Rosetta Stone Is An Age Old Mystery Brilliantly Solved
December 28, 2020 at 8:45 p.m.
By Max [email protected]
Scholars labeled the slab in honor of the place where it was found. As soon as they became aware of the writing on the slab, the experts became excited as it was the first time they had seen hieroglyphs carved on the same stone with other languages. (Hieroglyphs means “sacred carvings” in Greek.)
At the top of stone were markings containing 14 lines of hieroglyphs, which consist of pictures of animals, birds and geometric shapes. Below them were 32 lines written in an unfamiliar script, and below that, were 54 more lines written in the letters of the Greek alphabet. The unfamiliar script was determined to be a simpler form of Egyptian writing, which scholars called demotic, meaning “of the people.”
Before the Rosetta stone was discovered no one knew how to read hieroglyphic writing. Its meaning had been lost for almost 1,400 years. Countless visitors to Egypt over the centuries had tried to decipher the mysterious symbols. With the discovery of the stone it finally became possible to unlock the secrets. Two individuals eventually became responsible for that to occur.
In an earlier column, I wrote about the genius of Thomas Young (1773-1829), who among his many talents was the ability to speak several languages. Young had learned to read by the age of two; at 4, he had “read the Bible twice through” and was soon memorizing poetry. As he grew, so did his awareness of language.
His voracious reading served him well in this regard. Young’s education had mingled Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Persian and Arabic, as well as the origins of languages and writing with devices optical and mechanical, not to mention algebra, fluxions (calculus), botany, chemistry and, all along, intimations of the links between anatomy and speech. As he became older he absorbed himself in ancient epics and dead languages, particularly the words and phrases of the Egyptian language.
Fortunately, the stone had been shipped to England in 1802, and made available to English scholars. In 1814 Young began his work on deciphering it. He focused on the demotic section and compared it closely to the Greek passage. Within a few weeks, Young identified most of the groups of characters in the demotic section that formed individual words in cursive writing, but found it difficult to go further. He continued to work on the problem of the hieroglyphs for several years but made little headway in deciphering additional names and words.
According to James Giblin, in his book “The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone,” one other individual provided the solution. Jean-Francois Champollion (1790-1832), who like Thomas Young, had a gift for languages. He was born in a small town in southwestern France in 1790, and at 5 taught himself to read. By the age of ten he showed an unusual interest in the languages of the Middle East.
When he became older, Champollion was introduced to the famous mathematician Jean-Baptiste Fourier who had accompanied Napoleon to Egypt. Fourier showed Champollion his collection of Egyptian antiquities, including a copy of the Rosetta stone, and the hieroglyphs fascinated him.
By the time Champollion was 17, he had learned Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Persian and other near Eastern languages, as well as English, German and Italian. Soon he added Coptic, and Champollion believed that this language, written with the letters of the Greek alphabet, might have preserved elements of the ancient Egyptian writing.
The solution to the puzzle came from using the oft repeated name of the Pharaoh Ptolemy thought to have been included on the markings on the stone. Young had stated that the hieroglyphs in Ptolemy’s name stood for sounds. Champollion thought otherwise.
His idea is similar to that used today when decoders try out likely forms of words to determine if they can identify set formulae across multiple messages to find more exact letter equivalences. Young knew that the Ptolemys were of Greek descent, and the name Ptolemy, spelled Ptolemaios in Greek and pronounced “Puh-tol-uh-may-os, was an unfamiliar one to the Egyptians. He assigned letters representing sounds, but made several mistakes. Champollion corrected Young’s mistake and spelled the first name as “Ptolmis.” He also knew that Cleopatra began with a “K” in Greek rather than a “C.” After completing a thorough and painstaking analysis, Champollion had assigned letters to all of the hieroglyphs. He had confirmed that more than one Greek name was expressed phonetically by the hieroglyphs. Moreover, he now knew a dozen different hieroglyphic symbols with which he could decipher other Egyptian names and words.
Final Thoughts
Champollion’s contributions to the world’s knowledge of ancient Egypt did not end with his death. Working with Champollion’s notes, his brother Jacques-Joseph completed the Egyptian Grammar and Egyptian Dictionary that Champollion had started. The books were published during the 1830s and 40s and welcomed by scholars throughout the world.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. It contains a number of previously published columns. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
Scholars labeled the slab in honor of the place where it was found. As soon as they became aware of the writing on the slab, the experts became excited as it was the first time they had seen hieroglyphs carved on the same stone with other languages. (Hieroglyphs means “sacred carvings” in Greek.)
At the top of stone were markings containing 14 lines of hieroglyphs, which consist of pictures of animals, birds and geometric shapes. Below them were 32 lines written in an unfamiliar script, and below that, were 54 more lines written in the letters of the Greek alphabet. The unfamiliar script was determined to be a simpler form of Egyptian writing, which scholars called demotic, meaning “of the people.”
Before the Rosetta stone was discovered no one knew how to read hieroglyphic writing. Its meaning had been lost for almost 1,400 years. Countless visitors to Egypt over the centuries had tried to decipher the mysterious symbols. With the discovery of the stone it finally became possible to unlock the secrets. Two individuals eventually became responsible for that to occur.
In an earlier column, I wrote about the genius of Thomas Young (1773-1829), who among his many talents was the ability to speak several languages. Young had learned to read by the age of two; at 4, he had “read the Bible twice through” and was soon memorizing poetry. As he grew, so did his awareness of language.
His voracious reading served him well in this regard. Young’s education had mingled Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Persian and Arabic, as well as the origins of languages and writing with devices optical and mechanical, not to mention algebra, fluxions (calculus), botany, chemistry and, all along, intimations of the links between anatomy and speech. As he became older he absorbed himself in ancient epics and dead languages, particularly the words and phrases of the Egyptian language.
Fortunately, the stone had been shipped to England in 1802, and made available to English scholars. In 1814 Young began his work on deciphering it. He focused on the demotic section and compared it closely to the Greek passage. Within a few weeks, Young identified most of the groups of characters in the demotic section that formed individual words in cursive writing, but found it difficult to go further. He continued to work on the problem of the hieroglyphs for several years but made little headway in deciphering additional names and words.
According to James Giblin, in his book “The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone,” one other individual provided the solution. Jean-Francois Champollion (1790-1832), who like Thomas Young, had a gift for languages. He was born in a small town in southwestern France in 1790, and at 5 taught himself to read. By the age of ten he showed an unusual interest in the languages of the Middle East.
When he became older, Champollion was introduced to the famous mathematician Jean-Baptiste Fourier who had accompanied Napoleon to Egypt. Fourier showed Champollion his collection of Egyptian antiquities, including a copy of the Rosetta stone, and the hieroglyphs fascinated him.
By the time Champollion was 17, he had learned Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Persian and other near Eastern languages, as well as English, German and Italian. Soon he added Coptic, and Champollion believed that this language, written with the letters of the Greek alphabet, might have preserved elements of the ancient Egyptian writing.
The solution to the puzzle came from using the oft repeated name of the Pharaoh Ptolemy thought to have been included on the markings on the stone. Young had stated that the hieroglyphs in Ptolemy’s name stood for sounds. Champollion thought otherwise.
His idea is similar to that used today when decoders try out likely forms of words to determine if they can identify set formulae across multiple messages to find more exact letter equivalences. Young knew that the Ptolemys were of Greek descent, and the name Ptolemy, spelled Ptolemaios in Greek and pronounced “Puh-tol-uh-may-os, was an unfamiliar one to the Egyptians. He assigned letters representing sounds, but made several mistakes. Champollion corrected Young’s mistake and spelled the first name as “Ptolmis.” He also knew that Cleopatra began with a “K” in Greek rather than a “C.” After completing a thorough and painstaking analysis, Champollion had assigned letters to all of the hieroglyphs. He had confirmed that more than one Greek name was expressed phonetically by the hieroglyphs. Moreover, he now knew a dozen different hieroglyphic symbols with which he could decipher other Egyptian names and words.
Final Thoughts
Champollion’s contributions to the world’s knowledge of ancient Egypt did not end with his death. Working with Champollion’s notes, his brother Jacques-Joseph completed the Egyptian Grammar and Egyptian Dictionary that Champollion had started. The books were published during the 1830s and 40s and welcomed by scholars throughout the world.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. It contains a number of previously published columns. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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