HieroglyphicsThe Story of The

Translation.

A Secret LanguageNo one in the world knew what the strange symbols meant.

Most thought it was picture writing. Others phonetic.

RosettaStoneDiscovered 1799

Written in 3 languages.

Ancient Greek.

Demotic used by Arabs.

And…

Hieroglyphics

The KeyCarved in 196 BCE.

Found when Napoleon’s soldiers were digging the foundations of a fort.

Thomas Young1773 - 1829

At the age of fourteen Young had learned Greek and Latin and was acquainted with French, Italian, Hebrew, Chaldean, Syriac, Samaritan, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Amharic.

GeniusKnown for his “wave” theory of light.

Worked on explaining how the eye worked.

Developed theories on how the eye sees color.

Wrote books on medicine.

And ThenThought he would spend a summer (!?!) to work on deciphering hieroglyphics.Young thinks Hieroglyphics are just symbols. Like road signs. And can’t be pronounced.

Like a Road SignHow do you pronounce this sign?

Young’s Breakthrough

Jean-Francois Champollion

1790 – 1832

At the age of 16 master of 6 ancient languages not counting Greek and Latin, of course.

Champollion’s NotesHe learns Coptic because he believes it is similar to ancient Egyptian.

He thinks that the symbols are both phonetic and symbolic. Sometimes in the same word!

The RaceEurope goes Egypt crazy.England and France are in a race to see which genius can decipher hieroglyphics first.Young reaches a plateau and can go no further.

Champollion pushes ahead.Even Young congratulates the Frenchman.However, Young notes that Champollion used his earlier work as a base.Hard feelings.