CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Eisenlohr Q ^ ^ 3 Y77°'"*" ""'"^fsi'y Library V.3 "'^''iflBil'llilmiu °'''^ °' '"^^ '^'^ Thomas Y 3 1924 012 493 734 .„. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924012493734 MISCELLANEOUS WORKS OF THE LATE THOMAS YOTMG, M.D., r.E.S., &o., ANU ONE OF THE EIGHT FOREIGN ASSOCIATES OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. Volume III., HIEROGLYPHICAL ESSAYS AND CORRESPONDENCE, &o., EDITED UV JOHN LEITCH. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1855. Uniform with Dr. Young's MisoeUaHeous Works. This Day, with Portrait, 8vo. 15/, THE LIFE OF THOMAS YOUNG, M.D., F.R.S. By GEORGE PEACOCK, D.D., Dean op Ely. IOKDON: printed BT W. 0I.OWES AND SONS, STAMPOED STREET, AND CHARING CROSS. PREFACE TO THE THIRD VOLUME. In arranging the materials of this volume our great ob- ject has been to present Dr. Young's Hieroglyphical Essays and Correspondence in chronological order, and to furnish on fitting occasions the precise dates of such of M. ChampoUion's publications as bear reference to the subjects handled by Dr. Young, together with extracts of the most important passages; by which means the reader will be enabled to ascertain what was really ac- compHshed by each, and to form a correct judgment on a question whose true merits have been concealed amid a mass of inaccuracies and misrepresentations. The evidence establishing Dr. Young's discovery of the hie- roglyphical alphabet, several years before Champollion suspected its existence, is so clear and conclusive, that it must appear a matter of great surprise to the candid in- quirer how any claim should have been set up in behalf of the latter. That Champollion himself, indeed, should have put forward pretentions to that great discovery could excite no astonishment in those who were ac- quainted with his character, and accordingly one of the most distinguished of his countrymen, as will be seen in a2 iv PBEFACE TO THE THIRD VOLUME. this volume (p. 51), even predicted his appropriation of Dr. Young's hieroglyphical discoveries, many years before he actually ventured to publish them as his own ; but to find men like M. Arago and Chevalier Bunsen labouring to support the claims of the ingenious but unscrupulous Frenchman, in the face of such an array of evidence as this volume contains, would be difficult to account for, unless they had themselves furnished their readers with an explanation of their motives.* The mistakes in fact and errors in reasoning which these eminent authors, as well as various other writers, have fallen into, it has been an important part of our task to expose and refiite, and we trust that we have performed this duty without any undue harshness or severity ; although we might have been fairly taxed with pusillanimity if we had not ventured to convey some expression of censure at seeing the interests of truth and justice manifestly, but we trust unconsciously, sacrificed to the gratification of national vanity or private friend- ship, by men, too, whose high position and commanding influence should have rendered them doubly careful not to lay themselves open to such a charge. At all events, whether the reader coincide with our views and argu- ments or not, he will find in this volume materials amply sufficient for enabling him to arrive at a right conclusion if he choose to investigate the subject for himself. Throughout the correspondence we have carefully * See notes, p. 183 and p. 464- of this volume. PEEFACE TO THE THIRD VOLUME. omitted every expression that might reasonably be sup- posed to hurt the feelings of any one ; except in the case of ChampoUion, a clear knowledge of whose character is essential to a right understanding of the question at issue: and should Chevalier Bunsen, or any other of ChampoUion's friends, take offence at the publication of certain strong expressions regarding him in the letters of De Sacy, Letronne, and others, we shall be con- tented, from the above consideration, to abide their dis- pleasure. In the various discussions upon which our editorial duties have compelled us to enter, we have, unlike M. Arago and many of his countrymen, careftilly avoided treating the discovery of the hieroglyphical alphabet as a national question ; and we presume that in England generally it has not been regarded as such ; for although Chevalier Bunsen has unjustly endeavoured to deprive an Englishman of the honour of having made what he, as well as his illustrious countryman, Niebuhr, pro- nounces the greatest discovery of our times, he has found Englishmen* sufficiently free from national bias, as well as sufficiently ill informed, to back him in his attempt, and he enjoys, from whatever cause, perhaps even a higher reputation in this country than anywhere else. Our best acknowledgments are due to Mr. Adam Black, of Edinburgh, proprietor of the Encyclopaedia * See p. 255, note. VI PREFACE TO THE THIRD VOLUME. Britannica, for his kindness in furnishing us with several hundred impressions of the hieroglyphical plates which accompanied the article Egypt, contributed by Dr. Young to that work, and reprinted in this volume — a favour which he was also obliging enough to repeat after the first supply was destroyed by fire at the printer's, along witb the greater portion of the present work. My, 10th Sept., 1853. P.S. — ^The whole of this volume has been printed for about a year and a half, but the publication was delayed in order that Dr. Young's Works might appear simultaneously with Dr. Peacock's Memoir of his Life. Shortly after the above pre- fatory remarks were written, science sustained a heavy loss in the death of M. Arago — an event which deepened our regret at having been obliged to place ourselves at antagonism with one who was the first to recognize the importance of Dr. Young's optical discoveries, after they had been received in this country with persevering hostility, embittered by personal feeling, in one quarter, and with a neglect on the part of scien- tific men generally, which contrasted very unfavourably with their ready acceptance and appreciation by some of the most distinguished philosophers of France. Rothesay, 26th Feb., 1855. CONTENTS OF VOL. III. Number. Page , I. — Remarks on the Ancient Egyptian Manuscripts, with Trans- lation of the Eosetta Inscription .... 1 II. — COBEESPONDBNOE RELATIVE TO THE EoSETTA InSOBIPTION : — 1. Extract of a Letter from Dr. Young to the Baron Silvestre de Sacy. August, 1814 16 2. M. Silvestre de Sacy to Dr. Young. 23rd Sept., 1814 . 17 3. Dr. Young to M. Silvestre de Sacy. 3rd Oct., 1814 . . 18 4. Dr. Young to M. Silvestre de Sacy. 21st Oct., 1814. Containing an Enchorial Alphabet, and a List of Enchorial words translated . . . . 21 5. Extract of a Letter from Mr. Akerblad to Dr. Young, Eome, 15th Dec, 1814 30 6. Extract of a Second Letter from Mr. Akerblad to Dr. Young, Eome, 31st Jan., 1815. Containing translations of passages in the Eosetta Inscription .... 30 7. Answer to Mr. Akerblad's Second Letter. Aug. 1815 . . 44 8. M. Silvestre de Sacy to Dr. Young. Paris, 20th July, 1815. Containing a prediction that ChampoUion would lay claim to Dr. Young's discoveries .... 49 9. Dr. Young to M. Silvestre de Sacy. 3rd Aug., 1815 . . 52 10. M. Silvestre de Sacy to Dr. Young. Paris, 20th Jan., 1816 56 11. Dr. Young to Baron Silvestre de Sacy. 5th May, 1816 . 59 12. M. Silvestre de Sacy to Dr. Young. Paris, 14th May, 1816. 60 13. Dr. Young to M. Silvestre de Sacy 61 14. M. ChampoUion to the President of the Eoyal Society. Grenoble, 10th Nov., 1814 62 15. Dr. Young to M. ChampoUion 64 16. M. ChampoUion to Dr. Young. Grenoble, 9th May, 1815 . 65 17. M. Jomard to Dr. Young. Paris, 29th April, 1815 . . 67 18. Dr. Young to M. Jomard 67 19. M. Jomard to Dr. Young. Paris, 17th Aug., 1815 . . 69 20. Dr. Young to M. Jomard 70 21. M. Jomard to Dr. Young. Paris, 25th Feb., 1816 . . 71 22. Mr. Akerblad to Dr. Young. Eome, 19th April, 1816 . . 72 23. Dr. Young to the Archduke John of Austria. 2nd Aug., 1816. Announcing the discovery of the relation between the different kinds of Egyptian characters . 74 24. Dr. Young to Mr. Akerblad. 12th Aug., 1816. With evidence of the derivation of the cursive characters from the hieroglyphics 79 Vlll CONTENTS OF VOL, III. Number. in. — Egypt : — Sect I. Introductory View of tlie latest pixblications relating to Egypt . II. Pantheon III. Historiography . IV. Calendar V. Customs and Ceremonies VI. Analysis of the Kosetta Triple Inscription VII. Rudiments of a Hieroglyphical Vocabulary VIII. Various Monuments of the Egyptians IV.— Inscription on the Paw of the Great Sphinx v.— Observations on a Greek Manuscript on Papyrus VI. — Correspondence upon Hieboolyphical Subjects : 1. M. Jomard to Dr. Young. Paris, 16th Sept., 1819 . 2. Baron Von Humboldt to Dr. Young. Paris, 26th Oct., 1819. Intimating tlie appropriation by M. Jomard of one of Dr. Young's discoveries ..... 3. Sir William Gell to Dr. Young. 4. Dr. Young to Sir William Gell. 5. Sir WilUam Gell to Dr. Young. 6. Dr. Young to Sir William Gell. 7. Sir William Gell to Dr. Young. 8. Dr. Young to William Hamilton, Esq., E.E.S. Sept., 1822 9. Sir William Gell to Dr. Young. Naples, 14th Oct., 1822 . 10. Dr. Young to Sir William Gell 11. Sir William Gell to Dr. Young. Rome, 12th Dec, 1822 . 12. Dr. Young to William John Bankes, Esq. Calais, 21st Oct., 1822 . . 13. M. Champollion to Dr. Young. Paris, 12th Nov., 1822. 14. Dr. Young to M. Champollion 15. M. Letronne to Dr. Young. Paris, 20th Nov., 1822 . 16. M. Champollion to Dr. Young. Paris, 23rd Nov., 1822 17. M. Champollion to Dr. Young. Paris, 16th Dec, 1822 18. M. Champollion to Dr. Young. Paris, 9th Jan., 1828 19. M. Letronne to Dr. Young. Paris, 3rd March, 1823 20. Baron Von Humboldt to Dr. Young. Paris, 18th March 1823 21. M. Champollion to Dr. Young. Paris, 23rd March, 1823 Borne, 25th May, 1821 . London, 22nd May, 1822 Rome, 9th June, 1822 . London, 13th Aug., 1822 Naples, 11th Sept., 1822 . Paris, 29th 103 114 120 126 129 137 189 198 201 207 208 210 211 212 215 217 220 224 227 230 234 238 240 240 ^ 243 ' 247 249 252 253 255 CONTENTS OF VOL. III. ix Number. p^^^ "VII. — DiSOOVEEIES IN HlEKO&LYPHlC LiTBBATUEE : — Preface 261 Chap. I. Sketch of the prevalent opinions respecting Hierogly- phics 265 II. Investigations founded on the Pillar of Eosetta . . 270 III, Inferences deduced from the Egyptian Manuscripts, &o. 273 IV. Collections of the French — M. Drovetti — M. Cham- pollion's Discoveries 286 V. Illustrations of the MSS. brought from Egypt by Mr. Grey 300 VII. Extracts from Strabo ; Alphabet of Champollion ; Hieroglyphical and Enchorial Names . . 321 vin, Chronological History of the Ptolemies . . . 333 Appendix i. Greek Papyrus of Mr. Grey 346 n. Specimens of Hieroglyphics ..... 353 VIII. — COKRESPONDENCE UPON HiEROQLYPHICAE SUBJECTS : — 1. Baron Von Humboldt to Dr. Young. Paris, 13th June, 1823 361 2. Sir William Gell to Dr. Toung. Naples, 22nd July, 1823 362 3. M. Champollion to Dr. Toung. Paris, 21st Aug., 1823 . 366 4. Dr. Young to Sir V^illiam Gell. 13th Sept. 1823 . . 369 5. Sir "William Gell to Dr. Young. Terracina, 10th Mar., 1824 373 6. Sir WiUiam Gell to Dr. Young. Eome, 6th June, 1824 . 377 7. M. Letronne to Dr. Young. Paris 11th June, 1824 . . 378 8. Dr. Young to M. Letronne 380 9. M. Kosegarten to Dr. Young. Jena, 28th July, 1824 . 381 10. Dr. Young to Sir William Gell. Spa, 13th Aug., 1825 . 382 11. Baron Von Humboldt to Dr. Young. Tegel, 24th Aug., 1825 383 12. Dr. Young to Baron Von Humboldt. Lond., 22nd Sept., 1825 384 13. M. Kosegarten to Dr. Young. Greifswald, 12th Dec, 1825 386 14. ChevaUerSanQuintmotoDr. Young. Turin, 20th Apr., 1826 389 15. Sir William Gell to Dr. Young. Naples, 5th Aug., 1826 . 392 16. Dr. Young to Sir William Gell. London, 2nd Sept., 1826 396 17. Dr. Young to Count PoUon. Park Square, 20th Dec, 1826 398 18. Dr. Young to Chevalier de Paravey. London, 18th Feb., 1827 404 19. Sir WiUiam Gell to Dr. Young. Naples, 18th March, 1827 406 20. M. Letronne to Dr. Young. 25th March, 1827 . . 411 21. Dr. Jas. Browne to Dr. Young. Edinburgh, 29th Mar. 1827 412 22. Dr. Young to Sir W. Gell. London, 10th Apr., 1827 . . 414 23. Sir W. Gell to Dr. Young. Eome, 30th May, 1827 . . 417 24. ThoHice Young, Viro Clarissimo, Amadous Peyron, S.D. . 422 VOL. III. * X CONTENTS OF VOL. III. Number. ^^Se 25. Dr. Young to M. Peyron 425 26. Dr. Young to Sir W. Gell. London, 27th June and 7th July, 1827 • • -426 27. The Bev. Dr. Tattam to Dr. Young. Bedford, 1st Aug., 1827 428 28. Sir W. Gell to Dr. Young. 25th Aug., 1827 . . .429 29. M. ChampoUion to Dr. Young. Paris, 11th Sept., 1827 . 432 30. Dr. Young to Baron von Humboldt. In Brande's Journal, September, 1827 433 31. Dr. Young to Sir W. Gell. London, 2nd Oct., 1827 . . 441 32. Dr. Young to Chevalier San Quintino. Lend., 24th Nov., 1827 444 33. Dr. Young to Dr. Tattam. 6th Dec, 1827 . . .454 34. II Cav. San Quintino to Dr. Young. Torino, 25th Feb., 1828 456 35. Sir W. Gell to Dr. Young. Kome, 25th Feb., 1828 . . 459 36. Professor Kosegarten to Dr. Young. Greifswald,26thMayl828 462 37. Dr. Young to M. Arago. Geneva, 4th July, 1828 . . 464 38. Sir W. Gell to Dr. Young. Naples, 19th Nov., 1828 . . 471 IX. — Advertisement to Dr. Young's Egyptian Dictionary . . . 472 X. — The Article ' Languages,' from the Supplement to the Encyclo- pa3dia Britannica ... ... 478 XI.— The Article ' Herculaneum,' ditto ditto 560 Lives of Eminent Scholars. XII. — John Home Tooke 583 XIII.— Gilbert Wakefield 594 XIV.— Jacob Bryant 603 XV. — Piichard Porson 608 LIST OF PLATES. Directions to Binder. Number. III. — EoYi'T : Hieroglyphics . . Plates I. — V. . to/aw Page 197 BREATA. In Art. III. PI. III. the numbers should run from 108 to 165 instead of from 1 to 58. Page 51, line 13 from top, /or "pretendSt" read " pretendtt." „ 266, „ 2 from bottom, for " du poudre " read " de la poudre." „ 468, „ 18 from top, for "AAK2ANrps" read "AAK2ANTP2." No. I. REMAEKS ON THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MANUSCRIPTS.* Specimens of Egyptian manuscripts liave been exhibited by Rigorde, Montfaucon, and Caylus, from linen bandages of mummies : Denon has published two others from papyrus. There are two rolls of papyrus in tolerable preservation in the gallery of the British Museum, and one in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries ; and it is said that many others have lately been brought to Paris. It may be observed that these manuscripts exhibit a greater diversity of characters than could be expected from the use of any one alphabet ; but Mr. Akerblad does not hesitate to consider those which he has seen as written in the same character which is exhibited in the stone of Rosetta : and if we allow the truth of his conclusions respecting this inscription, it must be confessed that the letters employed in it have been combined and diversified in such a manner as to present appearances of a much greater number. The speci- mens of the Zendish, the Sassanidian, and the Phenician alpha- bets, which have been subjoined, on the authorities of Anquetil, Silvestre de Sacy, and Henley, will serve to show not only how * These observations by Dr. Young were first communicated to the Royal Society of Antiquaries in a letter from Sir W. E. Rouse Boughton, Bart., and were accompanied with specimens of the Zendish, the Sassanidian, and the Phenician alphabets. The letter was read 19th May, 1814, and was published the following year in Vol. XVIII. of the ArchtBologia, together with the subjoined translation, which furnishes an inter- pretation of the principal parts of both the Egyptian inscriptions on the Pillar found at Rosetta, and consequently a key to the lost literature of ancient Egypt. For profes- sional reasons, however, the discovery was made publi<; with as little parade as possible. The prefatory remarks, as well as the translation, were republished anonymously in the Museum Criticum of Cambridge, Part VI., 1815, together with the correspondence which follows, between Dr. Young and MM. Silvestre de Sacy and Akerblad, pp. 16-56. — Note by the Editor. VOL. III. B ON THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. No. I. nearly some of the forms, assigned to the different letters by Akerbkd, agree with those which are found in the oldest alpha- bets of the neighbouring countries, but also how great a diversity was allowed in these alphabets to the characters appropriated to each letter, and to the values assigned to each character. It is useless to inquire whether the common alphabet of the manuscripts and the inscription is more properly denominated the epistolographic, as most authors would probably term it, or the hieratic, as Akerblad is inclined to call it ; and the simple title Egyptian is sufBciently justified by the expression in the Greek inscription, in which it is mentioned as the character of the country. The opinion of Kircher, that the epistolographic alphabet resembled the more modern Coptic, appears, like many other opinions of this learned man, to be founded merely on conjecture. Mr. Eiittner has assigned values to some of the characters, deduced from a comparison with the Phenician and other similar alphabets, but none of the results of this compa- rison are confirmed by Mr. Akerblad's interpretation of the inscription of Rosetta. It has been remarked that characters resembling the figures 1 , 2, 3, and 4, occur in most of the specimens : the two latter are less observable in the inscription, but the 3* may possibly be a combination implying nte, of, the 2 and 4 the article p or ph, and the 1 an e or an r. It may be alleged in favour of Mr. Akerblad's alphabet that it is applicable not only to a variety of proper names occurring repeatedly in the inscription, but also to some, in particular, which are so placed in connexion with a character supposed to imply son or daughter, that there is scarcely a possibility of their being erroneously interpreted. It affords us also a variety of words closely resembling some which are found in the later Coptic ; and there is another strong argument in its favour, which has not been noticed : the word Aetos, Mr. Akerblad observes, is repeated in the Egyptian, but not in the Greek ; and he is disposed to attribute this circumstance to some accident • in fact, however, the word is repeated in the original inscription though not in the incorrect copies of it which were first circu- * In the hieroglyphics accompanying the article 'Egypt,' Infra, No. III. PI. IV No. 172, Dr. Young con-ectly assigns this character as tlie enchorial equivalent for the owl, which he gives as a homophone of the hieroglyphic letter M. See p. 11^.— Ed No. I. ON THE EOSETTA INSCRIPTION. 3 lated. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to account for the non-occurrence of some Coptic words, which must un- questionably be in the inscription : for instance, the name of the month Mechir, which is mentioned in the Greek as a sy- nonym of Xandicus or Xanthicus, and which, according to Kircher, anwsers in the Coptic to January, although the place which it ought to occupy in the inscription is easily ascertained by the context. Nor can we readily discover the Coptic months Thout and Mesore, which must also occur in the sub- sequent part, nor the term Pschent, implying a crown of a particular form ; at the same time that the exact coincidence of the names of the Egyptian months, with the later Coptic, strengthens very materially the evidence of the near approach of the two languages to identity. The frequency of occurrence of the different characters in the inscription by no means coin- cides with that of the Coptic letters, which Mr. Akerblad sup- poses to correspond with them in other cases ; and the difference appears to be too great to be wholly accidental. It is not, however, impossible that future investigations may remove all the difficulties which still embarrass this subject ; and, at any rate, the stone of Rosetta affords a far better prospect of furnishing us with some knowledge of the ancient characters of Egypt than any other monument of antiquity, or than any ela- borate speculations of a later date. Added 9 November, 1814. The whole of these observations may be considered as preliminary to an attempt, which has since been made, to compare the three inscriptions of the stone of Rosetta minutely with each other : the general results of this comparison, as the first foundations of the knowledge of ancient Egyptian literature, may not be unworthy of some attention, even in an imperfect state. Conjectural Translation of the [Mr. Gough's] Translation of Egyptian Inscription. the Greek Inscription, '^'■copied and" corrected by Porson. From Dr. Clarke's Greek Mar- bles. Cambr. 1809. P. 58. (1) [In the ninth year, on (1) In the reign of the the fourth day of Xanthicus], young prince, who received B 2 TRANSLATION OF THE ' No. I. EGYPTIAN. GEEEK. the eighteenth of the Egyp- tian month Mechir, of the young king, who received the government of the country from his father, lord of the asp bearing diadems, illustri- ous in glory, who has esta- blished Egypt, the just, the beneficent, the pious towards the gods, victorious over his enemies, who has improved the life of mankind, lord of the feasts of thirty years, like Vulcan the mighty king, like the Sun, (2) [the mighty king of the upper and] lower countries, the offspring of the parent loving gods, approved by Vul- can, to whom the Sun has given the victory, the living iiaage of Jove, the offspring of the Sun, Ptolemy, the ever living, beloved by Vulcan, the god illustrious, munificent, (the son of) Ptolemy and Ar- sinoe the parent loving gods : the priest of Alexander and the saviour gods and the (3) [brother gods, and the godsj beneficent, and the pa- rent loving gods, and the king Ptolemy, the god illustrious, munificent, being Aetus (the son of; Aetus : Pyrrha the daughter of Philinus, being the prize bearer of Berenice the beneficent; Areia, the the kingdom from his father, Lord of " kings," highly glo- rious, who settled the affairs of Egypt, and re- (2) spectful of the gods, pious, successful over his enemies, restorer of the life of man, lord of the triacontaeterides, like the great Vulcan king, even as the Sun, (3) the great king of the upper and lower districts, descended from the gods Phi- lopatores, whom Vulcan ap- proved, to whom the Sun gave victory, the living image of Jupiter, son of the Sun, Pto- lemy (4) ever living, beloved of Phtha, in the ninth year " of the priesthood of " Aetos the son of Aetos, of Alexander, and of the gods saviours, and the gods brothers, and of the gods Euergetae, and the gods Phi- lopatores, and (5) of the god Epiphanes, gracious " and vic- torious," of Berenice Euerge- tis Pyrrha, the daughter of Philinus, ca- No. r. ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. EGYPTIAN. daughter of Diogenes, being the hearer (4) [of haskets of Arsi] noe the hrother loving ; Irene, the daughter of Ptolemy, heing priestess of Arsinoe the parent loving : it was this day decreed by the High priests, the Pro- phets, those v/ho enter the sacred recesses to attire the gods, the wing bearers, and the sacred scribes, and the rest of the priests who came from the temples of Egypt, (5) [to meet the king, at] the assembly of the assump- tion of the lawful power of king Ptolemy the ever living, beloved by Vulcan, the god illustrious, munificent, suc- ceeding his father ; and who entered the temple of Memphis, and said : Whereas king Pto- lemy, the ever living, the god illustrious, munificent, (son of) king Ptolemy (6) [and queen] Arsinoe, the parent loving gods, has given largely to the temples of Egypt, and to all within his kingdom, being a god, the offspring of a god and a god- GKEEK. nephorus ; of Arsinoe Phi- ladelphus, Areia, daughter of Diogenes, being priestess ; and of Arsinoe, wife of Philo- pator, Eirene, (6) daughter of Ptolemy, " being priestess ;" on the 4th day of the month Xanthicus, and of the Egyp- tian Mechir the 18th. Decree. The High priests and Pro- phets, and those who go into the sanctuary to clothe the (7) gods, and the Pterophorae, and the sacred scribes, and other priests, all collected from the temples along the country to Memphis, to the king, to celebrate the receiving of the (8) kingdom of Ptolemy, ever living, beloved of Phtha, the godEpiphanes, gracious, which he received from his father, they being assembled in the temple in Memphis, on this day, have decreed that (9) as king Ptolemy, ever living, beloved of Phtha, the god Epiphanes, gracious, de- scended from king Ptolemy, and queen Arsinoe, gods Philopatores, has been in many things kind both to the temples and (10) all in them, and to all placed under his govern- ment, a god descended from a TRANSLATION OF THE No. I. EGYPTIAN. GHEEK. dess, like Orus the son of Isis and Osiris, who fought in the cause of his father Osiris ; and being pious and beneficent towards the gods, has bestowed much silver and corn, and much treasure, on the temples of Egypt, (7) [and has spent much] in order to render the land of Egypt tranquil, and to esta- blish the temples properly : and in all things within his lawful power has been be- nignly disposed : of the mili- tary imposts and tributes of Egypt, some he has lowered, others he has remitted alto- gether, in order that private individuals and all other men may prosper in the days of his (8) [reign] : and what was owing to the crown from the Egyptians, and from all under his dominion, " amounting to a large sum," he remitted altogether ; those who were imprisoned, and who were strongly accused of crimes for many years, he pardoned : he ordered also that the pro- perties of the gods, and the collections of corn and silver made " annually," . . (9) [likewise] also the por- tions belonging to the gods god and goddess, as Orus the son of Isis and Osiris, assisting his father Osiris, well disposed towards (11) [the worship of] the gods, has brought to the temples supplies of money and corn, supported many expenses in order to " render the cli- mate of Egypt wholesome," and established the sacred rites, (12) and to his utmost power has done good, and of the existing reversions and tributes collected in Egypt has totally remitted some and lightened others, so that both the people, and all other per- sons might be in (13) plenty under his government, and the debts due to the king from the in- habitants of Egypt, and other parts of his kingdom, which were numerous, he has for- given to the people and those who were confined (14) in prison, and long engaged in law-suits, he had delivered from their perplexities, con- firmed the claims " on the re- venues" of the temples, and the annual stated contributions to them of CO (15) rn and money, and likewise the proportions allotted to the gods from the No. I. EOSETTA INSCRIPTION. EGYPTIAN. GREEK. from the vineyards and the gardens, and all the other things which had been due to them, as appointed in the time of his father, should remain unaltered : he ordered also the priests not to pay more for their sacerdotal fees than what was required until the first year of his late father : he excused those (10) [subject] to the power of the temples from the parade of the required voyage to Alexandria every year : he ordered also the press for the naval warfare to be omitted : two parts of the " cotton " garments required to be made for the use of the king in the temples he excused : what had been done improperly for many years he restored to proper (11) [order] : being careful that due respect should be paid to the gods according to propriety ; and likewise that justice should be done to all, like the great great Hermes ; he ordered also those who had come down, military persons and others disposed to hosti- lity, in the tumultuous times of Egypt, to return vineyards and gardens, and other articles appropriated to the gods of his father's time, and ordered them (16) to remain in statu quo ; and that out of what belonged to the priests they should contribute no more to the revenue than they were directed to do until the first, year of his father ; and also freed those of the (17) sacred orders from the yearly voyage to Alexandria, and ordained ex- emption to them from contri- bution to the voyage, and of the money due to the govern- ment for furnishing the (18) cotton cloths in , the temples, he forgave two parts ; and all other things that were neglected in former times he resettled in their proper order, providing that the accustomed offerings should be decently contributed (19) to the gods. He has also distributed justice to all, as Hermes the Great and Great. He has ordained also that those who went out from among the soldiers, and from others, whose minds " were set upon the property (20) of their neighbours " in times of tunudt, and returned. TRANSLATION OF THE No. I. EGYPTIAN. QEEEK. (12) [to] their own proper- ties, and remain there : he took care to send foot, horse, and ships against those who had come by sea and land against Egypt, spending much treasure of silver and corn, in order that the temples and the inhabitants of Egypt might be tranquil : proceeding against the city of Lycopolis (13) [in] Busiritis, which had been hostilely occupied and fortified, with ample stores of arms, and all other things necessary for sustaining a siege, the hostility of the guilty persons collected into it having been long declared, they having done much mischief to the country, to the Egyptians, and to the sacred things ; the king with exten- (14) sive ramparts and ditches and walls approaching the city, surrounded it : the king collecting much silver and treasures for the purpose, set foot soldiers to guard them, and horse : the river Nile having overflowed in the eighth year, and the fields being usually injured greatly by it at that time, (1 5) he restrained the rivers. should remain on their own settlements ; and has also pro- vided that forces of cavalry and infantry, and ships, should be sent against the invaders (21) of Egypt by sea and land ; having sustained great ex- penses both of money and corn, that both the temples, and all the inhabitants of the country, might be safe. And com (22) ing to the city of Lycopolis in the Busiritic [nome], which was circumvallated and fortified against a siege with a plentiful supply of arms, and all other appointments, as might be expected by the long (23) preceding disaffection of the wicked, who were gathered to- gether in it, and had done much mischief to the temples and inhabitants of Egypt, and, by count (24) er-circling it (the city) with banks and ditches and nota- ble walls, and checking the great rise of the Nile in his eighth year, which overflowed the (25) plains, by strengthen- ing the mouths of the rivers, expending on them no small sums, and stationing horse and foot to guard (26) them, in a short time took the city by assault, and in it slew all the wicked, as [Hermjes, and No. I. ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. EGYPTIAN. GREEK. securing their mouths in many places : the king took the city in no long time by force of arms ; the guilty persons col- lected into it he utterly de- stroyed ; as, in the times of his ancestors, those who were collected in the same place were destroyed by Orus the son of I sis and Osiris, and by Hermes : (16) the leaders of the re- volted and embodied troops, who had laid waste the country, and had done injury to the temples, fighting for his king- dom, for his father, and for the gods, when he came to Memphis, to the solemnity of the assumption of the lawful power, received from his father, he punished all se- verely : he remitted what to the (17) crown was due from the temples, as far as the eighth year, amounting to much corn and treasure ; and likewise the prices of the " cotton " garments, tributary from the temples, which ought to have been contributed for the use of the king, and those which were contributed for exhibition, from the same time : he ordered also the annual artaha which had re- Orus, son of Isis and Osiris, overcame those who in the same (27) places had formerly revolted, so all those who led others to revolt from his own father, and made desert the country and violated the temples, when he came up to Memphis, to assist (28) his father, and his Own kingdom, he punished pro- perly, at which time he came to observe the proper ordi- nances suitable to his assuming the kingdom ; but forgave what was due to the royal trea- sury from (29) the temples up to the eighth year for corn and money, no little sum ; and in like manner the penalties for cotton (30) cloths not furnished to the royal treasury, and for taxes up to the same time : he remitted also to the temples the deficient bushel for every acre of sacred land. 10 TRANSLATION OF THE No. I. EGYPTIAN. mained due from each arura of sacred land, (18) likewise the annual ceramium from each arura of the vineyards, to be remitted to the gods : he gave largely to Apis, to Mneuis, and to the other sacred animals of Egypt ; taking care more and more beneficently than his ancestors for their honours at all times, and furnishing what was re- quisite for their funerals splendidly and gloriously ; the payments (19) to his own temples, with assemblies, and sacrifices, and other honours, he ap- pointed : the public cere- monies of the temples, and all the other rites of Egypt, he established in order ac- cording to the laws : he be- stowed many treasures of gold, and silver, and precious stones, on the temple of Apis : and he founded temples of the first order, temples (20) for the public, and altars, and founded chapels in addition to the primary temples of the gods : what was deficient he restored as was requisite, having the feel- ings of a beneficent god in things relating to the deities : and, having made inquiries. OBEEK. and also (31) the liquid mea- sure for that of the vineyards, and many things, to Apis and Mnevis he gave, and to the other sacred animals in Egypt he gave many more than any kings before him, always con- sidering what was becoming ; (32). and to their sepulchres giving what was suitable, largely, and gloriously, and contributions to the several temples, with sacrifices and festivals, and other ordinances ; (33) and all the valuables in the temples and in Egypt he preserved in statu quo, agreeably to the laws ; and the temple of Apis he adorned with costly works, contributing to it gold and [sil (34) ver], and precious stones, to no small amount, and placing temples and shrines, and altars, and re- storing what wanted repair, having the disposition of a beneficent deity in things ap- pertaining to (35) divine wor- ship, and informing himself which were the most honour- able temples, renewed them in his " own palace," as was be- No. I. EOSETTA INSCRIPTION. 11 EGYPTIAN". GEEEK. he renewed the most sacred temples in his kingdom, ac- cording to their usages : where- fore the gods all powerful have given him health, victory over all, (21) strength, and all other good gifts, the power of his kingdom remaining to him and to his descendants for ever : and they shall remain with good fortune. It is ap- proved by the priests of all the temples of Egypt, that the honours at present paid to king Ptolemy, the ever living, the god illustrious and muni- ficent, in the temples, (22) those of his parents, the father loving gods, those of the predecessors of his pa- rents, the beneficent gods, those of the predecessors of the predecessors of his parents, the brother gods, those of the predecessors of the ancestors of his parents, the saviour gods, be augmented greatly : there shall be erected an image of king Ptolemy the ever living, the god illustrious and munificent, (23) which shall be called sacred to Ptolemy studious of the prosperity of the country, to Ptolemy who has fought for Egypt ; and to the image coming. In return, the gods have given to him health, vic- tory. power and all other blessings (36) of "a" lasting reign, to himself and his children for ever. With good fortune. The priests of all the temples throughout the kingdom de- creed to pay the honours al- ready due (37) to the ever- living king Ptolemy, beloved of Phtha, the god Epiphanes, gracious, and likewise greatly to in- crease the honours of his pa- rents gods Philopatores, and his predecessors gods benefi- cent, (38) gods brothers, and gods saviours, "to augment the greatness," and that the image of the everliving king Ptolemy, "god, illustrious," gracious. shall be set up in every tem- ple, in the most conspicuous place, (39) which shall be called the image of Ptolemy the defender of Egypt, and by 12 TRANSLATION OF THE No. I. ECTPTTAN. the greatest god of the temple shall offer the trophies of vic- tory, in each and every tem- ple, in the most conspicuous place in the temple : all vphich things shall be arranged according to the custom of Egypt : the priests shall vpor- ship the images in each and every temple three times a day, (24) and shall attach to them sacred ornaments, ad- dressing them by name, with other legitimate rites, as is done to the other gods in assemblies and feasts from day to day : there shall be made a statue of king Ptolemy, the god illustrious and muni- ficent, (son of) Ptolemy and Queen Arsinoe, the parent loving gods, and a shrine of gold in each temple (25) and every temple, and placed in the sacred recesses, with the other golden shrines ; and in the great assemblies, at the solemnity of the proces- sion of the gods, the shrine of the god illustrious and muni- ficent shall be placed : and, in order that the shrine may be distinguished both at this day and at future times, there shall be placed on it the golden ornaments of the king, the ten asp bearing diadems, as is GEEEK. the side of it shall be set that of the peculiar god of the tem- ple, who shall be represented giving him a victorious shield, which shall be prepared [ac- cording to the usual] (40) manner, and priests to minister thrice a day to the images, and to place by them sacred ornaments, and perform other rites appointed, according as it is done to other gods [in feasts and festivi] (41) ties, and that there be erected to king Pto- lemy " god, illustrious," gra- cious, sprung from king Pto- lemy and queen Arsinoe, gods Philopatores, an image and a shrine of gold in every one of the (42) temples, and to be placed in the sanctuaries, among the other shrines, and in the great festivals on which processions are made of the shrines, [the shrine] of this god, " illustrious, benevolent," (43) shall be brought out, [with them] that it may be conspicuous now and in future, and that there shall be placed upon the shrine ten golden basileiae, on which shall be placed an asp : just as No. I. EOSETTA INSCRIPTION. 13 EGYPTIAN. (26) usual ; the golden ornaments on the shi'ine shall be asp bearing diadems, as on the other shrines : there shall be placed in the midst of them the ornament which the king wore upon his entry into the temple at Memphis, when he celebrated the rites of the assumption of the lawful pow- er from his father, the crown Pschent, which ornament he then wore : and there shall be upon (27) the golden ornaments the quadrangle of the ever living, and on it shall be placed with the asp bearing diadems, ample golden phylacteries, projecting over the golden shrine ; there shall be placed on the asp bearing diadems ample phylacteries, declaring that they belong to the king who has rendered the upper and the lower country illus- trious : and since the 30th of Mesore, on which (28) the birth-day of the king is appointed to be cele- brated with an assembly and feast in the temples, likewise the eighteenth of Mechir, on which the robed festival of the assumption of his legitimate power is held, have been au- spicious days for all men, GREEK. on each (44) of the asp- shaped basileiae upon other shrines, and there shall be in the midst of them the basileia called teXENT, wearing which he entered into the [basileion] in Memphis . . (45) when were performed the ap- pointed ceremonies on his ac- cession to the kingdom, and that there be put upon the square space round the basileiae before described, in the fore-named basileion, amu- lets of gold on which shall be written th (46) at they belong to the king, who made the upper and the lower region illustrious, "upon" the thirti- eth day of [the month] Meso- reh, on which the birth day of the king is celebrated, and in like manner on the . . day of . . (47) in which he received the kingdom from his father, both which they have decreed to be named after him in the sacred calen- dar, which days are the origin of many blessings to all, to 14 TRANSLATION OF THE No. I. EGYPTIAN. being dedicated to the king ever living, and to the assump- tion of his lawful power : on these days, the 30th and the 1 8th, there shall be held an assembly every month in all the temples of Egypt, with sacri- (29) fices, libations, and other lawful honours, as in the other assemblies, the monthly assemblies, and the usual offerings shall be made, with homages, and solemn worship in the temples : there shall be held an assembly and feast in the temples, and in all Egypt, to king Ptolemy the ever living, the god illus- trious and munificent, every year, from the first of Thoyth for five days, on which crowns shall be worn, (30) with sacrifices, liba- tions, and other honours : the priests living in the temples of Egypt, in every temple, shall be called priests of the god illustrious and munificent, besides the other sacerdotal names which they bear, in all edicts, and all acts belonging to the priesthood of the god illustrious and munificent : and it shall be lawful that the festival be celebrated (31) with proper honours GKEEK. observe on those days a festival [and celebrities throughout E] (48) gypt, in the temples, monthly, and to perform in them sacri- fices, and libations, and other rites, according to those in other festivals (49) in the tem- ples, and to hold a festival and celebrity in honour of the ever- living and beloved of Phtha king Ptolemy, "god, illus- trious," gracious, annually [throughout both the upper and lower (50) cjountry, from the new moon of Thoutli for five days, on which chaplets shall be worn, and sacrifices and libations offered, and other appropriate rites. And the priests shall be called the priests of the ever- living (51) god, "illustrious," gracious, besides the other names of the gods to whom they minister, and all oracles, and for the . . (52) and it shall be lawful to other individuals to celebrate the feast, and No. 1. EOSETTA INSCRIPTION. 15 EGYPTIAN. by all other individuals, and that they may consecrate in like manner a golden shrine to the god illustrious and mu- nificent, with due respect, keeping it in their houses, observing the assemblies and feasts, as appointed, every year : which shall be done in order that it may be made manifest that the inhabitants of Egypt honoured the god illustrious and munificent, (32) as it is just to do : and this decree shall be engraved on a hard stone, in sacred characters, in common cha- racters, and in Greek, and placed in the first temples, and the second temples, and the third temples, wherever may be the sacred image of the king whose life is for ever. GREEK. place the aforesaid shrine, and have it by them, performing the proper ceremonies in the an- nual (53) festivals . . "in a year." So that it may be known " why " the people in Egypt magnify and honour the god, " illustrious," graci- ous king. according to law. [And what here is decreed shall be in- scribed] (54) on " black" hard stone, in sacred, and in native, and in Greek characters, and placed in each temple, both of the first and second gods.* * Kosegarten, in the preface to his work Be Prisca JEcjtjptorvm Liitcratvm, says in reference to Dr. Young's translation of the Rosetta Inscription: " Tituli vero euchorii, quo reperto Tcterum scripturarum yEgyptiacanim explicandarum funda- mentum jactum est, reprajsentationem cum adscripta interpretatione Youngiana non earn quidem ob causam Commentationi adjeci, quod omnia recte exposuisse Youngium putarem, quam sententiam, nisi fallor, neque ipse vir doctissimus tueri Yult ; sed quoniam pernaulta in ilia intei-pretatione bene explicata ease censerem, atque de lis quse vir optime meritus in hoc studiorum genere prastiterit, aliquid detrahere nefas ducerem," — Ed, 16 COKEESPONDKNCE RELATIVE No. 11- No. II. CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION.* 1 . — Extract of a Letter frovi Dr. Yobng to the Baron Silvestre DE Sacy. Dated August 1814.. Translation. I TAKE the liberty. Sir, of troubling you with a question which I believe you are better qualified to answer than any other person at Paris. I am much interested in the study of the Egyptian inscription of Rosetta, and I am very anxious to know if Mr. Akerblad has continued his attempts to decipher it, since the publication of the letter which he addressed to you on the subject. I believe he is now at Rome, but he must pro- bably have sent you from time to time some account of the progress which he may have made, and you will much oblige me by informing me what he has been doing. If you are still interested in the subject, I shall have great pleasure in com- municating to you the results of some attempts of my own, which have enabled me to obtain a literal translation of the greater part of the words, but without concerning myself with the value of the characters of which they consist ; this mode of entering upon the investigation appearing to be by far the least liable to error. I doubt whether the alphabet which Mr. Akerblad has given us can be of much further utility than in enabling us to decipher the proper names ; and sometimes I have even suspected that the letters which he has identified resembled the syllabic sort of characters, by which the Chinese express the sounds of foreign languages, and that in their usual acceptation they had difierent significations : but of this con- jecture I cannot at present speak with any great confidence.*** * The following letters, as far as p. 56, are reprinted from the Museum Criticum No. VI., 1815, with the exception of No. 2, which was omitted hy Dr. Youno- in order that he might not compromise his distinguished correspondent; and No "s several passages of which were withheld for the same reason. In both these instances it has been thought best to insert the originals. — Ed. No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 17 2. — From M. Silvestre de Sacy to Dr. Yottng. Monsieur, Paris, 23 Septembre, 1814. Je me fais un plaisir de repondre a la lettre que vous m'avez fait rhonneur de m'ecrire en date du 20 du inois dernier, relativement a I'inscription de Rosette. M. Akerblad est de- puis plusieurs annees a Rome, et quoique j'aie toujours ete en Qorrespondance avec lui, et que je I'aie souvent engage a donner au public le produit de son travail, il n'a jamais voulu deferer a mes desirs. Lorsqu'il etait a Paris il n'a pas voulu non plus me donner communication de son travail, mais il m'a assure qu'il avait lu un grand nombre des mots de I'inscription qu'il avait reconnus pour etre des mots Coptes, et il m'en a cite quelques-uns. Je ne vous dissimule pas, Monsieur, que mal- gre I'espece d' approbation que j'ai donnee au systeme de M. Akerblad, dans la reponse que je lui ai adressee,* il m'est tou- jours reste des doutes tres forts sur la validite de I'alphabet qu'il s'est fait. D'un autre cote, je suis cependant forteraent persuade que ce n'est qua I'aide de la langue Copte qu'on pent parvenir a dechiflrer d'une maniere satisfaisante I'an- cienne ecriture alphabetique des Egyptiens, et que ce decbifire- ment, s'il a lieu, pent seul mener a la decouverte de la valeur des caracteres hieroglyphiques. Je dois vous ajouter que M. Akerblad n'est pas le seul qui se flatte d'avoir lu le texte Egyptien de I'inscription de Rosette. M. Champollion, qui vient de publier deux volumes sur I'ancienne geographic de I'Egypte, et qui s'est beaucoup occupe de la langue Copte, pre- tend avoir aussi lu cette inscription. Je mets assurement plus de confiance dans les lumieres et la critique de M. Akerblad que dans celles de M. Champollion, mais tant qu'ils n'auront publie quelque resultat de leur travail, il est juste de suspendre son jugement. Je recevrai. Monsieur, avec beaucoup d'interet et de recon- naissance ce que vous aurez la bonte de me communiquer de vos aper9us sur ce precieux monument, quoique je ne me flatte point que cette communication puisse vous procurer * The answer here referred to was published by Akerblad along with his Lettre sur V Inscription Egyptienne de Rosette — Ed. VOL. III. C 18 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE No. II. quelques lumieres. J'y trouverai, quant a moi, I'avantage d'entretenir une correspondance avec vous, Monsieur, ce qui ne pourra que m'etre tres-agreable. 3. — From Dr. Young to Mr. Silvestee de Sacy. Dated [3J October 1814. Translation. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you, Sir, a copy of my con- jectural translation of the Egyptian Inscription of Rosetta : the desire which you have expressed to know what progress I had made, as well as the respect which your own labours in diiferent parts of literature have so well deserved, would have been sufficient motives to induce me to trouble you with this commu- nication, even if I were not in hopes of profiting by your remarks in answer to my letter. I had read Mr. Akerblad's essay but hastily in the course of the last winter, and I was not disposed to place much confidence in the little that I recollected of it ;* so that I was able to enter anew upon the investigation, without being materially influenced by what he had published ; and though I do not profess to lay claim to perfect originality, or to deny the importance of Mr. Akerblad's labours, I think myself authorised to consider my own translation as completely independent of his ingenious researches : a circumstance which adds much to the probability of our conjectures, where they happen to agree. It is only since I received your obliging letter, that I have again read Mr. Akerblad's work; and I have found that it agrees almost in every instance with the results of my own investigation, respecting the sense attributed to the words which the author has examined. This conformity must be allowed to be more satisfactory than if I had followed, with perfect confi- dence, the path which Mr. Akerblad has traced : I must how- ever, confess that it relates only to a few of the first steps of the investigation ; and that the greatest and the most difficult part of the translation still remains unsupported by the authority of any external evidence of this kind. * Lettre sur V InsoHption Egyptienne de Rosette, adressee au Oitoyen Silvestre de Sacy Pans, an X=1802, v. st.-Schwarze says {Das Alte Jqmten Ih 1 Abth II p. 160-162) that neither Young nor ChaLpollion gave Se ^'credit to Akerblad for what he accomplished.— AU ^ umcieiit ciemt to No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 19 I shall confine myself, for the present, to the literal translation of the several groups of characters : the value of the individual letters still requiring much laborious investigation. I agree, then, with Mr. Akerblad, excepting only a few strokes, with respect to the sense of all the proper names of persons, three of which you. Sir, first pointed out ; with respect to that of the words Daughter, Priest, And, In, Athlophorus, Imposts, Jupiter, Egypt, Temples, Much, Philopator, Philadelphus, Others, King, Greek, Phtha or Vulcan, Beloved, Third, and Statue ; and I have no doubt that he has read some of the words which stand near these, in the same manner as I have done. On the other hand, I must dissent from him with regard to the words Lord, Orus, and God. The characters in the first line, which he translates Lord, are part of a word very easily recognized in the 25th, 26th, and 27th, where it signifies diadem : hence, it is evident that we must translate Kuplou ^aaiXsiuy, not Lord of kingdoms, but Lord of crowns ; and, in fact, we find, as I have very lately observed, in the inscription which Hermapion called a translation of the hieroglyphics of the Flaminian obelise, Kupiou SiaSn/xarcov, as one of the titles of the "kings of Egypt." The two letters, which Mr. Akerblad considers as representing the name of Orus, are found in only one of the places in which they ought to stand ; and the word God always consists of three letters, while in the last line two of the three only are found: nor does the title SeoS ^sctriXsas, here introduced by Mr. Aker- blad, occur before, among those which are so liberally appro- priated to the king ; and the two letters seem rather to belong to the word Image, as to ^oavov in the 24th line. Mr. Akerblad is confident that the Egyptian text is only the translation of the Greek : it appears to me, on the contrary, almost certain that the Egyptian is the original ; and for these reasons : — in the 31st line of the Egyptian inscription we find, "the shrine of the God illustrious and munificent," where the Greek has " the shrine aforesaid ;" in the same manner, in the 27th line, if I am not mistaken, there is a full description of that which is called in the Greek, Elpmi^evov ^aalx^iov, and in the 28th, the numbers of the days of the month are repeated, where the Greek has " these days " only ; now it appears improbable c2 20 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE No. H- that a translator should amplify in this manner the terms of his original, although it is very natural to abridge them by the omission of superfluous repetitions. With respect to the Greek words, a'ioi^opios, l;ri(pavr,f, tv- xipiaros, and ivspyerfis, which he imagines (p. 31) that he has discovered in the Egyptian inscription, the suspicion seems to prove that he had carried his researches respecting this inscrip- tion but very little beyond the extent of his publication ; for each of the words, which he has thus attempted to denationalise, is composed of parts which are found in other passages, where they are employed in senses nearly similar ; ivxapia-ros, in par- ticular, is expressed by a word which is nearly Coptic, " and the reading of which is confirmed by that of the old name of the city of Memphis," a coincidence which furnishes us with two forms of characters not comprehended in the alphabet of Mr. Akerblad. Indeed, the inscription contains at least a hundred different characters, which it is impossible to explain hy means of this alphabet, ingenious as it is, at least without long and laborious study. It would not have been believed, if such an example had not occurred, that an alphabetical character, of which at least sixteen letters are perfectly well known, should present so many difficulties in the interpretation of the rest, as well as of their connexions and contractions.* I have at present made but little progress in this part of the inquiry, although I have found at least a dozen words which may be recognised ; and I shall have the pleasure of pointing them out to you as soon as I hear that you are not fatigued with this long letter ; perhaps, indeed, I should not have granted you this respite, if I did not hope to make considerable additions to the list : hitherto I have avoided this part of the subject, wishing first to be assured of the sense of almost all the words by comparison with the Greek only, in order to avoid the danger of altering the sense from apparent, but sometimes deceitful, analogies with a more modern language. The friend, who was so good as to take charge of my former * The explanation of this was afterwards found partly in the existence of symbo- lical characters m the enchorial inscription, which no one had ever suspected before' Pr. Yoimg made that important discovery, and partly in the homophone signs, or diversity ot characters representing the same sound. Ed. No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 21 letter, had heard of Mr. ChampolHon's work on Egypt,* and has had the kindness to procure it, in order to bring it me, suppos- ing that the author had published in it his interpretation of the Inscription ; but lam sorry to learn, from your account,! that I shall be disappointed in the expectation of finding, in this work, the details which would have given me so much pleasure.* * * 4. — From Dr. Young to Mr. Silvestre de Sacv. Dated 21st October, 1814. Translation. I HAD proposed, Sir, to reserve for this letter all that I might have to observe with respect to the resemblance between the Egyptian Inscription of Rosetta and the more modern Coptic : but unfortunately, the difficulties, which I have encountered in the investigation, allow me to say but little respecting this re- semblance, and I doubt if I shall ever be able completely to subdue them. The comparison of the Greek text with the Egyptian required far more labour than I could possibly have imagined : at last, however, I succeeded in ascertaining the sense of the greater part of the words, with scarcely any re- maining doubt ; here, on the contrary, even with the advantage of a sufficiently accurate translation, there are only a very few cases, in which I have been able to find similar words in Coptic, at all capable of representing the sense of the Inscription ; and the number of the words, which can be thus identified, scarcely amounts to one tenth of the whole.| In the four or five hundred years which elapsed, between the date of the inscription, and that of the oldest Coptic books extant, the language appears to have changed much more, than those of Greece and Italy have changed in two thousand : an alteration which was so much the less to be expected, as the Egyptian names of the months, mentioned in the Greek inscription, have remained altogether unchanged. The remark of Varro, upon the Egyptian language, is even * For an acconnt of this work see M. Champollion's Letter to the President of the Royal Society, Infra, p. 62. — Ed. f Supra, p. 17. \ See Schwarze's conunentary on these remarks (Das Alte JEgypten, Th. I,, Abth. I. p. 171-173). Dr. Yoimg seems to have here exaggerated the difference between the Egyptian and the Coptic, wliile some Egyptian scholars have gone to the opposite extreme, and represented them as identical. Besides the infusion of Greek which chiefly took place after the conversion of the Copts to Cliristianity, the Coptic is dis^ tinguished from the Egyptian by various other peculiarities. For instance, it contains more compound words ; it has some particles which are wanting in the Egyptian ; and where the latter appended porBonal pronouns and articles, they are employed in tbn Coptic as prefixes. — Ed. 22 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE ^°- more correctly applicable to this inscription, than to the Coptic ; that is, that the nouns are the same in all the cases. Aetos Aetos, for example, is Aetos the son of Aetos ; Mptolomeos Mptolomeos, Ptolemy the son of Ptolemy : and indeed we sometimes find the same relation similarly expressed m the Coptic; thus ftIOV2^i-C CIJULOOn, NIUDAS SIMON, Jo. xiii. 26, Judas the son of Simon. Verbs are scarcely distinguished from participles, or from nouns, in the Coptic, and still less in this inscription. The Copts had their articles, which they used nearly as the French, or rather as the Italians ; in the inscription there is no definite article in the singular, and the prefix, which assists in the formation of the plural, may re- present either the definite or the indefinite article, but seems to resemble the latter rather than the former. The prefix m of the Copts, which cannot be translated, is frequently found in the inscription, with the same indifference as to the sense. In short, we may venture to assert, that this language is formed entirely on the model of the hieroglyphics, and that the rules of grammar, which are almost superfluous in Coptic, would here be totally inapplicable. A more perfect acquaintance with the Coptic language and its dialects may, perhaps, hereafter furnish me with some new lights respecting the alphabet of this inscription ; and indepen- dent inyestigations, conducted by different persons, may pos- sibly, when they come to be compared, afford each other mutual assistance. But all that I have at present in my power to advance, with any degree of confidence, is contained in the subjoined list of words* compared with the Coptic, together with the fragments of an alphabet, partly copied from Mr. Akerblad, and partly derived from my own researches. * According to some of Dr. Young's siiccessors in Egyptian reseai-ch, a number of words in tlie following list have been erroneously intei-preted, and in reference to these, as well as on other occasions, his method, which was not strictly philological, is severely condemned by Chevalier Bunsen (See Egypi;s Place, Book I., Section V. passim) ; but when we consider the important results which it produced, it may be questioned whether his system was not, as he was himself fully persuaded, the best he could have adopted at this stage of the investigation. At all events Akerblad's " strictly critical " mode of conducting his researches did not enable him to advance far. ChampoUion, too, whose method is so highly approved of by Chevalier Bunsen found it of little value during the ten or fifteen years of incessant application which preceded the publication of his memorable Lettre a M. Dacier, in 1822 d th e is little doubt that it would have remained equally barren of results if he^h A '""t in the mean time obtained in Dr. Young's discoveries a basis for his f„,.ti, • * i°° tions.-.Ed. ""isfuithermvestiga- No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 23 To this selection I add, COPTIC, Ak. EGYPTIAN. COPTIC. EGYPTIAN. i %J i., short. )- ^ ^ H /X V, K A< I, short < 2^, T ^.< It u e 1 n /^ s if! nr, er t' X y & ?,i/ JUL J X €,^ It ^ e i^ O ii I P / X r: c, eg <,<;i,4..t * K,K X. a£ U3 r The last character * is merely the mark of the ter- q» ei y mination of a proper name. The third character K is also ^ E employed for gT V V Of the following wor^s, you, Sir, observed the three first : Mr. Akerblad the next sixteen; the rest are from my own conjecture. 24 COKEESPONDENCE RELATIVE ^°- " GREEK INSCRIPTION. COPTIC. riToXE/xaioy nToXojtxeoc N. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 'Apaivinf 'Aks^dv^pov BaiTiXei/s' 'AsToS TluppX! . . . (popov 'AgEiW AioyEtoyf rToKXar SfVTa^ElJ . 'ExXiiviHorr AeitaTTi Ne'oo riaTfor MeyaXo . . . . . . aixitov . . as Kai In cuas^ous, svspyeriKus ©sour @iOU ^.pcmoK A.Xe^A.n2^poc XKAJ«.I> Aegyptus JU.ct>OTpO, Rex ^GTOC nnrpp^ cyepi, Filia c{)iXmoc qHOTI, Templa itA-cye, Mult us oiremm, Graecus JULeT, AJLItT Sa. Decern A)L^JXo^t, Puer XCOj Caput, xtoOTj Generatio It^OTfO, Plurimum eTope, Qui fecit KeJUL, JU.K Sa. Et eojuteitpe, Qui dilexit gji.Jtno'TTe, Deos noT Te- Dei No. II. TO THE ROSETTA mSCRIPTION. 25 READING. EaYPTIAN INSCRIPTION. L. N. nTXo*«jc* Ktiriifuf>^2u 2 1 nxXojfB.i^c* v^fjixtnst^^ 4 2 ^.pcmg,* K^^mcri/^M 2 3 i.XKCi.«2!.pc K^115f>^ 2 4 X-«-e& <^U1& 1 5 Ax4>top& 4//ftf> 1 6 ^.I£^'ra3c* yfi»l2:^tiix> 3 7 np£>* rl/k 3 8 api S! 3 9 cE)iXmc* r, 3 10 qi i»iy 3 11 KpniKg,* l€?A<'lM2vlf. 3 12 ^p^a. ^«>X23 3 13 2^I^VItI Ml 9 ^^^11^ 3 14 ipan&* rXO^y^ 4 15 2,eci)iHe, 2,P«l>iHe U/ry^U 4 16 neai lU^w 6 17 cnxKcjc ? i^fVUjt^^^^, 8 18 uumitn ^^lit( 32 19 ■M-&KP ^>^,j}ij 20 JUL, juuri .o 21 AX.X& t^ 22 exto r$f 23 n&o !/U 24 eeep Jji 25 ejff tt UJ\ 26 exAJU.npe ? 9thi 1, 6, 18 27 2,ni«u5£, zfcx 1 28 nojuj ff^ 2 29 26 COERESPONDENCE RELATIVE No. II. N. GREEK INSCRIPTION. 30. B/ov 31. AvS'gWTTft'V 32. Yivplov 33. . . . ir-n^iSuv 34. 'Exyovot/ 35. 'E5o)ciW(T£ 36. "Hx.or 37. ESa^xE 38. Nix»)v 39. Aim 40. In EWitpavouj- 41. In ivxiipiaroi 42. a>ix . . . 43. 'ASxo . . . 44. 'Hfjiipgc 45. 2ToXi(T|aov, oS'dviai 46. OI aXXo. 47. AvvdfJiEcnv 48. M£/!X{pEI 49. "An-avTar 50. Ka^'aTTE^ 51. 'AipiixE 52. AiTiaif 53. Fw 54. A|U,weXi'tjSoj- 55. ITagaSEiiTiuv 56. Aixaiov, voixi/xov • 57. Miyas 58. riEj^ixai' COPTIC. Kl ; epKl, Habitatio e-r, Eos, oT\, Homines? n2£to, Caput, rtxoeic, S. Do- neJtea, Saeculum r""i™^ jULici, Natus cj)!, Osculum ton, Sol -f-, TI, Dare 2COJUL, Robur &tO, Jupiter, Ak. ^ji^i^g tticyi^' Magnus, (^epi, Splen- epe, Facere, nd.«ec, Bonum jULei, Amare ^p ^>iio 2 40 epn-i-nc CvXcaS 2 41 jixei Ak. ju.ertpe? Vo 1,2 42 ^e Cp 3 43 A*.pe, xt.p2, «-o 4 44 cgnTcung, vrcr< 4,17 45 2,cne m> 4 46 T-2fep2, epxeJUL u/t( 5,7 47 nA.ncue •ftii.a 5,20 48 Tojpg,. Tep2,, Tp ^^v«fkj,K/lc. 6 49 enco iCi 6 50 U3J2Cei ? yfer 7 51 XU3XI ^^/y 8 52 &e> pl- aaee »»u,n 9 53 2,XXie A/'j^i 9 54 2j2,ee(roi ^IIU 9 55 JW-pc&eg, 1^^ 11 56 ffli' aiae ^bw^.cit: 11,26 57 c|>xe, ^T-p ^a. 12 58 28 N. GREEK INSOKIPTION. 59. 'iTlTTlKai 60. N^Ey 61. "Httsi^ov, x*'?*^ 62. Tdlppon, TiiiXov, TToraixuni 63. Tifxcis 64. Xgovwv 65. "Attsi 66. MvEt/El 67. 'AvUKOVTOIV, KOafJiOV 68. Ta{f)as- 69. MsTa, auvreXovvTES 70. Ta Wf Of 71. ®u(!wv, eopr-nv 72. TlawyvqEuv, ^valai 73. In rl/jiix 74. H.pvcriov 75. 'Apyuqlov 76. riXri&of, ^aTTtivai 77. Abrai 78. Twap^ovra 79. "Eara. 80. 'IspoS 81. NaiJv 82. 'E^oJeweiv 83. ©Ega'TTEUElV 84. 85. rr^oo-ayogEi/Efj&ai 86. 'E^Ei* vai CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE COPTIC. No. II. g^OO, Equus ^.i-pi, Navicula, B.ip, Sporta Ki.£,l, Terra lop) Fossa, i4S.pO) Fluvius to, eTto, Pignus ^pjh Vita, Aetas? ejutncy^., Dignus ^H) Monumenta eTOpG) Facientes et, Ad cy (JUT-jSacrificium, ^^.^.itcy UJT (T'XlX? Holocaustum gji-rtceJULIte, Constituta rtoTK, neon, Aurum g,ei, Templum 2Cette4>a)p, Tectum ert, Ducere 4)Oajert, 4)A.ajrti Ministrare e, ei, Ad pert, Nominare XiSk, Commendari No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 29 READING. ESYPTIAS INSCRIPTION. L. N. eTi.x ^jjjir 12 59 K^.&I Aii^p^^^J 12,13 61 lop /out 14 62 jY 17 63 YXXi 17 64 ^-. 18 66 ,9 4 et nn 8/^' u 7 Axitq, juumegj ? o ^O- jULoi, rtoi? Tp -^ K&4>p? ■^X'-\< eit u, cf)cg <3jt e, ei, eg, / pn J^ ^*^ 18,24 67 18 68 19,30 69 6 70 19,31 71 19,29 72 19 73 19 74 19 75 19 76 21 77 21 78 23 79 23 80 24 81 25 82 23 83 29 84 30 85 30 86 30 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE ^O. b.-Extract of a Letter from Mr. Akerblad to Dr. Young. Dated Rome, 15 December, 1814. Translation. I TAKE the first opportunity of sending you a Dissertation, [on the Lamina Dodwelliana, j mentioned in the letter which I have been writing to you. I am not much attached to the conjectures expressed in it, respecting the Egyptian origin of the letters added in later times to the Greek alphabet ; and you may treat them as severely as you please, if, as I am inclined to suppose, they should not meet your approbation. You will observe that, in the 48th page, I have cited an Egyptian word [N. 60], which may be written K^-pHT in Coptic ; it is without doubt the same to which you attribute the sense of BAPI2 in Greek. * * 6. — Extract of a second Letter from Mr. Akerblad to Dr. Young. Dated Rome, 31 January, [1815.J Translation. I RECEIVED, about two months ago, the letter which you did me the honour to write on the 21st of August. You must excuse my delay in answering it, for it has required some time to resume my application to pursuits, of which I had long lost sight. At last I am ready to perform the task which you have imposed on me, and to give you an account of what I have long ago observed, respecting the Egyptian part of the Inscription of Rosetta : and I am assured, by the obliging manner in which you address me, that you will receive with indulgence all my opinions and all my doubts. During the ten years which have elapsed since my departure from Paris, I have devoted but a few moments, and those at long intervals, to the monument of Rosetta : a monument, which, at its first discovery, appeared to attract the attention of No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 31 all the learned throughout Europe, and which has since been neglected in an inconceivable degree. My letter on the Egyp- tian part of this monument, though written in haste, and before the publication of the Greek inscription which accompanies it, was indeed tolerably well received ; but as I had not the good fortune to satisfy the mind of the learned orientalist, to whom the letter was addressed, who formally declared, that " [per- haps] some remaining attachment to the ideas which he had himself advanced, embarrassed his opinion, and prevented his full conviction" of the truth of my interpretation, I felt no further inclination to continue an investigation, in which nobody would have been interested, after such a declaration from one of the most learned men in France. I was besides at that time intrusted with a diplomatic commission, at first in Holland, and then in France, which made me abandon almost entirely all further inquiry respecting the Inscription of Rosetta. In Italy, where I have been for several years, I have indeed the advantage of all possible leisure, but I have not been much tempted to employ it on this inscription, since I have been en- gaged in much more agreeable and less unproductive studies. For, in fact, I have always felt that the results of my researches on this monument, are deficient in that sort of evidence which carries with it full conviction ; and you, Sir, as well as Mr. de Sacy, appear to be of my opinion in this respect. Besides hav- ing been informed, that many literary persons in France, Eng- land, and Germany had undertaken the illiistration of the decree of the priests of Egypt, I wished to wait for the pubh- cation of their labours, in order to be the better able to judge of my own. But the questions, which you have been pleased to address to me, have at last induced me to renew my atten- tion to these matters, which for a long time I had almost for- gotten. I must however give you notice beforehand, that in most cases you will only receive a statement of my doubts and uncertainties, together with a few more plausible conjectures ; and I shall be fully satisfied if these last shall appear to deserve your attention and approbation. 32 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE ^°- The person who informed you, that I have been a^'p¥"g *« the study of the Indian languages, with a view of faahtatmg that of the Inscription of Rosetta, was most completely mistaken It is only, in my opinion, as I have already stated in my letter to Mr de Sacy! from the Coptic language, that we can expect any assistance in explaining it. The more Coptic works we discover, the more chance we shall have of finding words and expressions, hitherto unknown, which constitute one oi the ditfa- culties of deciphering the Egyptian decree. It is not impos- sible, that at some future time we may obtain some Coptic book's on history or science : in this case, I imagine, many of the obstacles, which are now insurmountable, will in great mea- sure disappear. The difficulties, which depend on the subject of the inscrip- tion, are not the only ones that embarrass those who attempt to explain it. The Egyptian language must have varied con- siderably in the time which elapsed between the pubUcation of the decree and the date of the earliest Coptic works which we possess. We might perhaps be able to appreciate this varia- tion, if the Egyptian decree were written in Greek characters like the Coptic books ; but here there are other difficulties : the Egyptians, when they adopted the Greek alphabet for writing their language, were frequently embarrassed in ex- pressing sounds which were not easily reduced to the Greek characters. In order the better to adapt their new alphabet to the idiom of the country, they did indeed add to it some of their old letters, but still their orthography remained vague and undetermined, as their books demonstrate : and a similar diffi- culty is doubly felt when we seek for the Coptic words, among these groups of letters, of which we scarcely know the alphabet. I was not a little puzzled the first time that I attempted to read a Turkish book written in Greek letters, though both the languages were tolerably familiar to me. How much greater must the difficulty be, when we undertake to decipher an unknown mode of writing a language with which -^e are but very imperfectly acquainted ! If again the inscription were engraved in a clear and distinct character, like the Greek and No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 33 Latin inscriptions of a certain antiquity, it would be easy, by the assistance of the proper names of several Greek words which occur in it, some of which I have discovered since the publication of my letter to Mr. de Sacy, and of many Egyptian words, the sense of which is determined ; it would be easy, 1 say, to form a perfectly correct alphabet of these letters ; but here another difficulty occurs: the alphabetical characters, which without doubt are of very high antiquity in Egypt, must have been in common use for many centuries before the date of the decree ; in the course of this time, these letters, as has happened in all other countries, have acquired a very irregular and fanciful form, so as to constitute a kind of running hand. This would render it difficult to read the writing of a language perfectly well known, and must of course continually arrest our progress in this, of which we scarcely know the rudiments. I have been informed that in Upper Egypt, near Syene, there are some long inscriptions in alphabetical characters : it is as- tonishing, that none of the learned men, who have visited these countries, should hitherto have thought proper to copy these inscriptions ; but it may be hoped, that some future traveller will hereafter make us acquainted with them. The Egyptians appear indeed to have had at all times a singular faculty of corrupting their writing, whatever characters they employed : at least, I know of no Greek writing more illegible, than that of the Egyptian papyrus of the Borgian Museum, published by Mr. Schow. Add to all these difficulties those which arise from the different letters being frequently united in a capricious manner, and from the vowels being blended with the consonants, and altering their primitive form, in short from a variety of strokes and points, of which we are unacquainted with the value ; and I am sure you will anticipate my apologies, if I frequently fail of satisfying you in what I have to remark re- specting this inscription. You know. Sir, from my printed letter, that I made my first attempt on a very bad impression, taken immediately from the stone of Rosetta. Some time afterwards, the Society of Anti- quaries of London was so obliging, as to send me, in Holland, VOL. III. D 34 CORRESrONDENCE RELATtVE No. TI. a copy or fac simile on Chinese paper. It was folded in the form of a letter, and is now worn into pieces, from having been very often folded and unfolded ; but it will still serve my purpose in answering your questions. I propose, in this letter, to go through the first lines of the Inscription with you, pointing out the words, which I believe that I recognise in the Coptic ; and if this specimen obtains your approbation, you shall have the continuation in a future letter : in the mean time you will be pleased. Sir, to summon up all your patience ; and I shall endeavour on my part to be as brief as possible. In the first place, I ought perhaps to offer you a more perfect Egyptian alphabet, than that which accompanies my letter to Mr. de Sacy : but since I cannot render it so complete as I could wish, I prefer pointing out to you the alterations which I have made, when I have occasion to speak of the words in which they occur. The different combinations of Egyptian letters are so diversified, and at the same time so difficult to determine with precision, that we should be in continual danger of error, if we attempted to make an enu- meration of them ; perhaps, however, I shall endeavour, at a future time, to perform this difficult undertaking ; and in that case, I shall lose no time in communicating to you the result of my labours. The Egyptian inscription, though tolerably conformable to the Greek text which accompanies it, still preserves the turn which the genius of the language requires ; hence have arisen transpositions of words and phrases, and sometimes of complete passages. I have given some examples of this in my printed letter, with regard to the names of the priestesses and their titles. In the same manner, I believe, that the beginning of our inscription difltered from that of the Greek, in which the date appears in the 6th line, while in the Egyptian the date seems to have been placed at the beginning, as would be the case in all oriental writings of this nature. Hence it happens, that the name of the Macedonian month Xanthicus is not found in the Egyptian inscription, the stone having been mutilated in No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 35 the part where it must have occurred. I suppose then, that the inscription began thus : The fourth day of the Grecian month Xanthicus : [and in short, that the whole of the introductory part may be nearly thus translated.] d2 36 CORRESPO^^DEXCE RELATIVE No. IL- L. 1. [On the fourth day of the Grecian month Xanthicus,] and the eighteenth of the Egyptian month Mechir, of the young king, who received the kingdom from his father, lord of the dia- dems, great in glory, who has established Egypt, triumphant over all the impious who fight against him, greatly loving the gods, who has corrected the life of men, lord of the festival of thirty years, like Vulcan the mighty, king like the sun, L. 2. [the mighty king of the upper] and lower countries, the son of the parent loving gods, approved by Vulcan, to whom the Sun has given the victory, the living image of Jove, the son of the Sun, Ptolemy the eternal, beloved by Vulcan, the god illustrious, munificent, (the son of) Ptolemy and Arsi- noe the parent loving gods : the priest of Alexander, and the saviour gods, and the L. 3. [brother gods, and the gods] beneficent, and the parent loving gods, and the king Ptolemy, the god illustrious, munifi- cent, being Actus (the son of) Aetus : Pyrrha the daughter of Philinus bearing the emblems of victory of Berenice the benefi- cent ; Areia, the daughter of Diogenes, being the bearer L. 4. [of baskets of Arsi]noe the brother loving ; Irene, the daughter of Ptolemy, being priestess of Arsinoe the parent loving ; in the ninth year ; a decree. The high priests and the prophets, and the priests of the recesses for attiring, the gods, the wing-bearers, the scribes, and the other priests from the temples of Egypt, L. 5. [meeting the king at] the solemn feast of the assump- tion of the power of king Ptolemy the eternal, beloved by Vul- can, the god illustrious, munificent, from his father; being united in the temple of Memphis, said at that hour. [The reading proposed for these lines will stand nearly thus in the Coptic character.] Ko. II. TO THE EOSETTA INSCRIPTION. 37 L- 1 . ■ ■ XKCT ijt.iTi-E.oT- n,_x;w-**-i JULextyjuLOTn jULexip- ii-4'OTfpo JUL^^eXcyspi- iXexcyoji jiX4)OTpo eni.oT nigjUJT- c{>i.n;.i)epjuLHxe- ito(?qnu3o-)r- iXeT" A.qna3cgq hxhjuli- ^.TU3 itiJia. .eqnojUL-f ncyi.qT ex'f itejuLi.q JULTe itrtoT'f jumxenpe encxT^ exe epcejuine a.i rtrtpejut. iXitoT ftnpojuLne X ^.i-cyq iXjULeme qTA. eTno(5^jui.cJ)0'rpo juuuLeme JEsno L. 2. . . rtenjuLi-s ijuuLepioT- JULojHpe ftitoTxe jULM.i.iiuj'f-. nqT-e^q qTA.- neT-f iti.q junoT JULZpO- JULO'SfOeiT- i-I fttJU- JULOJHpe JULpH- JULnTO- XoJULi-ioc neTene^j- qT^-JULi.!- JULitcrT-e onrtjung, npeqpg^JULOx- JULnxoXojULi.ioc i-Ttw i.pcmoe ititonft jDuuL^-Jsaj-f . othK JUi.i.Xe^i.n;2ipoc- i-Tco rtltOTTe JULCUJT-Hp- i.-»U3 L. 3. [rtrtoTT-e juuutA.icoit- i.nfU3 nnoTTe rte] •» epveToc- ^.TfO) ftrtoTTe juuDLi-noo-f • i.-yoo julcJ>ot- po JULnToXoJui.A.ioc- JtR.no'VT-eoTcxjng^ rtpeqpg^jULO'r i.exoc JULi-eToc nrpi. Tcyepe nniXinc qi.i^epe- fi-ftTcnpi-cye juLE.epertiKH ite-yepveT-oc- i.peiei JULonre- otxe julka-t 38 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE No. II. Remarks on the proposed Reading. L. 1. In the present state of the stone, the Inscription begins with a word composed of three letters or strokes ; the second group incontestably signifies Month ; the three following Egypt, Eighteen, and Mechir. Of the name of Egypt I hope you have no doubt ; as to the number, if its value were not ascer- tained by the Greek, I should have read it Eight, both here and in the 28th line, where the word is better written. The name of the month is indicated by a character or abbreviation, of which we shall find more examples towards the end of the inscription ; this is a custom which still exists in the Eastern languages. You ask. Sir, if I have remarked, ' ' that the date, which is wanting in the Greek, is the same with that of the assembly which passed the decree ;" but I should rather suspect that the date of the 2Sth line is an abbreviation for the 8th of Pashons. The number 8 is elsewhere denoted by a t or 13, 5 by an e, a vertical stroke, and 10 may possibly be here ex- pressed by the character [^j] which seems sometimes to answer to the Hebrew ■>. en-i-OTf nig^OUT") For e^&.^ot ftlCJUT- The manu- scripts, published by Zoega, are sufl5cient to show how much the Egyptians confounded the aspirates. 4>^n^epjL«.H2f e) or qA.m2,pHcge, or q^.m^JULCHxe. I retract here what I said of the word Lord, in this group : but I find nothing in Coptic that agrees very well with the word crown, which occurs often in the latter part of the inscrip- tion : gjpHUji, in a manuscript, signifies a royal ornament : and T^pjtJ.HX, or opjUtHX, may have some relation to the &E§fAciui9is- of ^Elian. rto^rtU30T) no cT'ftoo-y, Thebaic. The o-y seems to want an oblique stroke to make a character [like n. 7ii], which represents this sound in the word Image and elsewhere. ^.qnoJOjq) K(ju5q has a similar sense, and nU3(5e is ren- dered /3acr,s. We are much in want of Mr. Quatremere's promised dictionary. i.'ifa)) N. 26. The following passage does not appear to be quite literally translated from the Greek. No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 39 ftrtOT'f') or rather rtltOTfTeT, "• 28 ; the singular, n. 29, seemi to be itOTTe- epceJULfie) Doubtful, and written differently elsewhere. ^l) For ^2,1. The ^ou of Horapollo was probably n<5,J- ftrtpeJUL) peeJUt- This form of p orpe, (n. 31. "enf") must be added to the alphabet. JULttO-r) Or itK, or KH^- rtrtpoJULIie) In lines 4, 9, 15, 17, and 29, the form of this word is considerably different : and you may judge, from the diversity, of the absolute impossibility of explaining satis- factorily all these incomprehensible enigmas. ei-cyq) From -eA-cy, to arrange. qT^) In a sermon of Sinathi, we have HcJ'^IC'TOC GTe TlT^P, ne, Vulcan, who is Ptah. You see this orthography destroys the etymology of Jablonsky and others. juCKo^ This name of the sun is obscure : it seems to stand for Hermes in line 27, while in line 11 we clearly read Thoth for Hermes. L- 2. juumepicr) Perhaps connected with the name of the lake Mareotis. JULCynpe) Or rather JULcye, as in ujerccoitJULneiuJT" or cyertOTi., cousin. ftqTe^q) TeE., sealed ; or Te^C, marked out. JULXpo) Sahidic for (^o ; perhaps here xpo^- ASLonroeiT) Or nro-rxoTi, or oTOTei ; oToeiT in Thebaic seems to signify statue or image. rtto) Perhaps lOTj !««. Manetho mentions a king Xorn-, who may have been called p^O"* by the Egyptians. ijLcyHpe) Or jutcye- JULpH) Rather than j}j(.no as above. The titles, which follow the name of Ptolemy, are not, as I had advanced in my letter to Mr. de Sacy, derived from the Greek ; on the con- trary they are perfectly Egyptian. fteTeiteg^) Or iteTi:f>enegj, or iteT"cJ)^^^p ; for 2^0311 : g^TCOp, in a Thebaic dictionary, seems to signify necessary, g^cuTp and ^o"tp to unite, in the Borgian Thebaic fragments. The word is found again in lines 27 and 32. ItP on) For nP,om") as I think I have also found it in Coptic : it means high priest, as in Genesis xli. 45, 50. It^/jre) a- magician, is near enough to prophet. rtOTHKe) It is probable that the Egyptians must have had a single word for expressing those who entered the sanctuary to clothe the gods ; and the appearance of this circumlocution in the Egyptian text is a new proof of the originality of the Greek. The Greeks called these priests Uqoa-roXoi : XK^OtaSt. expresses aSyrov very well : thus jm.^ncj^^'f is a kitchen, 42 COEEESPONDENCE EELATIVE ^°- ' JUL^.^Xa5XS a quan-y ; and rt is sometimes absent, as m JUL\OJULi.ice, ^.XKc^.m-pce I will not undertake to determine. XI rt) Or I exert- neqiaJT") Perhaps simply ftioox- OTOnr^LIonr) United, from o'S'i.I ; the initial OTf for ^.T is often found in the Baschmuric dialect. The radical letters are the same as in the word image, and there is the same doubt respecting them : to collect, in Coptic, is etOOT'f") OOTU3T", eonf HT ; in Thebaic caiot^j coolf£j- e^oTn) Or e^oTrt- ep4)ei) The first stroke is ep, the third must be ei or e : the word occurs again in lines 16 and 26. XHOte) Or JULOG) Memphis. If the last letter were a q, you would have exactly the " C)D " of the Bible ; but I dare not attribute that value to the final letter. In Coptic we find JULeqi! JULeJtftqe. and jutrt^e = the Arabians write it Menf, which some travellers call Manouf. We may understand by JUteJULqe, heavenly place, and by JUL^■^.OTqI, place of pleasure : jULO'ye or xtOTI might mean an island, which would not be altogether out of the question. Many Coptic names of towns begin by -f jLg.O-)fI, as -f JutOTI ncyA.'f, which was probably the Prosopitis : and this may have retained the name of Isle only, by way of pre-eminence. Otxe) Or HO')fe, oTCJong,, andjuLepiOTj I apprehend, is supported by no authority what- ever: the character occurs in the word temple, but in the singular as well as in the plural [n. 80], and there can be no oif in the singular. The same character is certainly found at the end of the name of the month juLecujpH : and I have 48 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE ^°- ^ ' therefore set it down as in all probability answering simply to the letter h- , ,, , , , • „ 12 You appear to me to have deprived the word Memphis of its initial letter, which you will find attached to it m the 16th line, where it is not preceded by the word " temple," to which you' have considered the cj) or u as belonging. I do not insist on the reading ni-ltOTq, which, as I find from Mr. ChampoUion's " Egypte sous les Pharaons," was a name not of the old Memphis, but of two other cities called Memphis by the Arabians ; at the same time it is barely possible that this denomination may also formerly have belonged to Memphis. I flatter myself. Sir, that you will not consider the freedom of these remarks as a discouragement to your intention of pursuing the investigation at a future period, since, however we may occasionally differ in opinion, our agreement in the greater number of instances cannot but be considered as affording a confirmation of the truth of the interpretation. I hope you will soon receive the copy of the inscription which you have re- quested me to procure ; it only waits for a proper conveyance ; and I trust that your elaborate researches will soon be again employed on so interesting a subject. Should my remarks aflbrd you any assistance in the pursuit, I shall think my labour not lost ; though, I fear, but few of my countrymen will have the patience to bestow much of their attention on them. Hitherto, indeed, the literature of Egypt has presented no very strong attractions to the general scholar : but this Inscription, by affording a new pursuit, attended with difficulties almost unsurmountable, yet promising in the end to furnish us with a key to all the treasures of hieroglyphic learning, has opened a wide field for the most arduous exertions of human invention and sagacity, and must naturally excite, in a high degree, the curiosity of the literary world. Among the extracts and remarks which I have been preparing for publication, you will observe a reimpression of my conjectural translation, compared with a translation of the Greek inscrip- tion, said to have been copied and corrected by the late Pro- fessor Porson. I have chosen to reprint this translation rather than to make a new one, partly on account of the high and No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 49 well deserved reputation of the eminent scholar who has sanc- tioned it with his authority, and partly to avoid all danger of being influenced, in construing the Greek, by the result of my analysis of the Egyptian inscription : but I am not a little surprised, as you will probably be, at the number of inaccura- cies which appear in it, either left uncorrected, or even intro- duced by the corrector. I should have been unwilling to believe it possible, without the most positive evidence, where Professor Porson and Professor Heyne differed respecting the sense of a Greek passage, that Porson could have been wrong and Heyne right: yet you will observe that this has here happened in more than one instance, particularly in the trans- lation of the word diXo(p6pou, and in the reference of the date to the priesthood of Aetus, as well as in several other less important passages, in which I believe we should both have agreed with Heyne from considering the Greek alone, while the comparison with the Egyptian leaves no further shadow of doubt* * * * 8. — From M. Silvestre de Sacy to Dr. Young.* Monsieur, Paris, 20 JuiUet, I815. Outre la traduction Latine de Tinscription Egyptienne que vous rnavez communiqu4e,fai regu postSrieurement tme autre traduction Anglaise imprim^e, que je n'ai pas en ce moment sous les yeux, Vayant preti a M. Champollion sur la demande que sonfrhre rneii afaite d^apres une lettre quCil m'a dit avoir requ de vous. Je conqois assez facilement. Monsieur, qu'en comparant le nombre des lignes de Tinscription Egyptienne avec celui des * This letter, a portion of which only was translated and published by Dr. Young in the Museum Critiawrrij is here given entire in the original, as it is an important document in the history of hieroglyphical discovery, and as there is now no motive for suppression. The passages omitted in Dr. Young's translation are printed in Italics. Besides the prediction, so remarkably verified some years aftci-wards, that M. Champollion would lay claim to Dr. Young's discoveries, this letter furnishes, together with their own correspondence (infra, pp. 62-66), ample evidence that the former was, even at this early period, acquainted with Dr. Young's investigations in Egyptian literature, although he states in his Precis (published in 1824) p. 18, (2nd ed.) that he had amved at results similar to those obtained by Dr. Young, without having any knowledge of his opinions. — Ed. VOL. III. E 50 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE No. II. lignes de I'inscription Grecque, vous ayez d'abord etabli au compas, pour ainsi dire, des points de rapport approximatifs enti-e les deux inscriptions ; qu'ensuite, ayant egard au retour assez frequent de certaines formulas, vous ayez saisi d'autres rapports plus nombreux, moins equivoques, ou presque cer- tains ; que vous ayez meme determine la valeur de diverses series de caracteres, et reconnu leur correspondance avec tel mot ou telle se'rie de mots de Tinscription Grecque ; que dela, a I'aide des noms propres, vous ayez fixe la valeur d'un nombre plus ou moins grand de lettres ; qu'enfin, ces lettres connues vous aient procure le moyen de retrouver d'autres mots appar- tenant a la langue Copte, comme ovpo roi, cyHpI fils, ep4>ei temple, £^om" pretre, &c. Mais ce que je ne puis concevoir, c'est qu'arrive a ce point vous ayez pu, par simple voie de con- jecture, sans lire le texte Egyptien, et sans I'expliquer a I'aide de la langue Copte, reconnaitre dans I'inscription Egyptienne des choses que ne presente pas I'inscription Grecque ; comment aussi vous ayez pu reconnaitre certaines inversions ? Par exemple, je me demande sur quoi vous vous fondez pour commencer I'in- scription Egyptienne par les mots Anno nono, Xanthici die quarto ? Ce ne pent etre, ce me semble, que vous croyez avoir trouve, dans la meme ligne, les mots mensis ^gyptiorum Mechir die octavo. Si vous avez lu effectivement les mots JULG/XIP' i.E.OT, rtTe nipej«.rtX;HJU(.I, je vols le motif de votre determination, mais alors vous etiez en possession de I'alphabet, vous n'aviez plus qu'a lire et a traduire. Si au contraire vous avez suppose a priori que ces mots-la se trouvaient dans la premiere ligne, quoique I'inscription Grecque n'autorisat pas cette supposition, voila ce qui me parait tout-a-fait etrange. Je crois voir cependant, par ce que vous m'avez fait I'honneur de me mander, qu'au moment oil vous m'ecriviez vous aviez fait pen de progi-es dans le dechiffrement de I'e'criture Egyptienne. Au surplus, Monsieur, je dois convenir que votre traduction, toute conjecturale qu'elle est, porte avec elle beaucoup de caractere? de vraisemblance. Outre ceux que vous faites valoir vous-meme dans votre lettre, il en est beaucoup d'autres qui m'ont beaucoup frappe'; tels sont les re'pe'titions des choses elles-memes, au lieu d'une simple designation par des expressions No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 51 abregees, comme to Teqoe.ip-nixevov ^aa-lXBiov, ravTas raf ■hi/.spas ; les repetitions destinees a exprimer I'idee des mots singuli ou unusquisque, comme in templo templo omni ; les expressions d'une siraplicite originale, antecessorum parentium, antecessorum antecessorum parentium, antecessorum avorum parentium. Vous avez bien raison, Monsieiu", si tout cela est ainsi, de regarder le Grec, non comme le texte ori^nal, mais, bien au contraire, comme la traduction de I'Egyptien. Je pense, Monsieur, que vous etes plus avance aujounThui, et que vous lisez une grande partie, du mains, du texte Egyp- tien. Si j'ai un conseil a vous donner, cest de ne pas trop communiquer vos decouvertes a M. Champollion. II se pour- rait faire quil prStendat ensuite a la priority. II cherche en plusieurs endroits de son ouvrage a faire croire quil a dScouvert beaucoup des mots de finscription Egyptienne de Rosette. J'ai bien peur que ce ne soit la que du charlatanisme ; fajoute meme que fai de fortes raisons de le penser. Vous n'igno- rez sans doute pas que quelqu'un en Hollande a annonce aussi avoir decouvert I'alphabet de cette inscription, et qu'a Paris M. Etienne Quatremere se flatte pareillement d'en lire une grande partie. Soit que je considere ces decouvertes reelles ou pretendues en theorie, rien ne me parait moins in- vraisemblable ; car je tiens pour certain que le Copte est a pen de chose pres I'ancien Egyptien, et la traduction Grecque semble devoir offrir un moyen siir de dechifirement : mais aussitot que je reporte les yeux sur le monument je pense differemment, et je desespere qu'on vienne a bout d'e le lire. Les noms de Ptolemee et d'Arsinoe paraissent bien assurement connus, et cependant I'analyse des caracteres dont ces noms se composent est encore fort incertain. Au surplus, je ne saurais me persuader que si M. Alierblad, Et. Quatrembre ou Cham- pollion avaient fait des progres rdels dans la lecture du texte Egyptien, ils ne se fussent pas plus empresses de faire part au public de leur ddcouverte- Ce serait une modestie bien rare, et dont aucun d'eux ne me parait capable.* Je vois que vous * This passage was given as follows in the translation : " Nor can I imagine any of the persons who have professed themselves able to read it, to be possessed of so singular a degree of modesty as to have hitherto withheld their discoveries from the public, if they had been tolerably well established."— i/rf. e2 52 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE No. II. comptez peu sur I'alpliabet de M. Akerblad, et je n'en suis pas etonne ; mais il parait que vous vous en etes fait un autre qui vous a procure la lecture d'un assez grand nombre de mots, puisque vous dites que la langue ressemble beaucoup a la langue Copte ou Thebaique. Je ne vous demande point, Monsieur, votre secret, quoique j'eusse du plaisir a avoir un avant-gout de votre decouverte ; mais je desire que vous ne tardiez point a en instruire les hommes qui au milieu des con- vulsions politiques de I'Europe mettent encore quelque interet a ces conquetes faites sur le temps et I'ignorance, et qui ne coutent ni larmes ni sang a I'humanite. Je ne sais si vous avez essaye d'appliquer votre methode de dechiffrement a I'in- scription hieroglyphique ; elle me semble devoir s'y appliquer aussi bien, et peut-etre mieux, qu'a I'inscription alphabetique ; sauf cependant la difficulte qui nait de la cassure de la pierre. Je dis cela parce que je suppose que I'inscription hieroglyphique a des rapports plus exacts avee I'inscription Egyptienne alphabetique, que celle-ci n'en a avee I'inscription Grecque. Si vous avez espere, Monsieur, que je vous offirirais quelques nouvelles lumieres sur cet objet de vos etudes, vous voila bien trompe dans votre cspoir. Je ne puis vous offrir que des vceux bien sinceres pour le succes d'une entreprise aussi difficile; succes qui attacherait votre nora a celui des monumens de I'ancienne Egypte. M. Champollion vient de me renvoyer la lettre de M. R. Boughtoil. J'y vois que vous paraissez avoir fait de grands progres dans le dechiffrement des hieroglyphes. %.—From Dr. Young to Mr. Silvestre de Sacy. Dated 3 August, 1815. Translation. The letter [IV] which I have now the pleasure of sending you was written more than nine months ago, and I have hitherto kept it by me, partly waiting till I heard from you, and partly, as I told Mr. Kopitar, to whom I showed it in the winter' because I had not time to take a copy of it, having been very fully engaged in pursuits of a very different nature. At present No. 11. TO THE EOSETTA INSCRIPTION. 53 I have been arranging a little paper on the inscription, and your last letter arrived just as I was beginning to renew my attention to the subject. I hope soon to have the pleasure of sending you this paper ; but in the mean time I must briefly reply to some of your remarks and inquiries. You are at a loss to imagine how it was possible for me to recognise the words jULe^Ip and i.fi.OT at the beginning of the inscription, without being in possession of an Egyptian alphabet. I answer, that the word " Month" is found several times very distinctly marked, in the 28th and 29th lines, and that having observed the same characters in the first line, with the epithet Egyptian, before the characters which answer to the word " Reigning," at the beginning of the Greek inscription, while the date is wanting in the part of the Egyptian inscrip- tion corresponding to the passage of the Greek which contains it, I thought myself fully authorised to conclude, that the Egyptian inscription began with the date ; and this opinion was afterwards confirmed by the discovery of a similar group in the latter part of the inscription, where the date is re- peated. * * * I am not surprised that, when you consider the general appearance of the inscription, you are inclined to despair of the possibility of discovering an alphabet capable of enabling us to decipher it ; and if you wish to know my " secret," it is simply this, that no such alphabet ever existed ; notwithstanding the coincidence of some of the characters with the rudiments of about fifty Coptic words, which I think I have ascertained with tolerable certainty, including the proper names, and the other words which Mr. Akerblad has pointed out in his publication on the subject. Two days after the date of my last letter, I was fortunate enough to satisfy myself respecting the sense of some of the hieroglyphic characters, and by degrees I ascer- tained enough of them to obtain a translation of the latter part of the inscription, which I have printed in Roman characters ; the beginning, as you may easily imagine, is too much muti- lated to allow of any satisfactory comparison : but I am in great hopes that I shall shortly be able to obtain either the remaining fragments, or one of the repetitions of the stone, which will 54 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE ^0. 11- probably enable me to determine the value of two or three hundred hieroglyphic characters ; that is, at least one thn-d as many as appear to have been commonly employed : and after this there will be little difficulty in deciphering a multitude of other hieroglyphic inscriptions, in the same manner as I have already succeeded in reading the inscription on the base of the little golden statue engraved in the Archaeologia, which implies " KING * * * LIVING FOR EVER ;" the name of course cannot be at once discovered, but the image gives us the portrait of the king in question. The difficulty of the analysis, you will easily believe, was not trifling ; and I should not have been able to overcome it, but for the advantage of the intimate connexion between the hieroglyphic and Egyptian inscription, which, as you observe, might naturally be expected ; but which, in this instance, was merely accidental, the name of Ptolemy being found three times in a passage of the Egyptian inscription, essential to the comparison, where it happened that the Greek translation had inserted it twice only. But to return to the alphabet ; after having completed this analysis of the hieroglyphic inscription, I observed that the epistolographic characters of the Egyptian inscription, which expressed the words God, Immortal, Vulcan, Priests, Dia- dem, Thirty, and some others, had a striking resemblance to the corresponding hieroglyphics ; and since none of these cha- racters could be reconciled, without inconceivable violence, to the forms of any imaginable alphabet, I could scarcely doubt, that they were imitations of the hieroglyphics,* adopted as monograms or verbal characters, and mixed with the letters of the alphabet ; and the terminal mark, which I have expressed by an asterisc in my last letter, appeared evidently to be of the same kind, being a portion of the ring which surrounds the hie- roglyphic representations of most of the proper names. All this is extremely unexpected, and in some respects very discou- * The discovery that the Enchorial characters were partly symbolic and not entirely alphabetical, as had been universally thought, was an important step in the investira- tion. Chevalier Bunsen, who never loses an opportunity of advancing M. Champollioii's claims, says that the hitter almost made this discovery. {Egypt's Place n V>A-\ If seems, however, that he was destined to be anticipated by Dr; Voung in this as i " -I everything else relating to the basis of his system, although he commenced his f" "^f ' ^ studies much earlier. — Ed. ' ■Egyptian No. II. TO THE KOSETTA INSCZUITION. 55 raging, but not the less true, notwithstanding the accounts which the Greek authors have left us of the Egyptian modes of writing : and you see that instead of being led to a knowledge of the hieroglyphic inscriptions by the assistance of the Coptic language, and of alphabetical characters, the only remaining hope appears to be, that we may be able to interpret the old Egyptian manuscripts in general by means of the hieroglyphics. It is admitted that a great number of these manuscripts are purely hieroglyph! cal ; and it is remarkable that not a single group "has been observed in any of them, that affords a word distinguishable upon the stone of Rosetta. Mr. Champollion, indeed, imagines that he has found the word Egypt in a manu- script published by Mr. Denon, but I have examined the part to which he refers, without being able to discover it : and I fear that he has been somewhat hasty in several others of his remarks upon this Inscription. [You may perhaps think me too sanguine in my expectations of obtaining a knowledge of the hieroglyphical language in general from the inscription of Rosetta only ; and I will confess to you that the difficulties are greater than a, superficial view of the subject would induce us to suppose. The number of the radical characters is indeed limited, like that of the keys of the Chinese ; but it appears that these characters are by no means universally independent of each other, a combination of two or three of them being often employed to form a single word, and perhaps even to represent a simple idea : and indeed this must necessarily happen where we have only about a thousand cha- racters for the expression of a whole language. For the same reason it is impossible that all the characters can be pictures of the things which they represent : some, however, of the symbols on the stone of Rosetta have a manifest relation to the objects denoted by them, for instance, a Priest, a Shrine, a Statue, an Asp, a Month, and the Numerals, and a King is denoted by a sort of plant with an insect, which is said to have been a bee ; while a much greater number of the characters have no percep- tible connexion with the ideas attached to them ; although it is probable that a resemblance, either real or metaphorical, may have existed or have been imagined when they were first em- 56 COREESPONDENCE RELATIVE ^^- ^ ' ployed : thus a Libation was originally denoted by a hand hold- ing a jar, with two streams of a liquid issuing from it, but in this inscription the representation has degenerated into the form of a bird's foot. With respect to the epistolographic or encho- rial character, it does not seem quite certain that it could be explained even if the hieroglyphics were perfectly understood : for many of the characters neither resemble the correspond- ing hieroglyphics, nor are capable of being satisfactorily resolved into an alphabet of any kind : in short the two characters might be supposed to belong to different languages ; for they do not seem to agree even in their manner of forming compound from simple terms.]* I am extremely obliged by your kindness in sending me c(jpies of several little pamphlets relating to oriental literature, which afford a very favourable prospect of the future progress of your countrymen in these studies. I trust that I shall hereafter be able to give you more ample details of my investigations respecting the antiquities of Egypt ; but I am not likely for the present, and perhaps not for some years, to have sufficient leisure for the pursuit ; and it would even be a waste of time to attempt much more than I have done, without being in pos- session of a more perfect copy of the Inscription : the first step is however firmly established, and you know how much greater the labour, as well as the chance of error, must have been in such a step, than in all those which are to follow. * * * j 10. — From M. SiLVESTRE DE Sacy to Dr. Young. Monsieur, Paris, 20 Janvier, 1816. Je ne sais en verite ce que vous pensez de moi. Avoir ete pres de six mois sans vous repondre, apres que vous avez eu la complaisance de me communiquer obligeamment un echan- * This conjecturo has been confirmed by Lopsius and others, who are of opinion that the sacred characters contain the early language of Egypt, which probably ceased to bo that of ordinary hfe about the time of the Psammetici, when the Mem phitic dialect came into popular use.— (Lepsius, Zettre a Eosallini p 19 \ The latter is the language found in enchorial inscriptions, and from which' the Contio is descended. The earliest enchorial manuscripts that have been found do not d t further back than the reign of the Psammetici, about 600 years before th» ov. ■ .• Era. — Ed. ".^nristian f The above is the last letter of the correspondence which annearp.1 i„ ^^ tr Critkum, No. VI., published at Cambridge in 1815.— iW. ""^ Museum No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 57 tillon de votre travail sur I'inscription de Rosette, doit vous paraitre une negligence bien coupable. II serait meme possible que vous vous fussiez imagine que j'aurais pris en mauvaise part quelques observations de M. Rouse Boughton que vous avez eu la bonte de me communiquer. Je vous prie de croire qu'il n'en est rien ; que mon long silence n'a pour cause qu'une surcharge d'occupations tout-a-fait contraires a mon gout, et un defaut absolu de loisir. Je dois a une circonstance toute par- ticuliere quelques instans de liberte, et je m'empresse d'en pro- fiter pour vous ecrire. J'entre parfaitement dans vos idees, Monsieur, relativement au caractere propre a Tancienne langue Egyptienne. Je suis convaincu que les noms et les verbes n'y avaient ni decliriaisons, ni conjugaisons ; que toutes les idees accessoires de concordance et de dependance qui sont exprimees dans le Grec et le Latin par des inflexions, nommees cas, nombres, personnes, modes, temps, &c. ou n'y etaient exprimees que par I'ordre observe dans la disposition des signes, ou exigeaient autant de signes particuliers qui ne se fondaient et ne s'amalgamaient point avec les sigues des idees principales. Ce caractere me parait etre necessairement celui de toute langue primitive, et devoir se conserver presque sans alteration, aussi longtemps qu'une nation conserve I'usage exclusive des caracteres hieroglyphiques. Aussitot, au contraire, qu'une ecriture est introduite qui peint les sons, et non les idees, rien n'arrete plus la formation arti- ficielle d'un systeme complique de grammaire, dans lequel ousj les signes accessoires qui modifient les signes des idees principales cessent d'etre isoles, et s'attachent en se contractant ou s'abregeant, au commencement, au milieu, ou a la fin des mots. Le Chinois, qui n'a jamais secoue le joug des carac- teres hieroglyphiques, est reste avec sa forme primitive : il n'a ni declinaisons ni conjugaisons proprement dites : I'Egyptien, qui s'est ecrit longtemps avec des caracteres hieroglyphiques seulement, et qui ensuite a use concurremment de ces memes caracteres et de caracteres alphabetiques, a conserve beaucoup de son ancienne physionomie.* L'amalgame des formes gram- maticales avec les mots principaux y est a peine commence. * According to Klaproth the Japanese, in its system of wiitiug, exhibits a close* analogy than any other language to the Egyptian. " Les Japonais m^lcnt leurs 58 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE ^O. 11. Les langues Grecque, Latine, &c., qui ne se sont jamais ecntes qu'avec des caracteres alphabetiques, out un systeme gramma- tical plus complique; et un seul mot primitif, y passant par la filiere des declinaisons et des conjugaisons, donne naissance a une multitude presque infinie de combinaisons artificielles, ou I'idee principale est exprimee avec toutes les modifications de concordance et de dependance dont elle est susceptible. Ne pourrait-on pas ajouter que les langues qui ne s'ecrivent point du tout, multiplient encore plus facilement ces combinaisons, et ne serait-ce pas la la raison de cette multitude de formes, de cette gi-ammaire si compliquee, qu'on observe dans les langues barbares, comme le Basque, le Groenlandais, la langue du Congo, &c. ? Je ne sais. Monsieur, si je rends ma pensee d'une maniere bien claire. Au surplus, vous la trouverez pre- sentee avec un peu plus de developpement dans le compte que j'ai rendu des Recherches de M. Et. Quatremere, sur la langue et la litterature de I'Egypte. Sans doute, Monsieur, vous me comprendrez parfaitement, puisque vous avez vous- meme observe ce fait, et que vous dites que cette ancienne langue Egyptienne est construite entierement sur le modele des caracteres hieroglyphiques. Mais d'accord avec vous, par la seule theorie, sur ce point general, je suis bien moins convaincu de la verite de la valeur que vous attribuez a divers caracteres, et de la maniere dont vous lisez la plupart des mots que vous croyez avoir reconnus. Je crois bien que Ton peut souvent determiner, comme vous I'avez fait, la place qu'occupe dans rinscription Egyptienne alphabetique, tel mot de I'inscription Grecque, comme on le ferait pour une inscription purement hieroglyphique ; mais indiquer ensuite la valeur des lettres dont le mot se compose, en fixer la lecture, le pre'senter en tout autre caractere, hie labor, hoc opus est. II serait temeraire a moi de censurer le travail des personnes qui ont consacre beaucoup de temps a I'examen et a I'analyse de ce monument ; aussi ne proposai-ie mes doutes qu'avec une grande reserve. signes syllabiques, exprimant des sons, aiix caracteres ideographiques dps CW ■ cxactement comme les Egyptiens, dont )'ecritnre se composait a la f . , ."°"' phonetiques et de signes symboliques." Examen CHtiqiie des TranniTlr j^^'^'if Chmupollion sur les niiroghjphos, p. lb.— Ed. "* "*- /'" ^- No. II. TO THE EOSETTA INSCRIPTION. 59 M. Akerblad, dans une lettre d'Octobre 1815, me dit vous avoir ecrit sur la fin de 1814, une longue lettre qu'il a remise a Lord Brownlow, et dans laqnelle il vous communiquait son ana- lyse des cinq premieres lignes de I'inscription. C'est beaucoup plus qu'il ne m'en a laisse entrevoir dans un temps oil il se flattait de parvenir a la dechifirer. J'en conclus qu'il desespere tout-a-fait de succes. Je ne sais si sa lettre vous sera parvenue. Je n'entends plus parler de M. Champollion. Sa conduite politique, pendant le regne de trois mois d'Ahriman, lui a fait peu d'honneur, et il n'a sans doute plus ose m'ecrire. II aura vu d'ailleurs, par un rapport que lui-meme avait pro- voque, et dont j'avais ete charge, que je n'etais pas dupe de son charlatanisme. Je lui en ai donne une copie a sa demande, et il ne m'en a pas meme fait un remerciment. II est sujet a jouer le role du geai pare des plumes du paon. Ce role-la finit souvent fort mal. 11. — From Dr. Young to Baron Silvestre de Sacy. 5 Mai, 1816. Je viens de recevoir votre lettre du 20 Janvier, et vous trouverez que j'y avals deja repondu en partie dans la brochure que j'ai le plaisir de vous oflfrir. Elle est tiree du Museum Criticum, ouvrage periodique qu'on imprime trois ou quatre fois par an a Cambridge. Je ne la reqas, qu'hier, quoique j'en eusse remis la copie au redacteur avant plusieurs mois. J'espere, Monsieur^ que vous ne desapprouverez pas I'usage que j'ai fait de votre nom ; j'ai eu soin de ne rien introduire qui pilt vous compromettre, et si vous aviez ete plus proche j'aurais demande votre permission formelle avant de publier les extraits de notre correspondance. Si vous lisez la lettre de M. Akerblad, vous conviendrez, je crois, qu'au moins il n'a pas ete plus heureux que moi dans ses leqons Coptes de I'in- scription. Mais le vrai est que la chose est impossible dans I'etendue que vous paraissez encore vouloir lui donner, car assurement I'inscription enchoriale n'est alpliabctique que dans un sens tres borne. .... 60 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE No. II. Je me suis borne dernlerement a I'etude des hieroglyphes, ou plutot a la collection d'inscriptions hieroglyphiques, en attendant que je sois plus en etat de les etudier a I'aide des fragmens ou des divers exeinplaires de la pierre que M. Salt est charge de chercher et de faire passer en Europe. Mes succes ulte'rieurs ne de'pendent que trop des siens, et je ne me flatte pas beaucoup d'esperance, mais je ferai de mon mieux. Les caracteres que j'ai decouverts jettent deja quelques lumieres sur les antiquites de I'Egypte. J'ai reconnu par exemple le nom de Ptole'raee dans diverges inscriptions a Philae, a Esne et a Ombos, ce qui fixe a peu pres la date des edifices ou ce nom se trouve, et c'est meme quelque chose que de pouvoir distinguer dans une inscription quelconque les caracteres qui expriment les noms des personnages auxquels elle a rapport. 12. — From M. Silvestre de Sacy to Dr. Young. Monsieur, P'"'-'- ^^ Mai, I8I6. Ayant requ avant hier votre lettre du 5 de ce mois, je m'empresse d'y repondre de la maniere qui me semble la plus propre a vous prouver le grand interet que je mets a votre travail et a votre succes. Je vous envoie la gravure des carac- teres Egyptiens ecrits sur une longue bande d'etoffe qui est conservee dans le depot de I'lnstitut. La gravure en a ete faite avec beaucoup de soin. Je ne desapprouve en aucune raaniere I'usage que vous avez fait de ma correspondance. M. Akerblad est toujours a Rome ; j'ai re(ju hier une lettre de lui. Je vois qu'il a des doutes sur son alphabet Egyptien, plus que par le passe. II craint que dans I'extrait que vous avez publie de ses lettres il n'ait Fair de parler d'une maniere trop positive et avec trop d'assurance, " tandis," dit-il, " qu'il n'a propose ses opinions, ou, pour mieux dire, ses doutes, qu'avec toute la modestie possible, et souvent en forme de plaisanterie." Je vous copie ceci en confidence, pour que vous en soyez instruit, mais ne lui marquez point que je vous I'ai communique. No. II. TO THE ItOSETTA INSCRIPTION. 61 13. — Dr. Young to M. Silvestre de Sacy, Pour vous temoigner combien je vous suis redevable du present que vous m'avez fait de la gravure du manuscrit qui est conserve dans le depot de I'lnstitut, je m'empresse de vous adresser un echantillon de mon travail sur cette matiere, quoiqu'il ne soit par hasard que peu propre a vous en donner une idee complette. C'est un des tableaux de votre MS. compare avec les hieroglyphes du grand papyrus de ' La De- scription de I'Egypte.' Vous voyez que les lignes quatre, cinq et six s'accordent presque parfaitement entre elles ; le reste est plus inc'ertain quoiqu'il y ait plusieurs traits de ressemblance. A la fin de la ligne cinq et au commencement de la sixieme on trouve les caracteres ■^j qui dans I'inscription de Rosette cor- respondent a I'epithete Epiphanes : dans I'ecriture cursive, ou je I'ai trouve pres de cent fois, cela devient 'Kn/^J^ , et dans la partie enchoriale de I'inscription de Rosette SJJ?, mais on y ajoute toujours comme intensitifs les caracteres 2.y, qui ont un sens a-peu-pres semblable. Voila ou est reduit mon itlcuT Je vous suis oblig^ de m' avoir dit en confidence ce que M. Akerblad vous a remarque sur ma traduction de sa lettre : sans doute il a voulu s'excuser aupres de vous de paraitre un peu trop positif ; mais assurement il ne peut pas se plaindre de moi ; je n'ai tache que de rendre ses idees a la lettre quoiqu'un peu retrecies, et si j'avais ete capable de les modifier c'est plutot ses doutes que ses decisions que j'aurais ete tente d'exagerer. G2 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE No. It. li.— From M. Champollion to the President of the Royal Society.* Monsieur le President, Grenoble, le lo Novembre, 1814. J'ai rhonneur de vous adresser les deux premiers volumes d'un ouvrage que j'ai entrepris sur I'Egypte telle qu'elle fut avant I'invasion de Cambyse. Les siecles qui nous separent de cette epoque si importante pour I'histoire de la civilisation, ne nous ont laisse que des souvenirs epars et confus de I'antique gloire de cette contre'e. J'ai essaye de les re- cueillir, et les volumes qui accompagnent cette lettre sont le premier resultat de mes travaux. Veuillez prier la Societe Royale d'en agreer I'hommage. lis ne contiennent que la partie geographique. J'ai du placer avant le tableau de la langue, de la religion, et de I'histoire des anciens Egyptiens, la description du pays qu'ils ont habite. Mon but principal a ete de faire connaitre d'abord les veritables noms que ce peuple donnait a sa patrie, au fleuve qui la fertilise et aux villes nombreuses qui s'elevaient sur ses rives. Les geographes n'en ont connu jusques ici que les noms Grecs. J'ai retrouve les denominations primitives dans les livres des Egyptiens du moyen age, ecrits en Egypte et dans son ancienne langue. J'ai compare les documens precieux qu'ils m'ont fourni en abondance, avec ceux que nous devons aux Grecs et aux Arabes, et j'ai cru appercevoir dans ce parallele des resultats qui eclairciront plusieurs points impor- tants de la Geograpbie comparee de I'empire des Pharaons. Je m'empresse, Monsieur le President, de les soumettre a votre illustre compagnie ; son suffrage deviendrait pour moi un *■ Although this letter was not addressed to Dr. Young, it was answered by him as Foreign Secretary to the Royal Society ; and it seems to deserve insertion here, not only because it was the accidental origin of a correspondence on hieroglyphical subjects between him and M. Champollion, which was continued, though not without some interruption, till Dr. Young's death, but because it shows that even thus early M. Champollion pretended to have attained, by his own researches, to a considerable knowledge of the Egyptian inscription on the Rosetta Stone, althouo-h he did not favour the world with any evidence of his discoveries. It will be seen from the pre- ceding correspondence (pp. 17, 51), that Mr. Silvestre de Sacy, his " ancien professeur " whom M. Champollion himself (Precis, Avertissement, 2nd ed., p. xiv) evidently considered a paramount authority, regarded his pretensions as mere charlatanry. Ed. No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 63 bien flatteur encouragement si j'etais assez heureux pour I'obtenir. A la partie geographique doit succeder celle qui regarde la langue et les ecritures des Egyptiens. Elle sera en meme temps la plus importante. Elle est aussi celle qui ofFre le plus de difficultes a vaincre et d'obstacles a surmonter. La base de mon travail est la lecture de I'inscription en caracteres Egyptiens, qui est I'un des plus beaux ornemens du riche Musee Britannique; je veux parler du monument trouve a Rosette. Les efforts que j'ai faits pour y reussir n'ont point ete, s'il m'est permis de le dire, sans quelques succes ; et les resultats que je crois avoir obtenus apres une etude constante et suivie, m'en font esperer de plus grands encore. Mais je me trouve arrete par une difEculte qu'il m'est impossible de surmonter. Je possede deux copies de cette inscription ; I'une est faite d' apres le facsimile que votre Societe a fait graver, I'autre est la gravure du meme monument qui doit faire partie de la troisieme livraison de la Description de I'Egypte, publiee par I'ordre du gouvernement Frangais. Elles offrent des differences quelquefois peu importantes, mais quelquefois assez grandes pour me laisser dans une facheuse incertitude. Me serait-il permis de prier la Societe Royale de confronter les passages transcrits sur la feuille ci-jointe, d'apres les deux gravures, avec le monument lui-meme? II est pour moi d'une haute importance de connaitre la veritable leqon ; et je suis convaincu que j'aurais deja fixe la lecture de Tinscription entiere si j'avais eu sous les yeux un platre coule dans un moule fait sur 1' original et par les procedes les plus simples ; mais etant reduit a me servir de deux copies qui souvent me pre- sentent des apparences bien diverses, je ne vais que pas a pas et avec une extreme defiance. On ne doit pas meme douter que cette partie essentielle de I'antiquite Egyptienne ne fut au- jourd'hui plus avancee, si une copie moulee, comme je le dis, du beau monument de Rosette etait deposee dans chacune des principales bibliotheques de I'Europe, et envoyee a ses Acade- mies les plus celebres : ce nouveau present fait aux amis des bonnes lettres serait digne du zele et du desinteressement qui animent la Societe Royale. 64 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE ^O. II. J'ose recommander mon ouvrage a son indulgence, et c est avec beaucoup d'empressement que je saisis cette occasion de lui payer mon tribut d' admiration et reconnaissance pour ses grands et utiles travaux. 15. — From Dr. Young to M. Champollion. Monsieur, Le President de la Societe Royale a requ I'exemplaire de votre ouvrage sur I'Egypte que vous avez bien voulu adresser a la Societe, mais il ne I'a pas encore presente a la So- ciete, puisqu'a en juger par votre lettre il parait douteux si vous avezeu I'intention de 1' envoy era la Societe Royale ou a la Societe d'Antiquites, qui a seule le merite d'avoir fait graver I'inscription de Rosette : et il I'a cru de son devoir de vous demander, Monsieur, de nouvelles instructions sur la pre- sentation de votre ouvrage a I'une ou a I'autre Societe. J'ai eu beaucoup de plaisir et d'interet, Monsieur, a faire les comparaisons que vous souhaitez entre les deux copies de I'in- scription. En general celle de la Societe Antiquaire me parait presque parfaite ; quelquefois, pourtant, la copie Franqaise est la plus exacte : mais dans la plupart des endroits que vous avez cites il y a quelque obscurite dans les traits originaux qui sent un pen confus ou uses, et ce n'est qu'en comparant les diverses parties de la pierre qu'on peut s'assurer de la veritable leQon. Autant que j'ai pu distinguer les traits dans un jour qui n'etait pas tres-favorable, on doit lire ainsi. • = • • , Malgre ces petites differences, ceux qui voudront se donner la peine d'etudier cette inscription trouveront toutes les deux copies assez exactes pour s'assurer du sens de la plupart des mots. Je ne sais si par hasard M. de Sacy, avec qui vous etes sans doute en correspondance, vous aura parle d'un exemplaire que je lui ai adresse de ma traduction conjecturale avec I'ex- plication des dernieres lignes des caracteres hie'roglyphiques. Je lui avais deja envoye la traduction de I'inscription Egypti- enne au commencement du mois d'Octobre passe; I'interpreta- tion des hie'roglyphiques ne m'est reussie qu'a la fin du meme No. II. TO THE ROSETTA INSCRIPTION. 65 mois. Je n'ai pas encore eu le temps de parcourir votre inte- ressant ouvrage, que je possede depuis deux ou trois mois seule- ment : mais je vois que nous sommes d'accord dans le mot X