Ancient Egyptian culture is separated from us by several millennia, a lost people, and a bygone language. We can discover much about the civilization from its physical remains, but perhaps the greatest insights into the Egyptian mind come from hieroglyphs. They reveal the priorities, concerts and beliefs of the Egyptians - a whole worldview. Unlike the Western alphabet, which is a set of arbitrary symbols not anchored in reality, each Egyptian hieroglyph visually denotes a concept central to Egyptian thinking. The language and its written form is intimately bound up with the Egyptian's imaginative world. Here Barry Kemp presents 100 of the hieroglyphs to provide access to this unique culture. Kemp takes us on a sweeping journey through the Egyptian mind, not only revealing aspects of day-to-day life in ancient Egypt, but gradually building a picture of the historical and mythological reference points that were the cornerstones of Egyptian thought. This fascinating book helps us get inside the minds of a longvanished people.

