of the language is fallible to a degree that would forever mar the education of the casual student in the Egyptian language. My suggestion would be James Allen's new "Middle Egyptian", if not Gardiner.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A very bad book for beginners, June 7, 2000

By 

Cislyn M. Smith "lriG rorriM" (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Egyptian Language: Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics (Paperback)

I bought this book with the hope that having a background in Latin and both Homeric and Attic Greek would help me get through any deficiencies in the text. Boy, was I wrong.

It's a very bad sign when a language text doesn't even touch upon the verb until chapter IX, only then to tell the stubborn reader who made it that far that "in the limits of this little book it is impossible to set before the reader examples of the use of the various parts of the verb, and to illustrate the forms of it which have been identified with the Infinitive and Imperative moods and with participial forms."

A paradigm of verb endings is provided (surprisingly enough), but it uses a different verb to illustrate each ending, and is rather buried in the text. The concepts are tricky, and very little is done to clarify them (for instance, citing examples of potential similarities with Hebrew doesn't help me). I like the fact that there are excerpts from actual texts to practice on, but since I never actually managed to acquire any skills, I couldn't exactly practice on the sentences provided.

I sincerely hope that students who are interested in learning ancient Egyptian by themselves won't waste their time with this book as I did.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Obsolete, incomplete, and wrong, January 17, 2001

By 

S. Gustafson "Holy Roman Emperor" (New Albany, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Egyptian Language: Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics (Paperback)

This book may have some remaining marginal utility for people who just want to learn to write their name in hieroglyphics.

However, if your interest in the Egyptian language runs deeper than that, you will want to pass this one by. Budge uses a system of transliteration that is no longer the standard, and now only found in reprints of books by Budge himself. If you learn it, you will have to unlearn it later on. His presentation of the grammar is also obsolete and incomplete.

More serious students would be better served by Gardiner's -Egyptian Grammar-, or Allen's -Introduction to Middle Egyptian-, or even Mercer's similarly priced paperbacks.