How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs

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View books by Mark Collier, Bill Manley.

Excellent and very easy to use - Rated
I have seen several books on egyptian heiroglyphs and I have to say this is the best one for beginners by far. Collier takes the reader step by step through the maze which is ancient egyptian language. It explains how to tell which order to read them, how to decipher with relation to context as well as many excercises after each chapter to ensure you can put into practice what you have learnt. For anyone looking to learn this is the book for you!

An excellent book!! - Rated
A brilliant book which is clear, easy to understand, and simple enough for anyone who is dedicated and has an open mind to learn from. I am only 16 years old, so if I can already read simple offering formulas and descriptions of ethical behaviour, most people can. It gets harder as the book progresses but not too hard that I get stuck, and if I am desperate, there are answers to the exercises in the back to help me work out what I have done wrong so I can learn from my mistakes. I am already on chapter 7 and have already had no problems with it, because the teaching is step-by-step until the end of every chapter when there are exercises to do, which are accompanied by vocabulary lists to help transliterate and translate, and in the back of the book there are sign lists with info and even a short dictionary. There is enough in this small book to be able to go to museums or even Egypt itself and impress those around you by the skills you have learnt from this book! This is a perfect start to my career in Egyptology!

Cat Square Squiggle God-symbol - Rated
Well, what title should I give for a book on Egyptian hieroglyphs?

Actually, the information blurb from the Library Journal linked to the book's entry here states: 'Reference collections desiring more complete coverage will want Alan Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar (1957. 3d ed.) despite some obsolescence in the treatment of the verbal system.'

I actually learned hieroglyphs using that text at the University of London in the 1980s. But I have assembled a collection of more accessible books on how to learn hieroglyphs as refreshers and for sharing. I have four texts, and this was the first of the lot.

If you are truly interested in learning Egyptian hieroglyphs for an upcoming trip to Egypt or to visit a museum with a collection (I amazed a friend once by being able to read an inscription at the museum; I confessed that of the hundreds of 'paragraphs' of hieroglyphs in the collection, that that was one of only two I could decipher without my notebook), Collier and Manley's 'How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs' is a good choice for learning.

It begins with a basic description of the way in which hieroglyphs are used (some signs are words, but actually very few, and others are sound-meaning symbols). Collier and Manley introduce a transliteration system to ease your way into pronunciation (and pronunciation is very sketchy, given the fact there are no recordings from ancient Egypt). Symbols can vary occasionally for sound, meaning, and determinative value.

The pattern of hieroglyphs is also variable. Generally, you always want to 'read into the face', i.e., the picto-glyphs will be facing the direction from which to start -- more often right to left than left to right, and columns go top to bottom. There are no punctuation marks and no word breaks -- this can make meanings hard to decipher.

Consider the example:

IAMNOWHERE
which could be broken into
I AM NOW HERE
or
I AM NOWHERE
and in this case, context might not help provide which meaning is the true one. Or perhaps the author is poetical and sees the trouble of distinction and means that trouble to be present.

No wonder hieroglyphs are hard!

Collier and Manley's book is excellent in basic vocabulary building and basic grammar. And, if you're like me and will make flash cards, you'll become a better draw-er too.

There are exercises, and pictures of inscriptions to practice on, and a key to the exercises in the back of the book.

Hieroglyphs - Rated
This book is a good introduction, however it could have been a lot better. The explanations are quite good but it doesn't confirm to the number system of most other books. Which mars what was a good primer. The diagrams were on the whole good. I would say that this was a good book to get people interested. The title is a bit over the top, since you will not be reading that many inscriptions with the information provided. All in all a decent enough book.

Excellent for General Interest or further study - Rated
Brilliant Book. Very detailed and easily used. Parts of it are a little hard going but the effort is worth it when you visit somewhere like the British Museam or Egypt itself.
I enjoyed it so much i took Bill Manleys Class on the book at Glasgow University