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The Riddle of the Rosetta - How an English Polymath and a French Polyglot Discovered the Meaning of Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R1,146
Discovery Miles 11 460
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The Riddle of the Rosetta - How an English Polymath and a French Polyglot Discovered the Meaning of Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Hardcover)
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A major new history of the race between two geniuses to decipher
ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, set against the backdrop of
nineteenth-century Europe In 1799, a French Army officer was
rebuilding the defenses of a fort on the banks of the Nile when he
discovered an ancient stele fragment bearing a decree inscribed in
three different scripts. So begins one of the most familiar tales
in Egyptology-that of the Rosetta Stone and the decipherment of
Egyptian hieroglyphs. This book draws on fresh archival evidence to
provide a major new account of how the English polymath Thomas
Young and the French philologist Jean-Francois Champollion vied to
be the first to solve the riddle of the Rosetta. Jed Buchwald and
Diane Greco Josefowicz bring to life a bygone age of intellectual
adventure. Much more than a decoding exercise centered on a single
artifact, the race to decipher the Rosetta Stone reflected broader
disputes about language, historical evidence, biblical truth, and
the value of classical learning. Buchwald and Josefowicz paint
compelling portraits of Young and Champollion, two gifted
intellects with altogether different motivations. Young disdained
Egyptian culture and saw Egyptian writing as a means to greater
knowledge about Greco-Roman antiquity. Champollion, swept up in the
political chaos of Restoration France and fiercely opposed to the
scholars aligned with throne and altar, admired ancient Egypt and
was prepared to upend conventional wisdom to solve the mystery of
the hieroglyphs. Taking readers from the hushed lecture rooms of
the Institut de France to the windswept monuments of the Valley of
the Kings, The Riddle of the Rosetta reveals the untold story
behind one of the nineteenth century's most thrilling discoveries.
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