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Rating: 
Summary: Very nice
Review: "Decoding Egyptian Hieroglyphs" by Bridget McDermott is a very nice introduction to Egypt and the Egyptian way of life. Every aspect of the Egyptian culture is discussed, in chapters that are from two to four pages long, so the reader does not get bored with any particular subject. The color photographs are superb. The attempt at interpreting hieroglyphs is superficial at best, but the book is not supposed to be an in-depth text book. This book certainly should inspire the neophyte and lead him (or her) into more advanced texts.
Rating:
Summary: Very nice
Review: "Decoding Egyptian Hieroglyphs" by Bridget McDermott is a very nice introduction to Egypt and the Egyptian way of life. Every aspect of the Egyptian culture is discussed, in chapters that are from two to four pages long, so the reader does not get bored with any particular subject. The color photographs are superb. The attempt at interpreting hieroglyphs is superficial at best, but the book is not supposed to be an in-depth text book. This book certainly should inspire the neophyte and lead him (or her) into more advanced texts.
Rating: 
Summary: Not to my taste.
Review: If you are looking for something that will build on the topic like a language primer, I suggest you keep looking. This text has topical chapters ('Magical dimensions', 'Trades and Skills'), but this did not come together for me at least.This may be good for many people, but I had the sense of watching a light discovery channel piece. In such a show, someone tells you the meaning of the sign for plow and field; then they pan across and inscription; then they tell you that it says that "the evil ones came and sowed salt into the fields which then lay fallow for 17 years..." This could of course, mean that it is at the right level for some interests.
Rating:
Summary: Not to my taste.
Review: If you are looking for something that will build on the topic like a language primer, I suggest you keep looking. This text has topical chapters ('Magical dimensions', 'Trades and Skills'), but this did not come together for me at least. This may be good for many people, but I had the sense of watching a light discovery channel piece. In such a show, someone tells you the meaning of the sign for plow and field; then they pan across and inscription; then they tell you that it says that "the evil ones came and sowed salt into the fields which then lay fallow for 17 years..." This could of course, mean that it is at the right level for some interests.
Rating: 
Summary: Decoding Egyption Hieroglyphs
Review: This book is a great book with alot of information I would personaly recomend it to anyone intrested in egypt. It is fairly easy to understand. It gives you beginers look into ancient egyption language and hieroglyphs.
Rating:
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: This is not a book for beginners. It is too full of mistakes, contradictions and academic hubris to rely on. The copy editor of this work should be boiled in oil. For example - the glyph for lasso is called a brazier. Albeit, some of the phrases are of value and the pictures are first-rate. On page 127, an inscription is shown and the author berates the long-dead scribe for having done it 'improperly'! Great heavenly days! Intermediate and advanced students of ME will delight in testing their knowledge by conducting a mistake 'treasure hunt'. But others should look elsewhere.
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