Page 144 - Encyclopedia Of World History

494 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

This and the following pages show the
decipherment and translation of The
History of the Creation of the Gods and
of the World. Version A. from Egyptian
Hieroglyphics.

paintings on monumental edifices and tombs, which in fact record sounds—were not mystical symbols—and
reflect the concerns of their aristocratic patrons (mighty that the clue to the ancient Egyptian language was the
deeds and eternal salvation, basically), and such papyrus modern Coptic language still used in the liturgy of Egyp-
documents as were sufficiently highly valued to be tian Christians. His results were first published in 1822.
immured in watertight tombs with their owners (intel- Again it was not until the turn of the twentieth century
lectual property, again largely religious, but not much that that the decipherment of Egyptian could really pay off for
was quotidian).The principal name here is Jean-François historians, when the American James Henry Breasted
Champollion, from Grenoble, France, probably building methodically explored the Nile Valley, copying, translat-
on an insight of the Englishman Thomas Young. The ing, and publishing every historical inscription he could
Rosetta Stone alone did not suffice.The only king whose find. But boasts of “mighty deeds” are not all that useful
name is preserved in its hieroglyphic portion is Ptolemy, to historians, who appreciate greater detail and welcome
and though it was identifiable because it was enclosed in opposing points of view. Despite a generation’s head
an oval cartouche, not until Cleopatra’s name was found start, knowledge of Egyptian political history still lags
on an obelisk that had been taken to England was it pos- behind that of the many lands that used cuneiform, even
sible to match up signs with sounds. But Champollion’s though the native texts can be supplemented by annals
true insights were the recognition that the hieroglyphs did in, primarily, Akkadian and Hittite.