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The desire to solve mysteries is as old as humanity and the spell of an unknown writing has always been particularly potent. This is a discussion of the contributions to the science of decipherment made by theorists such as Leibnitz and by brilliant practitioners of it from Champollion to Ventris. Maurice Pope examines the intellectual developments that lead to their outstanding achievements, and describes the process of decipherment, providing quotations from their original publications and many examples of their drawings, tables and diagrams. Among the scripts the author analyses are the Palmyra script, Sassanid Persian, Egyptian hieroglyphic, Persian cuniform, Akkadian cuneiform, the Cypriot syllabary, Hittitte hieroglyphic, the Ugaritic alphabet and Mycenaean Linear B.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very erudite and well-written book,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya Script: From Egyptian Hieroglyphics to Maya Script (Paperback)
Although an excellent publication, this is quite a technical work and is recommended for (budding) philologists rather than for the man in the street
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent study,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya Script: From Egyptian Hieroglyphics to Maya Script (Paperback)
Maurice Pope's book is an excellent study, with carefully arranged details and modest conclusions. Though, if that is your first time ever in history of the decipherment, it would be more appropriate if you choose something more ''basic'', like ''The Code Book'' by Simon Singh. After someone makes this ''first step'', the book ''Story of Decipherment'' is ideal to continue with the fascinating details of deciphering some of the outmost interesting ''puzzles'' of human culture, the ancient scripts. My preferences on the subject also include ''The Code Breakers'' by David Kahn and ''The Decipherment of Linear B'' by John Chadwick.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crystal Clear,
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This review is from: The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya Script: From Egyptian Hieroglyphics to Maya Script (Paperback)
I'd have to agree with the previous reviews of this excellent book. Quite simply this is the best single volume coverage of a major intellectual activity: the decipherment of ancient languages. This is a demanding read, and I would imagine that you would need some basic grasp of phonetics and the principles of grammar in order to get the most from it. Pope is quite an intellectual writer, and for a popular history, this is produced to a high level: I strongly recommend you follow his excellent notes very carefully, and also pay attention to his glossary, which is very instructive. There's also an up-to-date bibliography with many suggestions for taking your study of ancient languages further.
The book is divided into three main sections: firstly and perhaps not surprisingly, focuses on the Egyptian hieroglyphics. I perhaps learnt most from the account of the translation of cuneiform writing, which forms the central part of the book: I really enjoyed the accounts of Henry Rawlinson, and would like to read more about him. The final section of the book is of course, directed to the Aegean and Anatolian scripts, including Linear B. I had read a little about Michael Ventris before, but enjoyed the crisp and clear coverage given by Pope in his section. There is also a fascinating postscript chapter on Mayan glyphs. Can't really imagine how this book could be improved, and I'm not surprised that been imprinted for nearly 40 years. The only note of criticism would be the rather too patrician tone that Pope adopts on occasion, but I'm prepared to forgive him this as this is an academically secure and appropriately serious account. An excellent read, and this really informed my reading of Michael Wood's In Search of the Trojan War, one of my favourite popular history books.
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