Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book...but Gardiner still worth it!!
Review:
I am writing this review simply to clarify and answer a few of the questions and comments that the previous reviewer had about the textbook.
1) This is a textbook intended for college students and self-study and assumes no previous encounter with English or Middle Egyptian grammar; therefore, as one might expect, the book presents descriptions of nouns, as well as more complicated aspects of grammar such as prospective, subjunctive and relative forms. However, if one is privy to the definitions, than one can simply skip over the descriptions of these grammatical aspects and continue learning Middle Egyptian.
2) Rare usages or unusual translations are covered in the book and although they do not appear in an appendix, they do contain astericks or other diacritics or concise descriptions.
3) Enough examples are provided so that an intelligent person can build upon previous examples and construct the answer to the exercise, similar to a math book that provides some examples and then offers more complicated, but solvable exercises.
4) Although the book does lack grammatical paradigms (mostly since no one really knows what inflections Middle Egyptian contained) and vocabulary lists, it does provide references, a sign list, a dictionary, the answers to the exercises, and an index.
5) The paperback binding is actually quite good. I have used it for a while and, although borrowed from the local library (most of those books are usually mistreated or handled periodically), it has shown little signs of deterioration. More importantly, there is at least a half inch spacial blank gap between any word or hieroglyph at the inner edge any page, making the inner edges easy to read.
6) Although the chapter four essay argues that the "Western notion of religion [...] has seperated religion from spheres of [...] government, social behavior, intellectual pursuits, and science" p.43, it never states that this is how the western notion of religion always viewed and continues to view these concepts. The Egyptian religion embraced most things as the Gods themselves. For example, two people falling in love in Greek and Roman religion was an act of Eros, and love making a gift from Aphrodite; however, an ancient Egypian might argue that two people falling in love and making love is the personification of the love between Osiris and Isis.
That said, this is a wonderful textbook that will leave any serious student or amateur the craving for more since, unfortunately, it does not cover all there is to know about Middle Egyptian. A second step would be to purchase Sir Alan Gardiner's "Egyptian Grammar" a little outdated but unmatched in depth and coverage of Middle Egyptian. His book remains the "BIBLE" of Middle Egyptian of and for most egyptologists.
Rating: 
Summary: A New Gardiner?
Review: Ah, Allen, how do you annoy me? Let me count the ways...(1) The book is unclear on its audience. It explains things that an experienced language-learner would not need (eg what a noun is), but it buries the reader in special cases and technical details which a beginning student does not need and might not be able to make sense of. (And even so, it doesn't always manage to provide enough detail for an interested linguist.) Allen needs to decide what level of student he's writing for and stick to that. (2) Details on rare usages should be clearly marked as such and preferably moved to an appendix or late chapter, if covered at all in an introductory work. (3) Very few examples are provided, and those that are are insufficient to model all the cases found in the exercises. I frequently found myself looking at the solutions, not to check my work, but because I'd never seen a use like that before and needed to reverse-engineer his solution. (4) The book completely lacks two standard features of textbooks: grammatical paradigms and vocabulary lists. The former is annoying for those of us accustomed to ancient languages; the latter makes it impossible to study effectively, because there's no way to tell which words are important enough to drill and which will never appear again. (5) The paperback binding is terrible. The spine is completely inflexible, so it's hard to read the inner edges of central pages, and the beginning pages fell out after a few *weeks* of use. (6) The Chapter 4 essay says that western religion, beginning with the Greeks, differs from Egyptian religion in that it excludes gods from the public sphere and daily life; this is a complete mischaracterization of Greek and Roman religion. That said, I am actually managing to learn some Egyptian from this book, and, when my class is over, I will probably self-study to the end of the book, but I'd really rather have a better text.
Rating: 
Summary: chaotic and inadequate
Review: Ah, Allen, how do you annoy me? Let me count the ways... (1) The book is unclear on its audience. It explains things that an experienced language-learner would not need (eg what a noun is), but it buries the reader in special cases and technical details which a beginning student does not need and might not be able to make sense of. (And even so, it doesn't always manage to provide enough detail for an interested linguist.) Allen needs to decide what level of student he's writing for and stick to that. (2) Details on rare usages should be clearly marked as such and preferably moved to an appendix or late chapter, if covered at all in an introductory work. (3) Very few examples are provided, and those that are are insufficient to model all the cases found in the exercises. I frequently found myself looking at the solutions, not to check my work, but because I'd never seen a use like that before and needed to reverse-engineer his solution. (4) The book completely lacks two standard features of textbooks: grammatical paradigms and vocabulary lists. The former is annoying for those of us accustomed to ancient languages; the latter makes it impossible to study effectively, because there's no way to tell which words are important enough to drill and which will never appear again. (5) The paperback binding is terrible. The spine is completely inflexible, so it's hard to read the inner edges of central pages, and the beginning pages fell out after a few *weeks* of use. (6) The Chapter 4 essay says that western religion, beginning with the Greeks, differs from Egyptian religion in that it excludes gods from the public sphere and daily life; this is a complete mischaracterization of Greek and Roman religion. That said, I am actually managing to learn some Egyptian from this book, and, when my class is over, I will probably self-study to the end of the book, but I'd really rather have a better text.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource--but not for the beginner!
Review: Allen's grammar being the most up to date and comprehensive thus far is indeed an invaluable resource to both students and scholars alike. The text covers everything you want to know about Middle Egyptian from the good old stative up to the current theories on the dreaded nominal forms. And best of all, there is a sign list in the back (huzzah!) which greatly aids in the translation process. However this is no "Egyptian Grammar for Dummies." At times incredibly dense this book is not intended for the beginner or casual Egyptophile. If you are looking for a beginner's guide, so to speak, I whole heartedly suggest Mark Collier's "How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs."
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Reference And Textbook
Review: Allen's grammar of Middle Egyptian is greatly to be commended. Based on a life of scholarship and teaching, his book has much to offer to students, specialists, and anyone who is fascinated -as I am - by the language and culture of Ancient Egypt. Beginning students will appreciate his explanation of basic grammar, which is much more understandable and thorough than most other textbooks. The exercises, at the end of each chapter, are the best that I have ever seen. Scholars, and advanced students, will be grateful for the detail and completeness of Allen's work. As one who has read through the book and worked all the exercises, I can recommend it without hesitation as a reference book for scholars, and as a textbook for university students. My only reservation is that the information presented is very detailed and complex, and likely to be overwhelming to a beginner. So, if you are a beginner, I would recommend that you read through an easier book, such as Collier and Manley ("How To Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs"), before you tackle Allen.
Rating:
Summary: The new standard for teaching and learning Middle Egyptian
Review: Finally, here is a book to replace Gardiner's Grammar as a teaching resource. Dr. Allen presents the current grammatical theories on Egyptian grammar in a logical fashion. His explanations are easy to follow, and he not only includes exercises, but also the answers at the back, a dictionary, and the all-important sign-list. Each chapter features an essay on one facet of the culture of Ancient Egypt which sets the language in context. The importance of this should not be underestimated, for attempting to read another culture's literature, without having a background in their religion, politics, and general world-view is generally futile. This is however for the serious student of Egyptian, which is not an easy language to learn, particularly on one's own. There are other works available for those who just wish to be able to recognize common expressions on monuments while visiting Egypt. But this will quite likely prove to be the new standard in teaching and learning Middle Egyptian for the specialist and non-specialist alike. The tone is friendly and inviting, and will hopefully introduce many new readers to the wealth of Egyptian texts.
Rating:
Summary: Sets the standard for textbooks on ancient languages
Review: First, a couple of admissions. #1: I'm not an expert on Egypt, nor am I an academic, so I have no professional qualifications to judge this book. But I enjoy learning languages, and I know what works for me. #2: I'm only on lesson 7; I have not worked through the whole book. This is one of the finest teaching grammars I have ever seen. It consists of 26 lessons, with exercises at the end of each. (The answers to the exercises are given in the back of the book.) The early lessons cover the sounds and the script, and Professor Allen moves on to the grammar beginning with lesson 4. The author does not assume ANY grammatical knowledge on the part of the learner; before getting into the Egyptian forms he explains, for example, what an adjective or an adverb is, and how they are used in English. Each lesson introduces several related points of grammar, and there are plenty of examples given (Almost all the examples are given in hieroglyphs, with the transcription and a translation.). The short sample sentences at the end of each lesson illustrate and reinforce the grammar from the current lesson, as well as previous ones. And as I said, the answers to the exercises, and translations of all sample sentences are given so you can gauge your progress and understanding. Each lesson ends with a short essay about one aspect or another of the culture of Ancient Egypt. At the rear of the book there is a sign list modelled after Gardiner, and a dictionary of most of the words introduced in the lessons. This is not "Hieroglyphs for Dummies"; you're going to need a lot of stamina and determination to work through this entire book. (It's a large book; I figure it's going to take me over six months of hard work to get through it, and I'm no slouch.) But if you're seriously interested in the language and culture of Ancient Egypt, and are willing to invest the time and energy, this is the textbook you want.
Rating:
Summary: Sets the standard for textbooks on ancient languages
Review: First, a couple of admissions. #1: I'm not an expert on Egypt, nor am I an academic, so I have no professional qualifications to judge this book. But I enjoy learning languages, and I know what works for me. #2: I'm only on lesson 7; I have not worked through the whole book. This is one of the finest teaching grammars I have ever seen. It consists of 26 lessons, with exercises at the end of each. (The answers to the exercises are given in the back of the book.) The early lessons cover the sounds and the script, and Professor Allen moves on to the grammar beginning with lesson 4. The author does not assume ANY grammatical knowledge on the part of the learner; before getting into the Egyptian forms he explains, for example, what an adjective or an adverb is, and how they are used in English. Each lesson introduces several related points of grammar, and there are plenty of examples given (Almost all the examples are given in hieroglyphs, with the transcription and a translation.). The short sample sentences at the end of each lesson illustrate and reinforce the grammar from the current lesson, as well as previous ones. And as I said, the answers to the exercises, and translations of all sample sentences are given so you can gauge your progress and understanding. Each lesson ends with a short essay about one aspect or another of the culture of Ancient Egypt. At the rear of the book there is a sign list modelled after Gardiner, and a dictionary of most of the words introduced in the lessons. This is not "Hieroglyphs for Dummies"; you're going to need a lot of stamina and determination to work through this entire book. (It's a large book; I figure it's going to take me over six months of hard work to get through it, and I'm no slouch.) But if you're seriously interested in the language and culture of Ancient Egypt, and are willing to invest the time and energy, this is the textbook you want.
Rating:
Summary: Great, but not ideal for beginners
Review: I'd rather agree with M. Gunther than with the anonymous reader from USA, TN, (who uses a lot of exclamation marks). I started with Collier and Manley "How to read Egyptian Hieroglyphs". Their extremely well-written & didactic book was a great help to read Allen afterwards. Allen is great, complete, but a little bit too difficult for the absolute beginner. I would have liked this book to contain larger text fragments.
Rating:
Summary: An good text book!
Review: If you want to learn the basics of hieroglyphs. Dont buy this book first. Buy "How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-By-Step Guide to Teach Yourself". Then buy the text book by Allen. Allens book is more a book for those that seriously wants to learn the language, not good as an introduction. But as a tool to learn hieroglyphs it is excellent and very detailed.
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