Reading the Past - Ancient Writing from Cuneiform to the Alphabet (1998) Front Cover Book Details Author J. T. Hooker C. B. F. Walker W. V. Davies John Chadwick John F. Healey B. F. Cook Larissa Bonfante Genre Egyptology Publication Date 1998 Format Hardcover (260 x mm) Publisher Barnes & Noble Books Language English Plot Synopsis The contributors to this volume discuss "six forms of ancient Mediterranean writing systems: Mesopotamian cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphics, early Bronze Age Greek Linear B, classical Greek inscriptions, the now-emerging studyof the Etruscan language, and the early alphabet growing out of the Semitic world and passed on to the Greek." (Choice) Chapter bibliographies. Index. From The Critics Choice This excellent volume is a sound and very respectable study. . . . The respective authors are currently the leading scholars for each form of writing.Students of ancient history and ancient languages, of all ages and backgrounds, are presented with scholarly studies containing profound new insights and detailed descriptions of the problems particular to that form of writing, and each essay is profusely illustrated with photographs of texts, and with the peculiarities of each writing system. Valuable bibliographies accompany each chapter, and a thorough index concludes the volume. . . . This volume will dominate the studies of ancient Western writing for some time to come. All levels of readers. The Times Literary Supplement This is a book more about inscriptions than about written languages. It sets out to give the general reader the information he needs. . . . Some may find the authors unduly narrow in focusing on the technical rather than human interest of the documents they discuss. . . . My one serious criticism of this book is that it reinforces a Western tendency towards what might be called alphabetic triumphalism. . . . The non-alphabetic scripts of Western Asia are long-dead, primitive systems whose users cannot reply to the comments made in this volume. As a result, it gives the impression that the history of writing isa conspiracy to evolve alphabetic script as its supreme achievement. Personal Details Collection Status Not In Collection Store Barnes & Noble Location quarto Purchase Price $12.98 Purchase Date 2000 Condition Very Fine Index 452 Owner Paulo Mendes Read It No Links URL Collection # 90111 Product Details LoC Classification P211 .R37 1990 Dewey 411/.7 20 ISBN 076070726X Edition 01 Printing 2 Paper Type acid-free Country USA Cover Price $29.95 Nr of Pages 384 First Edition Yes Rare No Notes Includes bibliographical references and index. Cuneiform / C.B.F. Walker -- Egyptian hieroglyphs / W.V. Davies -- Linear B and related scripts / John Chadwick -- The early alphabet / John F. Healey -- Greek inscriptions / B.F. Cook -- Etruscan / Larissa Bonfante.