Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs » (2nd Edition)

An accessible introduction to hieroglyphic writing and the language and civilisation of ancient Egypt.

List of Figures viii

Preface ix

Lesson 1 Egyptian Language and Writing 1

Language 1

Writing 2

Essay 1 Ancient Egyptian History 9

Exercise 1 12

Lesson 2 The Sounds of Middle Egyptian 13

Essay 2 Ancient Egyptian Geography 21

Exercise 2 23

Lesson 3 Multiliteral Signs 25x

Essay 3 Ancient Egyptian Society 33

Exercise 3 35

Lesson 4 Nouns 37

Essay 4 The Gods 45

Exercise 4 48

Lesson 5 Pronouns 49

Essay 5 The Gods on Earth 57

Exercise 5 60

Lesson 6 Adjectives 61

Essay 6 The King's Names 66

Exercise 6 68

Lesson 7 Adjectival and Nominal Sentences 69

Adjectival Sentences 69

Nominal Sentences 72

Uses of Adjectival and Nominal Sentences 79

Essay 7 Human Nature 81

Exercise 7 83

Lesson 8 Prepositions and Adverbs 85

Prepositions 85

Adverbs 94

Essay 8 Death and the Afterlife 96

Exercise 8 99

Lesson 9 Numbers 101

Essay 9 Egyptian Chronology 109

Exercise 9 111

Lesson 10 Adverbial Sentences 113

Essay 10 Maat 119

Exercise 10 121

Lesson 11 Nonverbal Sentences 123

Essay 11 The World Before Creation 130

Exercise 11 131

Lesson 12 Nonverbal Clauses 133

Relative Clauses 134

Noun Clauses 140

Adverb Clauses 143

Essay 12 The Creation of the World 147

Exercise 12 149

Lesson 13 Verbs 151

Essay 13 The Creative Word 160

Exercise 13 162

Lesson 14 The Infinitival Forms 163

The Infinitive 163

The Negative Infinitive and Negatival Complement 174

The Complementary Infinitive 175

Essay 14 The Memphite Theology 176

Exercise 14 178

Lesson 15 The Pseudoverbal Construction 179

Essay 15 The Creator 185

Exercise 15 188

Lesson 16 The Imperative and Particles 189

Particles 192

Essay 16 Heresy 200

Exercise 16 203

Lesson 17 The Stative 205

Essay 17 Phonology and Writing 222

Exercise 17 225

Lesson 18 The Perfect 227

Essay 18 Egyptian Literature 243

Exercise 18 246

Lesson 19 The Subjunctive 249

Essay 19 Middle Egyptian Wisdom Literature 262

Exercise 19 265

Lesson 20 The Perfective and Imperfective 267

Essay 20 Middle Egyptian Stories 284

Exercise 20 287

Lesson 21 The Prospective and Passive 289

The Prospective 289

The Passive 294

The Forms of the sdm.f 299

Essay 21 Historical Texts 301

Exercise 21 305

Lesson 22 The Other Forms of the Suffix Conjugation 307

The sdm.jn.f 307

The sdm.hr.f 310

The sdm.k3.f 312

The sdmt.f 314

The Parenthetics 318

Essay 22 Religious Texts 321

Exercise 22 324

Lesson 23 The Participles 325

Essay 23 Hymns and Poetry 348

Exercise 23 351

Lesson 24 The Relative Forms 353

Essay 24 Nonliterary Texts 368

Exercise 24 370

Lesson 25 Special Uses of the Relative Forms 373

Nominal Uses 374

Emphatic Uses 379

General Considerations 391

Essay 25 Letters 396

Exercise 25 399

Lesson 26 Middle Egyptian Grammar 401

Theory 416

Where to Go From Here 421

Sign List 425

Dictionary 455

Answers to the Exercises 475

Index 497