Review by Choice Review
As the dust jacket states, "epigraphy and palaeography are two distinct, but closely related, ways of analyzing and understanding ancient texts and images." To better explore these distinctions, this reference "offers readers three key things: a diachronic perspective, covering all ancient Egyptian scripts from prehistoric Egypt through the Coptic era … a look at recording techniques that considers the past, present, and future[;] and a focus on the experiences of [individual researchers]." Broken up into four parts--"Cultural and Material Setting," "Historical Efforts at Epigraphy," "Traditional and New Techniques of Epigraphy," and "Issues in Palaeography"--the text covers issues in epigraphy over 35 chapters and those dealing with palaeography over 10 chapters, all authored by museum curators, archaeologists, and other experts in the field, such as Peter J. Brand, Vanessa Davies, Ludwig Morenz, Hana Navratilova, and Pascal Vernus. Chapters range in focus from very specific topics, for example, "Carved Hybrid Script" by Mohamed Sherif Ali, to broader topics, such as Chiara Salvador's "Graffiti," and each has its own bibliography, although there is no collated bibliography for the entire volume. There are photographs and drawings throughout. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. --Michael W. Handis, The Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
