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Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of California Press

ISBN-100520222482

ISBN-139780520222489

eBay Product ID (ePID)445031

Product Key Features

Book TitleCracking Codes : the Rosetta Stone and Decipherment

Number of Pages208 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicArchaeology, Espionage, Museum Studies

Publication Year1999

IllustratorYes

GenreArt, True Crime, Social Science

AuthorRichard Parkinson

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.6 in

Item Weight18.1 Oz

Item Length9.2 in

Item Width7.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN99-490359

Table Of ContentForeword, by W. V. Davies Preface 1. Deciphering the Rosetta Stone 2. Reading a Text: The Egyptian Scripts of the Rosetta Stone 3. Towards Reading a Cultural Code: The Uses of Writing in Ancient Egypt 4. The Future: Further Codes to Crack Appendix: The Demotic Text of the Memphis Decree (A translation by R. S. Simpson) Glossary Concordance Chronology Index

SynopsisNapoleon's troops discovered a granitoid slab in the village of Rosetta in the western Delta in 1799. The Rosetta Stone was to become one of the most famous Egyptian antiquities in the world as well as an instantly recognizable icon of script and decipherment. In this exciting, beautifully illustrated work, Richard Parkinson tells the story of the Stone's discovery and the so-called battle of the decipherers that it inspired. Published to accompany a major exhibition at the British Museum celebrating the bicentenary of the Stone's discovery, and including a selective catalog of the exhibits, this book also examines the wider issues of script and writing in ancient Egypt and beyond. The Rosetta Stone is a fragment of a stela inscribed with a priestly decree in honor of Ptolemy V. The main significance of the text lies not in its content, however, but in the fact that it is written in three scripts--hieroglyphic, demotic, and ancient Greek. Early Orientalists recognized immediately the potential of the Stone for the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Thomas Young made great advances, especially with the demotic text, but it was Jean-FranÇois Champollion who made the final breakthrough in 1822. In so doing he cracked much more than two Egyptian scripts: He opened up Egyptian culture as a whole to historians. Among the subjects discussed inCracking Codesare the relationship between hieroglyphs and art, the social prestige of literacy, and the power of writing and its practical aspects (scribal equipment and training). A brief description of other decipherments is also given, drawing on examples such as Linear B and Meroitic--a language which remains to be read. A selection of the History Book Club, the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the Quality Paperback Book Club, Publication to accompany a major 1999 exhibition at the British Museum celebrating the bicentenary of the Stone's discovery, and including a selective catalogue of the exhibits. It also examines the wider issues of script and writing in ancient Egypt and beyond, for example, the relationship between hieroglyphs and art, the social prestige of literacy, and the practical aspects of writing (scibal exquipment and training). Other issues in decipherment are also discussed, such as Linear B and Meroitic, a language which still remains to be read., Napoleon's troops discovered a granitoid slab in the village of Rosetta in the western Delta in 1799. The Rosetta Stone was to become one of the most famous Egyptian antiquities in the world as well as an instantly recognizable icon of script and decipherment. In this exciting, beautifully illustrated work, Richard Parkinson tells the story of the Stone's discovery and the so-called battle of the decipherers that it inspired. Published to accompany a major exhibition at the British Museum celebrating the bicentenary of the Stone's discovery, and including a selective catalog of the exhibits, this book also examines the wider issues of script and writing in ancient Egypt and beyond. The Rosetta Stone is a fragment of a stela inscribed with a priestly decree in honor of Ptolemy V. The main significance of the text lies not in its content, however, but in the fact that it is written in three scripts--hieroglyphic, demotic, and ancient Greek. Early Orientalists recognized immediately the potential of the Stone for the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Thomas Young made great advances, especially with the demotic text, but it was Jean-Franois Champollion who made the final breakthrough in 1822. In so doing he cracked much more than two Egyptian scripts: He opened up Egyptian culture as a whole to historians. Among the subjects discussed in Cracking Codes are the relationship between hieroglyphs and art, the social prestige of literacy, and the power of writing and its practical aspects (scribal equipment and training). A brief description of other decipherments is also given, drawing on examples such as Linear B and Meroitic--a language which remains to be read. A selection of the History Book Club, the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the Quality Paperback Book Club

LC Classification NumberPJ1051.P38 1999b