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Marveling over the tomb treasures of Ramses II and Tutankhamen that have toured U.S. and European museums in recent years, visitors inevitably wonder what the mysterious hieroglyphs that cover their surfaces mean. Indeed, everyone who is fascinated by ancient Egypt sooner or later wishes for a Rosetta stone to unlock the secrets of hieroglyphic writing. Hieroglyphs without Mystery provides the needed key. Written for ordinary people with no special language skills, the book quickly demonstrates that hieroglyphic writing can be read, once a few simple principles are understood. Zauzich explains the basic rules of the writing system and the grammar and then applies them to thirteen actual inscriptions taken from objects in European and Egyptian museums. By following his explanations and learning the most commonly used glyphs, readers can begin to decode hieroglyphs themselves and increase their enjoyment of both museum objects and ancient Egyptian sites. Even for the armchair traveler, learning about hieroglyphs opens a sealed door into ancient Egyptian culture. In examining these inscriptions, readers will gain a better understanding of Egyptian art, politics, and religion, as well as language.

English summary: From 1981 to 2004, Karl-Theodor Zauzich was the Professor for Egyptology at the University of Wurzburg and during that time, he developed a program for demotic studies with an international reputation that has attracted graduate students from all over the world. This Festschrift, commemorating his 75th birthday, contains articles from those scholars for whom Karl-Theodor Zauzich has been a direct and decisive influence in their academic careers. Reflecting the interests of its honoree, most of the sixteen articles in the book have an emphasis on demotic and a series of texts are presented here in their first edition. Additionally, further studies from associated fields of study are included in this volume, which covers a range of subjects from Egyptian art-history, the interdependence of demotic and Aramaic legal terminology as well as the reception of ancient Egyptian literature and, on this account, provide an extensive offering in in the current state of demotic studies. German description: Karl-Theodor Zauzich wirkte von 1981 bis 2004 als Professor fur Agyptologie an der Universitat Wurzburg. In dieser Zeit schuf er ein Zentrum fur demotische Studien von internationalem Renommee, das Doktoranden aus aller Welt anzog. Die Festschrift zu seinem 75. Geburtstag vereint etliche Beitrage von jenen Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern, die Karl-Theodor Zauzich unmittelbare und entscheidende Impulse fur ihren beruflichen Werdegang verdanken. Den Interessen des Jubilars entsprechend haben die meisten der 16 Beitrage einen demotistischen Schwerpunkt; eine Reihe von Texten wird in Erstedition vorgelegt. Zusatzlich erweitern Studien aus den angrenzenden Forschungsgebieten die Spannbreite des Sammelbands um Fragen der agyptischen Kunstgeschichte, der Interdependenz demotischer und aramaischer Rechtsterminologie sowie der Rezeption altagyptischer Literatur und bilden so einen umfassenden Beitrag zur aktuellen Demotistikforschung.

Die zu Ehren von Karl-Theodor Zauzich verfasste Festschrift enthalt 37 Beitrage mit der Erstedition von ca. 80 uberwiegend demotischen Texten sowie der Neubearbeitung weiterer, ebenfalls meist demotischer Quellen. Auch zweisprachige Texte sind vertreten. Thematisch handelt es sich um Briefe, Orakelfragen, Urkunden, Lehrtexte, Ritualhandschriften, funerare Texte, Erzahlungen, Inventarlisten, Abrechnungen und Steuerquittungen auf Ostraka, Stein, Holz und Papyrus sowie Graffiti. Chronologisch reicht das Material von der Spatzeit bis in die romische Kaiserzeit und gibt dank der internationalen Herkunft der Autoren einen Querschnitt durch die aktuelle Demotistik. Andererseits wird durch diese Beitrage deutlich, welche Mengen noch unbearbeiteter demotischer Texte bereitliegen. Deren Erschliessung war schon immer und is bis heute ein Hauptanliegen des Jubilars. Ausfuhrliche Indizes zu den bearbeiteten und zitierten Texten, zu Gottern, Herrschern, Titeln, Namen, Toponymen und zu neuen agyptischen Wortern erlauben einen gezielten Zugriff auf das Material. XII + 744 S., 61 Taf., 1 Frontispiz; mit Bibliographie zu K.-Th. Zauzich.

The composition, which the editors entitle the "Book of Thoth", is preserved on over forty Graeco-Roman Period papyri from collections in Berlin, Copenhagen, Florence, New Haven, Paris, and Vienna. The central witness is a papyrus of fifteen columns in the Berlin Museum. Written almost entirely in the Demotic script, the Book of Thoth is probably the product of scribes of the "House of Life", the temple scriptorium. It comprises largely a dialogue between a deity, usually called "He-who-praises-knowledge" (presumably Thoth himself) and a mortal, "He-who-loves-knowledge". The work covers such topics as the scribal craft, sacred geography, the underworld, wisdom, prophecy, animal knowledge, and temple ritual. Particularly remarkable is one section (the "Vulture Text") in which each of the 42 nomes of Egypt is identified with a vulture. The language is poetic; the lines are often clearly organized into verses. The subject-matter, dialogue structure, and striking phraseology raise many issues of scholarly interest; especially intriguing are the possible connections between this Egyptian work, in which Thoth is called "thrice-great", and the classical Hermetic Corpus, in which Hermes Trismegistos plays the key role. The first volume comprises interpretative essays, discussion of specific points such as the manuscript tradition, script, and language. The core of the publication is the transliteration of the Demotic text, translation, and commentary. A consecutive translation, glossary, bibliography, and indices conclude the first volume. The second volume contains photographs of the papyri, almost all of which reproduce their original size.

This two volume work (text and plates) is the continuation of and supplement to the two volume editio princeps from 2005 (which has been reissued as a reprint). With all four volumes, a comprehensive edition of all known fragments of the Book of Thoth is now available. Since the publication of the first edition, some 89 "new" fragments have been identified, which are edited in this work. Jasnow and Zauzich have made considerable progress in the reconstruction of the Book of Thoth and gained a deeper understanding of the composition. New and alternative readings have been incorporated into this work as well as the interpretations of other scholars. A glossary contains digital facsimiles of all the Demotic and hieratic words in the Book of Thoth. The plate volume publishes digital hand-copies of all manuscript witnesses and photographic images of the 89 "new" fragments. The author's goal is to provide a firm basis for future research on the Book of Thoth. Structured as a dialogue between "master" and "disciple," the composition is associated with the House of Life, the intellectual center of the Egyptian temple. the Book of Thoth may be understood as an initiation text in which the master questions the disciple, who must prove himself worthy of entering the institution . The writer engages with the theology of Egyptian scribal practice; he thus covers many topics, such as sacred geography, the underworld, and animal knowledge.

CNI Publications is the name of the series published by the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen and Museum Tusculanum Press. The volumes in the series are written mainly in English, but also in French and German, and appeal to an international audience primarily within the fields of Assyriology, Near Eastern Archeology and Egyptology. While the publications are principally written by scholars working in the Danish research environment on Middle Eastern antiquity, including scholars from the Papyrus Carlsberg Collection, the Centre for Canon and Identity Formation, and the Old Assyrian Text Project, it also includes contributions by a wide array of distinguished international scholars.

Conversations in the House of Life offers a new translation of a text first published as The Ancient Egyptian Book of Thoth (2005). The composition is a dialogue between a Master, perhaps the god Thoth himself, and a Disciple, named "The-one-who-loves-knowledge." Originally written in Demotic, the text dates to the Graeco-Roman Period (ca. 300 B.C. to 400 A.D.). The dialogue covers everything from how to hold the writing brush and the symbolic significance of scribal utensils to a long exposition on sacred geography. The work may be an initiation text dealing with sacred knowledge. It is closely associated with the House of Life, the temple scriptorium where the priests wrote their books. The 2005 publication was aimed at specialists, but Conversations in the House of Life is intended for the general reader. The revised translation reflects recent advances in our understanding of the text. The explanatory essays, commentary, and glossary help the reader explore the fascinating universe of the Book of Thoth. As a document of Late Period Egyptian thought it is of importance to all those interested in Graeco-Roman Period intellectual history; students of the Classical Hermetica will find the Book of Thoth especially intriguing. The express goal of Conversations in the House of Life is to make this challenging Ancient Egyptian composition accessible to the widest possible audience.

Hieroglyphs, the ingenious picture writing of the ancient Egyptians, are not only a beautiful and fascinating record of a bygone civilization, but also a treasury of puns, double meanings and aesthetic delight. Their pictorial character, often obscured today by concentration on literal sense, engaged the Egyptians as much as it dos a modern audience, and they offer not only direct accounts of life thousands of years ago but intriguing sidelights on Egyptian art, culture and belief. Internationally renowned Egyptologist Professor Zauzich presents a clear and well-illustrated introduction to hieroglyphs, for all enthusiasts and museum visitors. In easy stages he takes the reader step by step through the meanings of the signs and how they can be read. He then takes a dozen inscriptions on monuments, paintings and objects, and shows how to read each one - a feature found in no other guide. The author analyses the background to the signs, and the religion and world view which they embody. Fantastic colour illustrations and detailed line drawings fully clarify this system of pictorial symbology; and detailed appendices give the names of major kings and gods, as well as a hieroglyphic sig