Introduction to Late Egyptian Grammar

This English translation of the second German edition of a pioneering introduction to the grammar of Late Egyptian, the language of the New Kingdom, principally of the Ramessid Period (ca. 1350-1000 BCE), fills a longstanding gap in teaching works for ancient Egyptian. The author devotes special attention to the language of papyri and ostracautexts and document of everyday lifeuwithout neglecting the style and language of belles lettres and monumental inscriptions. Throughout copious examples, exercises, and bibliographical information, the reader is familiarized with the major text categories of the time. The book assumes some knowledge of Middle Egyptian. The presentation moves from the distinctive features of the writing system and orthography of Late Egyptian, through basic morphology and the structures of the simple and compound clauses and sentences, to larger linguistic units. Attention is given throughout to setting the linguistic forms of Late Egyptian in their context of the history of the language, relating them to Middle Egyptian forms on the one hand and to Demotic and Coptic forms on the other. Detailed comments are given both for the examples and for the exercises that close the main chapters. An appendix offers a preliminary synthesis of formulas in oaths and letters, units of value including weights and measures, and the organization of the necropolis administration at Deir el-Medina, the workmenAes village from which a high proportion of preserved sources was recovered. An extensive apparatus of bibliography, vocabulary and various indexes provides easy access to the content of the grammar and to factual information.