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Forgotten Scripts: Their Ongoing Discovery and Decipherment
Cyrus H. Gordon Book Review

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Plot Summary of Forgotten Scripts: Their Ongoing Discovery and Decipherment
"The first edition of this book was published in 1968, the second in 1982. The inimitable Professor Gordon (1908-2001) calls on all his professional experience, which is second to none, in wartime cryptography, archaeology, and ancient languages to explain the recovery of the literature of the ancient Near East (ANE). His vast range of knowledge is brought to bear, explaining how scholars in the last two centuries have decrypted and translated Egyptian hieroglyphs, Old Persian, Sumero-Babylonian and Akkadian cuneiform, Hittite (Turkey), Ugaritic and Eblaite (Syria), and Cretan Linear A and B. The final chapter is a small anthology of these ancient texts from Egypt (a short story, a love poem, wisdom literature similar to the Hebrew Proverbs, and a letter to the dead), and from Akkadian, Ugaritic, and Hittite (some history, an administrative text, a marriage contract relevant to the time of Abraham, etc).

The professor brings the literary background and cultures of the ancient world from Greece through Canaan and Egypt and east to Persia into coherent but not over-ambitious relation. (It is interesting to speculate what he would have made of Professor Brian Sykes 'Seven Daughters of Eve' mitochondrial DNA thesis in his very recent genetic studies of ancient man in the Europe and the ANE.) He gives some small but significant examples of how related languages and cultures help us in translating the ancient Hebrew of the Old Testament, such as in the book of Ruth (the famous 'w-m' in ch.4,v.5, surely you know the one I mean). "
Michael JR Jose, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Forgotten Scripts: Their Ongoing Discovery and Decipherment
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Kind Of History
Time of history: - Ancient Greek Era - 2000-0 BC - Ancient Egyptian Era
Nationality? - MANKIND
History of words/phrases? Yes

Subjects of this Historical Account
Is the portrayal sympathetic? - Sympathetic
From a certain profession/group? - bureaucracy
Intelligence of subject of history: - Smart

Setting
Asia/Pacific Yes
Asian country: - The 'stans - Iraq - Iran/Persia
Africa Yes
Middle East? Yes
If applicable, liberal/conservative? - Historian is moderately liberal

Style
How much gore? - 1 ()
How fast-paced is the book? - 3 ()
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Book makes you feel... - thoughtful
How much focus on stories of individuals? - Focuses mostly on the people/nation level
How much romance? - 2 ()
Minor characters feature lots of: - businessmen
Pictures/Illustrations? - A lot
Maps necessary? - Necessary maps provided
Length of book - 150-200 pages
How much emphasis on small details? - 10 ()
Most similar books to Forgotten Scripts: Their Ongoing Discovery and Decipherment
The Story of Decipherment: from Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya by Maurice Pope
Alpha Beta: How 26 Letters Shaped the Western World by John Man
The Hieroglyphs Handbook by Philip Ardagh
Studies In Words by C. S. Lewis
Language & History in Early Britain by Kenneth Jackson


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