Cracking Codes: The Rosetta Stone and Decipherment (Paperback)

~ Richard Parkinson (Author)

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In 1799, while Napoleon's troops battled the fierce Mamelukes in Egypt's Western Delta, a French engineer discovered a giant granite slab that contained strange symbols and Greek letters. Two Egyptologists, the British-born Thomas Young and the astounding young French linguistic polymath Jean-François Champollion, fought to decipher the confounding script in an epic scientific battle. In 1822 Champollion finally broke through 3,000 years of mystery and revealed the Egyptian demotic and hieroglyphic system of writing--forever changing our view of history in the process.

Cracking Codes, by Richard Parkinson, the British Museum's assistant keeper of Egyptian antiquities, is a companion volume for the museum's bicentennial exhibition of what has come to be known as the Rosetta stone. With 32 color and 200 black-and-white illustrations ranging from limestone fragments to whole statues, illustrated papyrus, and evocative wall paintings, Parkinson shows how Champollion's piercing of the mists of time has enabled the ancient Egyptians to speak to modern civilizations. Parkinson's essays on the importance of writing to human civilization and the birth of Egyptology are equally insightful. "The decipherment of the Egyptian scripts is not a single event that occurred in 1822," he writes, but "a continuous process that is repeated at every reading of a text or artifact. Like any process of reading, it is a dialogue." --Eugene Holley Jr.

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"The latest word on hieroglyphs."--The "Sunday Times (UK)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (September 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520222482
• ISBN-13: 978-0520222489
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #989,975 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A surprisingly crisp, informative, and lovely catalogue, March 23, 2000

By	Kasia Szpakowska (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those expecting to receive a high quality catalogue of the British Museum's Rosetta Stone exhibition, you will not be disappointed. But as an added bonus, the essays are not pedantic and dull, but eloquent and informative. They detail not only the finding of the stone and its impact on Egyptology, but also include chapters on the development of the Ancient Egyptian language, the scripts, tools used to write, and the ways in which these reflect the Egyptian world view.

Richard Parkinson's writing style makes this a joy to read! I would recommend it not only to those interested in the exhibit (the photos are of excellent quality), but those interested in Ancient Egyptian language and Egypt in general.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars most informative book ever published on the Rosetta Stone, June 17, 2000

By	Francesca Jourdan (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was written as an accompanying extract to a British Museum exhibit celebrating the bicentenary of its discovery, and accurately presents the important Rosetta Stone. This is achieved by means of outlining the Stone's history, controversy around its discovery and its deciphering which gave the key to understanding the hieroglyphs. Using this as his starting point, the author continues to explore the role, power and importance of writing in Ancient Egypt as well as its many aspects (such as scribes and the tools used) and its relation to art. Other decipherments (Linear B and Meroitic) are also considered in this book. Readable, enjoyable and very informative, accompanied by black & white illustrations, it is recommended for anyone interested in the Ancient Egyptian language.