Dictionaries (in alphabetical order)

Budge, E. A. Wallis: An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Volume I and Volume II, Dover paperbacks, 1978 reprint of a book originally published in 1920, 1314 total pages.
While this is the least useful of the dictionaries, it does have some advantages. It includes very late words (Ptolemaic and Roman periods) -- although it doesn't always identify them as such, contains an English index so you can translate into Egyptian, includes sections on Pharaohs' names and place names, has an index of Greek, Coptic, and other foreign words mentioned in the dictionary, and is relatively inexpensive. The main problems are that the transliteration is obsolete, some signs are read incorrectly, and it is heavily biased towards very late words. No serious student would rely on this dictionary, but almost everyone has a copy!

Contents:

Introduction
Sign List
Alphabets (Egyptian, Coptic, Semitic, Persian)
Egyptian-English Dictionary
List of Kings' Names
List of Countries, Cities, Towns, etc.
Index of English Words
Index of Kings' Names
Index of Geographical Names
Geographical Names in other languages
List of Coptic Words quoted in the Dictionary
List of Non-Egyptian Words quoted in the Dictionary


Faulkner, Raymond O.: A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford University Press, hardcover, 1962, 327 pages.

This is the standard dictionary used by all university students. It is entirely hand-written and is easy to read. It doesn't include a sign list, so you also need a copy of Gardiner's sign list. The only problem with it is that is narrowly focused on Middle Egyptian and so doesn't include very early or late words (not a problem when reading the texts assigned in school, but is sometimes limiting when picking up texts at random). Includes only Egyptian-to-English, but Shennum's Index listed below allows you to use it from English to Egyptian.

No special contents.


Hannig, Rainer: Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch-Deutsch, Philipp von Zabern, hardcover, 1995, 1412 pages plus 21 maps.

If you are serious about reading Egyptian, can read at least enough German to use a German-English dictionary, and can affford the hefty price (about $100 including shipping from Germany), this is the very best Egyptian dictionary for you. It lists all the words known to have been used between 2800-950 BC (2nd through 21st Dynasties) and reflects all the most modern scholarship. It includes a sign list and lists of kings, gods, and places and even has illustrations. It also has a set of color maps labelled entirely in hieroglyphs! Despite its comprehensive contents, its compact size (pages are about 5x7½ inches) makes it easy to use.

Contents:

Introduction
Egyptian-German Dictionary
Gardiner's Sign List
Extended Sign List
List of signs by their transliteration
List of gods' names ( 70 pages! )
List of kings' names
Weights and measures
Egyptian abbreviations
Place names
Maps


Shennum, David: English-Egyptian Index of Faulkner's Dictionary, Undena Publications, paperback, 1977, 178 pages.

This book converts Faulkner's dictionary (see above) into an English-to-Egyptian dictionary. It must be used together with Faulkner. No hieroglyphs are included: looking up an English word gives you Egyptian words in transliteration and references to pages in Faulkner.

No special contents.