Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners

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.

Bill Manley is a curator and lecturer, and has taught Egyptology and hieroglyphs for more than twenty years at the universities of Glasgow, Liverpool and Madrid. He is the coauthor of the complementary best-selling volume How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs.