Egyptian Dreams

[ghobbit]

Hi all

Just wanted to say hello. Although new to posting I have been following this forum for some time and although I thought I knew a bit about Ancient Egypt, after reading many of the posts here I'm now aware of how little I do know and am very much out of my depth.

I know nothing much about timelines - a few basic things and I know nothing about mythology - although again a few basic things. But I've been fascinated by the topic since before I can remember. I have a copy of 'How to Read Egyptian' by Collier and Manley which I'm always attempting but after a few pages I get totally lost and throw the book into some dark recess and forget about it for a few weeks or months, but the fascination is such that after that time I always go looking for the book again, only to be followed by the same cycle again and again - thats gone on for years!

Anyway I look forward to continuing reading and gleaning knowledge from your posts and may now and then contribute something when I feel bold enough as inane as it might be.

regards

ghobbit

P.S and no ghobbit has nothing to do with the success of the Lord of the Rings. Its short for Gandalf Hobbit which I've used for many many years

[anneke]

Hello and welcome to egyptian dreams.

I have a similar experience with the Collier and Manley book. Every couple of months I pick it up, and after a short time put it back on my bookshelf.
Somehow reading that book and teaching myself to really read hieroglyphics takes more time than I have.
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Math and Art: http://mathematicsaroundus.blogspot.com/

[ghobbit]

Thanks for the welcome Anneke

I've been following the threads in Art and Literature what with Segerehs phrase book etc so am avidly reading that as well as a copy of the Manual de Codage I downloaded. I'll be as old as the mummies themselves by the time I've cracked it
ghobbit

[kmt_sesh]

I have probably too many books on how to read hieroglyphs, but Collier's is probably my favorite, ghobbit. It has taken me the farthest. To me deciphering hieroglyphs is kind of like reading a detective myserty, and usually I find it very enjoyable and relaxing. When I go to the museum and translate a stela or excerpts from a coffin, I know it's due to writers like Collier more than anything else.

If his book seems like too much to start, I might suggest Hieroglyphs without Mystery, by Karl-Theodor Zauzich. It's a smaller and more basic book than Collier's and easy to follow. Here's the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=dp_searchBox_1/104-4974506-3898310?url=index%3Dbooks%26dispatch%3Dsearch%26results-process%3Dbin&field-keywords=Hieroglyphs+without+Mystery

It was one of the first I worked through, and then came Collier. It made for a nice flow. There are more advanced texts I've studied, including Allen's and Gardiner's, but I pity the poor soul who tries to start learning hieroglyphs with the likes of those!

[ghobbit]

Thanks Kmt-Sesh - i'll give it a try

ghobbit

[dzama923]

I saw on the television a commercial for teaching 2-3 year olds how to read. The process was simple. It was based on flash cards. It seems we learn easiest when we do not put too stress on what we are doing and by quick repetition. These kids at 3 were learning to read by learning pronunciation on flash cards, which then lead to word recognization. I am trying that with all the languages I am trying to learn. Making a lot of flash cards. They say to learn a language and be fluent in it you need to know 2000 words. 2000 words to be fluent. When speaking a normal language we use around 2000 words. So that is around how many words you would have to learn to be fluent.