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Bibliography

The last few years have seen the publication of some very interesting new books on ancient Egyptian. As a result of continuing Egyptological research, our understanding of the language has continued to improve, resulting in better and more accessible teaching materials. Probably the three most significant new publications for beginner to intermediate level are:

James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

  • Assumes no prior knowledge of ancient Egyptian, and provides a "thorough and up-to-date introduction to the Ancient Egyptian writing system and language".
  • A clear description of basic grammatical terms is given as and when new aspects of grammar are introduced.
  • There are 26 lessons with exercises (and answers).
  • 25 short essays describe important aspects of Ancient Egyptian history, society, religion, and literature.

Mark Collier and Bill Manley, How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A step-by-step guide to teach yourself by Mark Collier and Bill Manley. British Museum Press, 1998.

  • Assumes no prior knowledge, and aims to teach to a level of being able to read common monumental inscriptions.
  • Check out Michael Dyall-Smith's review of this book.

James Hoch, Middle Egyptian Benben Publications, 1996

  • Provides an introduction to Middle Egyptian for both classroom use and self study.
  • Based on the "standard theory" of H.J. Polotsky.
  • 16 lessons with selected answers.

Other Publications

Egyptian Grammar by Alan Gardiner is still regarded by many as the standard reference. It does contain exercises, but if you don't have a teacher, it can become a little daunting once you get past about lesson 9 or 10. In particular, our understanding of the Egyptian verbal system has become much clearer over the last 50 years or so since the final edition of Gardiner's grammar was published. From a reference point of view, this book is a must for intermediate to advanced students.

If you're working with hieroglyphic texts, you may want to have R.O. Faulkner's Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian to complement your chosen grammar. There is a useful index to to Faulkner's dictionary by Marc Line available on this site. Even if you don't have a dictionary, you should still be able to work on the Westcar text and the Autobiography of Weni compiled and typeset by Michael Dyall-Smith, as these have an online vocabulary. This provides a convenient alternative to looking up words in a dictionary. You just go to the vocabulary section and click on a hieroglyph to see the translation and transliteration.

Whereas Faulkner's dictionary focuses on Middle Egyptian, there is a new dictionary that was published in 1995 by Rainer Hannig called Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch-Deutch which covers the period from 2800 to 950 B.C. (published in German).

Another recent book that represents much of the latest research into Egyptian linguistics is Ancient Egyptian by Antonio Loprieno. This book is surprisingly affordable too! Loprieno works mainly in transliteration, with the book containing almost no hieroglyphs. This book is aimed at the reader from a linguistic background, and makes frequent use of linguistic jargon.

Bibliographic links

Glyphs and Grammars, Part I: resources for beginners. A comprehensive bibliography of publications relating to Middle Egyptian, see Aayko Eyma's Middle Egyptian FAQ

Glyphs and Grammars, Part II: literature list for Old, New, and Late Egyptian; Hieratic, Demotic, and Coptic; Vocalisation.


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