Review by Booklist Review
"The renowned key to Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Rosetta Stone is an awe-inspiring object; seeing it inspired Ray to pursue a career in Egyptology. Ray balances his acumen with accessibility in presenting the stele's history, which takes several forms. From a historical perspective, the text, a 196 BCE agreement between the Ptolemaic pharaoh and the Egyptian priesthood, opens a window on a culture and polity in distress. Another history is intellectual, that of the Rosetta Stone's spectacular role in the decipherment of hieroglyphics. Because this can be a technical topic, Ray imparts more information on the decipherer French linguist Jean-François Champollion (1790-1832) than on the thought process behind his achievement. His genius, short life, and interaction with British scholar Thomas Young, who made progress in decipherment before Champollion, attach yet another history to the Rosetta Stone. Finally, ruminating on whether it, or antiquities generally, should be repatriated, Ray underscores that its history continues. Concise and informative."--"Taylor, Gilbert" Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A wonderful introduction not only to the Rosetta Stone and its story, but also to the growth and development of modern Egyptology, this slim book begins with Cambridge professor Ray?s childhood encounter with the stone in the British Museum in 1958. From there, Ray traces the history of the stone from the time of its discovery in 1799 to its deciphering in 1822 by Jean-Francois Champollion, a journey populated with big personalities and world events. Balancing the stone?s present-day life with its ancient one, Ray gives readers enough information about the world of Ptolemy Epiphanes-during whose reign the stone was forged-to understand the larger context, but doesn?t slow the narrative with extraneous details. Ray also offers an illuminating overview of dead language studies and the colorful figures who devote their lives to it. Like the rest of editor Mary Beard?s Wonders of the World series (Richard Jenkyns?s Westminster Abbey, Robert Irwin?s The Alhambra, etc.), this informative text has an appealing, conversational tone that non-specialists should find especially welcoming. (June) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Review by Library Journal Review
Ray (Egyptology, Cambridge Univ.) gives us a gem of a book, a multifaceted study of the Rosetta stone, the British Museum's most visited artifact, which was discovered by the French in 1799 during Napoleon's expedition to Egypt. The stone's text, containing a decree by the pharaoh Ptolemy V in the year 196 B.C.E. written in three scripts (hieroglyphs, demotic, and Greek), provided the breakthrough in deciphering hieroglyphs, thus opening up the previously mysterious world of ancient Egypt. While the stone's story is well known, Ray's engagingly written book is exceptional in many regards, demonstrating the author's skills as a teacher. Readers will also glean insights into the personalities of Jean-Francois Champollion, who ultimately received credit for deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822, and the lesser-known British polymath Thomas Young, who had previously interpreted the stone's cartouches. Ray also provides guidelines on how to decipher texts. Laypersons will be caught up in the puzzle-solving elements of Egyptologists' work, not to mention the glamorous aura that the modern mind seems to attach to all things Egyptian. For public and academic libraries and special collections in history and Egyptology.-Joan W. Gartland, Detroit P.L. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
