Publisher's Synopsis
Uncover the mysteries of the ancient world! Whether sculpted, painted, or drawn on ceramics, hieroglyphics--combined with figurative decor-ornamented the temples, palaces, and tombs of ancient Egypt. In a sense, the entire country was an immense book of living, colourful images that portrayed its religious and natural history. What did those intriguing and elusive pictures mean? With this new approach to hieroglyphics, you'll step back 5000 years into the past and begin to understand the philosophy and life of the ancient Egyptians. More than 200 original hieroglyphs combine with detailed semantic explanations to bring a new dimension to the drawings almost astonishing in their modernity. Go through it like a dictionary, reading phonetic and graphic interpretations: every element in each panel is broken down, so you'll see how and why a picture of two serpents, plus a rope and legs in movement, signified destruction. You'll feel as if a whole old world is opening up to you.
