Reading Egyptian Art by Richard H. Wilkinson
I want to start a Richard H. Wilkinson fan club.
Last month I did a review of Wilkinson's Symbol & Magic in Egyptian Art. If you read that review, you might remember that my favorite part of that book was when Wilkinson discussed hieroglyphs and how they really are art--or rather, Egyptian Art is actually just hieroglyphs. An Ancient Egyptian statue is just a giant hieroglyph, according to Wilkinson.
Since I was intrigued by that part of book, I decided to order Reading Egyptian Art, also by Wilkinson, at my library. This book is basically all about Egyptian hieroglyphs and how they are reflected in Ancient Egyptian Art. The author takes each glyph and spends about a page each showing how the glyph is reflected in painting and sculpture.
As far as I am concerned, this book is full of awesome. I really, really want to buy it. The way Egyptian hieroglyphs match up to other Egyptian art is truly amazing and thought-provoking.
That being said, I wouldn't recommend it for a casual reader. The book is very much set up as a reference work, and isn't generally meant to be read cover-to-cover, I think. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Egyptian hieroglyphs, or someone who has a fair amount of familiarity with Egyptian Art already.
I read this book as part of mjmbecky's Rejuvenate and Renew Reading Challenge, although I don't think it really counts, since I didn't finish it (had to return it to the library). However, I did enjoy this book and felt it deserved a post. Basically, the idea of art being a language--literally--fascinates me, and I hope I'll be able to find more writing on this topic.
