Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2024 September 7

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September 7

Egyptian personal names and gendered parentals

"Understanding Hieroglyphics", shot through with dubious claims, says "The terms that could be used for this designation were "born of" when using the mother's name and "made by" or "of his body" when using the father's name." (These are ms F31 and ir D4.) Interesting, but is it true? Temerarius (talk) 22:22, 7 September 2024 (UTC) Temerarius (talk) 22:22, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

References

The author, Hilary Wilson, appears to be well qualified in Egyptology and has written several books besides this one on the subject, issued by respected publishers: do you have some reason to doubt her expertise or honesty? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.6.83.137 (talk) 13:32, 9 September 2024 (UTC)

Don't you judge some books better than others? It's one of those brash syntheses with misplaced self-confidence and inappropriate breadth. The claims that made me involuntarily laugh refer to no one. However, I quit after the first few chapters.

Temerarius (talk) 03:34, 11 September 2024 (UTC)

I understated it, her "selected bibliography" pg 218 is just "here's some books I've read." No references. Light fare, and recent. On page 38 there's an etiology of Serapis that reads like the bunk about the etymology of Kangaroo. (A common myth is that it was a Guugu Yimithirr phrase for "I don't know".) That the author would give it a thought let alone pass it on reveals how shallow her respect for the ancients is. That they created a whole god all wrong because they misunderstood instead of because their Serapis served their needs. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth! It's the sign of a mind that can't contribute. And here's how the book jacket describes her qualifications: Hilary Wilson has been interested in Ancient Egypt since childhood. She trained as a mathematics teacher while at the University of Leicester, while at the same time taking courses on archaeology and mediaeval history. She has run courses in Egyptology at the University of Southampton Not a good source. This is the kind of book where lines of fact checking go to die.

Temerarius (talk) 00:05, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

And our page on Hilary Wilson needs work, was it written by her agent? Kinda promotiony.

Temerarius (talk) 00:32, 12 September 2024 (UTC)