The Writing of the Gods, Edward Dolnick
The Writing of the Gods, Edward Dolnick
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The Writing of the Gods
The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone

Author: Edward Dolnick

Narrator: Fajer Al-Kaisi

Unabridged: 8 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/19/2021

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

The fast-paced and “engrossing account” (The New York Times Book Review) of “one of the greatest breakthroughs in archaeological history” (The Christian Science Monitor): two rival geniuses in a race to decode the writing on one of the world’s most famous documents—the Rosetta Stone.

The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the world, attracting millions of visitors to the British museum every year, and yet most people don’t really know what it is. Discovered in a pile of rubble in 1799, this slab of stone proved to be the key to unlocking a lost language that baffled scholars for centuries.

Carved in ancient Egypt, the Rosetta Stone carried the same message in different languages—in Greek using Greek letters, and in Egyptian using picture-writing called hieroglyphs. Until its discovery, no one in the world knew how to read the hieroglyphs that covered every temple and text and statue in Egypt.

Dominating the world for thirty centuries, ancient Egypt was the mightiest empire the world had ever known, yet everything about it—the pyramids, mummies, the Sphinx—was shrouded in mystery. Whoever was able to decipher the Rosetta Stone would solve that mystery and fling open a door that had been locked for two thousand years.

Two brilliant rivals set out to win that prize. One was English, the other French, at a time when England and France were enemies and the world’s two great superpowers. Written “like a thriller” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), The Writing of the Gods chronicles this high-stakes intellectual race in which the winner would win glory for both himself and his nation. A riveting portrait of empires both ancient and modern, this is an unparalleled look at the culture and history of ancient Egypt, “and also a lesson…in what the human mind does when faced with a puzzle” (The New Yorker).

About Edward Dolnick

Edward Dolnick is the author of Dinosaurs at the Dinner PartyThe Writing of the GodsThe Clockwork UniverseThe Forger’s Spell, and the Edgar Award–winning The Rescue Artist, among other books. A former chief science writer at The Boston Globe, he has written for The AtlanticThe New York Times Magazine, and many other publications. He lives with his wife near Washington, DC.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nancy on July 07, 2022

This book has so much going for it, it’s hard to say what I enjoyed most! The story of the Egyptian civilization which lasted 3,000 years? How Bonaparte brought not only an army of warriors, but an army of savants to Egypt? How ancient Egypt spurred the imagination of Europeans, with collectors and a......more

Goodreads review by Shahin on October 24, 2021

I saw the Rosetta Stone a few times while I was living in London. It was always impressive as I knew that this Stone was the reason we knew anything about ancient Egypt. And it is all so much more impressive now that I know what it took and how long it took to actually decode the hieroglyphs.  This b......more

Goodreads review by Adam on November 21, 2021

OMG could this man describe anything without following it with an analogy, simile, metaphor or occasionally bizarre example? Although there was much of interest in this book it was, for me, overshadowed by this annoying and often gratuitous use of comparisons throughout. At one point (I don’t have t......more

Goodreads review by Jason on February 03, 2025

This was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because I'm embarrassed to say I never thought that hard about the Rosetta Stone and did not realize it was a key that could be used to unlock so many stories--about ancient Egypt, later Egypt, Napoleon, early 19th century science, linguistics, cryptogr......more