Jean-François Champollion’s deciphering of hieroglyphs
2022 is a year rich in celebrations for Egyptology. The bicentenary of Jean-François Champollion’s deciphering of the hieroglyphs and the centenary of Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings mark this year.
In 1822, Jean-François Champollion (1790-1832) announced that he had cracked the mystery of hieroglyphics in his famous Lettre à M. Dacier, secrétaire perpétuel de l’Académie royale des Inscriptions et belles-lettres dated September 27. The discovery marked the birth of modern Egyptology, providing access to hieroglyphic documentation that had been lost to reading since antiquity. The key to reading the Egyptian language was no mean feat, and was achieved in several stages.
We have to go back to the 18th century to observe a real craze for Egyptian antiquities in European countries. This interest developed considerably following Napoleon Bonaparte’s Expedition to Egypt in 1798-1801, and the monumental Description de l’Égypte which was the main result. This work, published between 1809 and 1828, enjoyed a remarkable diffusion and success throughout Europe. The Description of Egypt comprises nine volumes of text, ten volumes of plates and an atlas, and includes numerous observations and descriptions of ancient Egypt.
The Napoleonic Expedition also contributed to the deciphering of hieroglyphs, thanks to the discovery of the famous Rosetta Stone by officer Pierre François Xavier Bouchard in Fort Julien de Rosette in 1799, a stele now preserved in London’s British Museum. The stele contains a text (a decree of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes dated 196 BC) in bilingual Egyptian and Greek, copied using three scripts – hieroglyphics, demotic and Greek. Now that Greek had been mastered, the key to the hieroglyphs was available. From then on, the Egyptian language was the object of keen interest from a number of researchers, such as the Swedish archaeologist Johan David Åkerblad and the English physicist Thomas Young. But it was Jean-François Champollion who found the solution in 1822, thanks in no small part to his in-depth knowledge of many languages, both ancient and modern.
Champollion quickly provided a Précis du système hiéroglyphique which was published in 1824. Champollion’s mastery of the basics of the Egyptian language, so soon after deciphering it, was fascinating. He was also a prominent member of the Franco-Tuscan expedition that visited Egypt in 1828 and 1829 to study its monuments. The expedition produced several publications, including Monumenti dell’Egitto et della Nubia by the Tuscan Ippolito Rosellini, published between 1832 and 1844, or the Monuments de l “Égypte et de la Nubie published posthumously by his brother Jacques-Joseph Champollion between 1835 and 1845. The Lettres écrites d” Égypte et de Nubie, in 1828 and 1829 are also from the expedition and are among the most important resources left by Champollion.
Jean-François Champollion’s legacy is considerable, not only for his fundamental contribution to the birth of Egyptology, but also for his scientific contribution to our knowledge of ancient Egypt.
Giuseppina Lenzo, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Archaeology and Ancient Sciences, UNIL
- Geneva: Revealing Egypt exhibition at the Bibliothèque de Genève, Promenade des Bastions. On view until October 16
- To see in Lausanne: Vitrine de Port Franc, Unithèque site, selection of works tracing the course of this part of the history of Egyptology, in collaboration with the Réserve Précieuse. Until the end of October
Evelyne Barman Crotti, Academic Collections, BCULausanne
