The Egyptian hieroglyphic

Egyptian hieroglyphs

Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...

 text Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Practical Guide is one of the modern primer

Primer (textbook)

A primer is a first textbook for teaching of reading, such as an alphabet book or basal reader. The word also is used more broadly to refer to any book that presents the most basic elements of a subject....

s on the Egyptian language

Egyptian language

Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...

 hieroglyphs, from the late 20th to early 21st century.

The text is a color-coded guide to individual Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

ian objects or writings, and their modern translations. The book is by Janice Kamrin, c. 2004; she received a Ph. D. in Egyptian Archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

, has worked with Zahi Hawass

Zahi Hawass

Zahi Hawass is an Egyptian archaeologist, an Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs. He has also worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Western Desert, and the Upper Nile Valley....

, and has taught at the American University in Cairo

American University in Cairo

The American University in Cairo is an independent, non-profit, apolitical, secular institution of higher learning located in Cairo, Egypt...

.

Summary of layout

The text uses pictures and graphics, divided into 46 Lessons-(40 photos, some color coded, and 37 graphics).

The final two topics, Lessons 45, 46 are The Autobiography of Harkhuf in three parts, and a section of the famous Battle of Kadesh

Battle of Kadesh

The Battle of Kadesh took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, in what is now the Syrian Arab Republic....

.

The book contains five appendices, including a sign list referring to Gardiner's Sign List

Gardiner's Sign List

Gardiner's Sign List is a list of common Egyptian hieroglyphs compiled by Sir Alan Gardiner. It is considered a standard reference in the study of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs....

, and ascribing each sign's name; not all 700 names of Gardiner's list are standardized, nor is every sign completely understood as to meaning. Also, an 'answer key' to the exercises, and a short dictionary: "Word List (Egyptian to English)".

Objects transliterated

Many of the objects from the book are located in the Egyptian Museum

Egyptian Museum

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms....

. Some of the notable items transliterated are:

1. The Slab stela
   Slab stela
   The slab stela was an original form of the steles of ancient Egypt, but in a horizontal dimension. Some of the earliest ones from mid- to late-3rd millennium BC were painted Slab Steles...
   
    of Nefer-t-Ab-t(Nefertiabet).
2. The Slab stela of Wepemnefert.
3. Brief translation from Narmer Palette
   Narmer Palette
   The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great ierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, containing some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found. It is thought by some to depict the unification of...
   
   .
4. 2-3 paragraphs from the Battle of Kadesh
   Battle of Kadesh
   The Battle of Kadesh took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, in what is now the Syrian Arab Republic....
   
   .
5. Entrance to the Tomb Chapel of Tomb of two Brothers
   Tomb of two Brothers
   The Tomb of two Brothers is the modern name given to the burial of the Egyptian priests Nakht-ankh and Khnum-nakht. The burial was found in 1907 in Rifeh by Flinders Petrie and it was untouched....
   
   -(with Ancient Egyptian offering formula).
6. A detailed, 4-column false door
   False door
   A false door is a common architectural element in the tombs of Ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians believed that the false door was a threshold between the world of the living and the dead, and through which a deity or the spirit of the deceased could enter and exit.The false door was usually the...
   
   .
7. Naos (shrine)
   Naos (shrine)
   A naos was the sanctuary, the innermost chamber, of a Greek temple, in Latin referred to as cella.The Apostle Paul in the New Testament uses this word in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 6:16 to denote that the bodies of the Christians are the Most Holy Places of the Living God as He indwells...
   
    of Ptahmes-(2 columns, 1 horizontal text, and writing on Ptahmes' body in Naos-center).
8. "Stela of Tetisheri
   Tetisheri
   Tetisheri was the matriarch of the Egyptian royal family of the late 17th Dynasty and early 18th Dynasty.-Family:Tetisheri was the daughter of Tjenna and Neferu. The names of Tetisheri's parents are known from mummy bandages found in TT320....
   
   "
9. Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty dual painted seated statues of "Rahotep, and wife Nefer-t".
10. 1 of the 7 wood panels of Hesy-Ra
    Hesy-Ra
    Hesy-Ra was an official, physician and scribe who lived during the Third dynasty of Egypt, served under the pharaoh Djoser, and was buried in an elaborate tomb at Saqqara...
    
    , 3rd Dynasty.
11. Canopic chest
    Canopic chest
    Canopic chests are cases used by Ancient Egyptians to contain the internal organs removed during the process of mummification. Although the first proven canopic burials date from the 4th Dynasty reign of Sneferu, there is evidence to suggest that there were canopic installations at Saqqara dating...
    
     of Tutankhamun
    Tutankhamun
    Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
    
    .