The Mystery of the Hieroglyphs [Paperback]

Carol Donoughue (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

For more than 15 centuries, no one could read the strange-looking Egyptian hieroglyphs. And then in 1799 a French soldier in Napoleon's army in Egypt stumbled across the Rosetta Stone, an ancient inscription recorded in Greek, hieroglyphs, and demotic script. Many of the brightest scholars of the time--Egyptologists, historians, and linguists--as well as detectives, professional code breakers, and plain amateurs, all set out to decipher the forgotten words.
Carol Donoughue tells us the fascinating story of the hieroglyphs and the race to decipher them, explaining how this curious writing system began with simple drawings of everyday objects. She compares the hieroglyphic system to modern alphabets in an entertaining narrative complemented with numerous photographs and drawings, maps, historical timelines stretching from ancient Egypt to Napoleon, a glossary, and numerous sidebars. The book culminates in an edge-of-your-seat description of how the brilliant French archaeologist Champollion finally succeeded in deciphering the hieroglyphs. A final section displays an alphabet of "hieroglyphs" and offers some fun activities for children based on hieroglyphic writing.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-Through this involving history of the Rosetta Stone, readers share the excitement of being able to translate hieroglyphics. For hundreds of years, Europeans struggled to know what Egyptian picture writing said, and whether the pictures stood for sounds, for objects, or for ideas. When the Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799, it provided a translating key: the same text was written in hieroglyphics, Egyptian, and Greek script. Over the years, language experts Thomas Young and Jean Francois Champollion worked to "crack the code." Finally, in 1822, Champollion realized that the hieroglyphs stood for sounds, and the Rosetta Stone and many other ancient writings could be translated. What makes this book so involving is that readers must do their own learning, translating, and reading of hieroglyphics as they travel through this history. By the book's end, they should be able to decipher some glyphs and write their own messages in this ancient language. Graphic examples of concepts make them easy to grasp. For example, readers struggle to decipher words written backwards or upside down in English, to illustrate how difficult it is to read glyphs, which often appear this way. There are some fascinating tidbits of information along the way, here, too. For example, Egyptian scribes practiced writing on small stones, called ostracons, which were like scratch paper. Crisp color photos, reproductions, and sidebars enrich the text. An enticing volume.
Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

PLB 0-19-521553-2 A picture-filled history of the decoding of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, including the discovery of the Rosetta Stone by the French, and its appropriation by the British, the steps leading to deciphering it, and some basic information on how to read hieroglyphs. Also covered are the importance of cartouches, facts on the way the Egyptians wrote, and snippets of cultural information. This fascinating story of historical and linguistic deduction is made clear and accessible to readers. Central chapters on the works of Thomas Young and Jean Franois Champollion on decoding the stone describe in detail the steps of the process that led to the final breakthrough. The text is intelligent and thorough, and the many full-color photographs and drawings both add interest and help clarify difficult points. (maps, diagrams, chronology, further reading, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195215532
• ISBN-13: 978-0195215533
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,032,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unusual and beautiful book!, June 12, 2000

By 

Christopher G. Robinson (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mystery of the Hieroglyphs (Hardcover)

This short (48 pages) book simply and intelligently tells the story of the decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphs for children. It is illustrated with beautiful artwork and is a worthy gift for an artistic, curious middle-school child.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars loaded with details, brings history to life, October 20, 2002

By 

christinemm - The Thinking Mother (Houston Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Mystery of the Hieroglyphs: The Story of the Rosetta Stone and the Race to Decipher Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Paperback)

This book tells of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and about attempts to break the code of the hieroglyphs and demotic script. We learn of the various men who tried to break the code and about the successful young man who finally did break the code. The book also tells about who currently owns the Rosetta Stone and the journey and literal fighting that took place over its ownership.

Through this story the reader is introduced to what hieroglyphs are and what demotic script is. Battles are very lightly touched upon, enough to explain why the Egyptians began writing in Greek as well. (The Rosetta stone tells the same story in Hieroglyphs, Demotic script, and Greek and was the key to breaking the hieroglyphic code.) The reader is kept in suspense about the meaning and the decoding of the hieroglyphs...as the discoveries are made the code is revealed to us in bits and pieces. For example we start off not knowing if the symbols stand for sounds of a spoken word or for literal translations to objects/animals, etc. In the end the hieroglyphs are spelled out and the reader is given several examples to try to interpret their meaning. Some of the basic writing rules are clearly discussed such as that the writing can go left to right or right to left, and we are to follow the face of the animal shapes to tell us which way to go. Writing can be vertical and the symbols can be backwards or forwards! There are no punctuation marks, sentences or paragraphs, it all runs together.

There are photographs, illustrations, timelines, and maps throughout this book, which add to the experience. This is loaded with text, it is not as skimpy in text or detail as some books that publishers group into this same age category. Yet it is not as loaded or illustration-driven as the DK/Eyewitness books (as a comparison comment, not a complaint).

I especially enjoyed the details about the life of Jean Francios Champollion, the man who broke the code of the hieroglyphs. Taught to read at a young age and homeschooled by his older brother for most of his life, he was devoted to reading and learning foreign languages from an early age. He disliked math and science and chose instead to study languages. His devotion to his passion lead to his decoding the Rosetta Stone and later to fundraising to pay for an expedition to Egypt. He was so passionate about the bringing history of Egypt to others that he persuaded the King of France to acquire many Egyptian artifacts and he became the curator of the Egyptian museum of the Louvre, which still is on display today. This is all told in an interesting way in this book. We can all learn something from Champollion, to follow our interests, teach our children what they are most interested in, and to excel in one area (of study) can lead to great things if the passion is allowed to flourish. This is a great contrast to our American public educational system today, which wants excellence in many areas of study (and covers each lightly) and doesn't allow time or energy to be spend one or two areas of specialized interest.

My only complaint is that I found the questions posed to the children annoying ("what do you think this means..." and such). I don't think children need to be directed to think about something, it happens to each of us as we read. Perhaps we don't all wonder about the same thing at the same paragraph in a book but that is OK. Sometimes the questions asked the child to interpret something but then the true answer is never revealed which is annoying and I feel leaves the reader feeling incompetent and possibly frustrated to have a curiosity sparked but left without the correct answer, wondering if they are correct or not.

This is a great book to tell the story of unlocking the mystery of the Rosetta Stone and an easily understood introduction to hieroglyphics (and the two other languages) used by the Egyptians. This book really brings history to life.

5.0 out of 5 stars grades 2 to 5; plenty to learn, June 1, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mystery of the Hieroglyphs: The Story of the Rosetta Stone and the Race to Decipher Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Paperback)

This is a good one to own - There is plenty in this book apart from the Rosetta Stone, including an Egyptian time linee (spans the bottom of six pages), an introduction to how language and alphabets develop, cartouches, and the differences between logograms and phonograms.

Then the book swings into the Rosetta stone and how it was deciphered.

Best of all is the section that puts it all together and helps your child learn to read hieroglyphs in a step-by-step way.

Excellent glossary (actually, two) and full index.

Great color photographs. You will want to keep this book in your family.