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| Newcastle's role in the riddle of the Rosetta Stone | Newcastle's role in the riddle of the Rosetta Stone |
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| It's good to hear of Newcastle's role in encouraging the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone by François Champollion who thereby opened the door to the accurate study of ancient Egyptian history. | It's good to hear of Newcastle's role in encouraging the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone by François Champollion who thereby opened the door to the accurate study of ancient Egyptian history. |
| The Frenchman was brilliant but not over-self-confident after a humble start in life during the turbulent aftermath of the French Revolution which saw him educated at home by his older brother Jacques. | The Frenchman was brilliant but not over-self-confident after a humble start in life during the turbulent aftermath of the French Revolution which saw him educated at home by his older brother Jacques. |
| This was enough to encourage his genius for language to flower, and his preparation for his great linguistic breakthrough included mastery, by the age of 20, of Latin, Greek, Hebrew and almost every tongue in the Middle East including Amharic, Sanskrit, Arabic, Syriac, Persian, Chaldean, Avestan, Pahlavi and Ge'ez. But he suffered a further setback to his hopes of competing on equal terms with Europe's intellectual elite when in 1815, amid more social disturbance, the faculty of letters at Grenoble university was closed and he was left without an academic post. | This was enough to encourage his genius for language to flower, and his preparation for his great linguistic breakthrough included mastery, by the age of 20, of Latin, Greek, Hebrew and almost every tongue in the Middle East including Amharic, Sanskrit, Arabic, Syriac, Persian, Chaldean, Avestan, Pahlavi and Ge'ez. But he suffered a further setback to his hopes of competing on equal terms with Europe's intellectual elite when in 1815, amid more social disturbance, the faculty of letters at Grenoble university was closed and he was left without an academic post. |
| This had the advantage of giving him time to concentrate on the problem of Egyptian hieroglyphics, whose mystery was to an extent the equivalent of great modern code-breaking, such as DNA and Linear B. Although cost and political problems meant that he almost certainly never saw the Rosetta Stone, which had been in London since its seizure from the French at Alexandria in 1801, he had friends and admirers in the UK – in Newcastle. | This had the advantage of giving him time to concentrate on the problem of Egyptian hieroglyphics, whose mystery was to an extent the equivalent of great modern code-breaking, such as DNA and Linear B. Although cost and political problems meant that he almost certainly never saw the Rosetta Stone, which had been in London since its seizure from the French at Alexandria in 1801, he had friends and admirers in the UK – in Newcastle. |
| Research in the archives of the Natural History Society of Northumbria at the Great North Museum: Hancock shows how well the great man and a group of Tyneside thinkers got on. Margaret Maitland, a curator at both the British Museum – the stone's home – and the Hancock, says: | Research in the archives of the Natural History Society of Northumbria at the Great North Museum: Hancock shows how well the great man and a group of Tyneside thinkers got on. Margaret Maitland, a curator at both the British Museum – the stone's home – and the Hancock, says: |
| Champollion's relationship with rival British scholars was frosty but this research reveals a warm correspondence between the great man and the liberal scholarly community in the North East, which likely stemmed from a mutual interest in Egypt and shared political beliefs. | Champollion's relationship with rival British scholars was frosty but this research reveals a warm correspondence between the great man and the liberal scholarly community in the North East, which likely stemmed from a mutual interest in Egypt and shared political beliefs. |
| At the time, the authenticity of Champollion's achievement was still being questioned, but the forward-thinking scholars of Newcastle-upon-Tyne embraced his breakthrough. | At the time, the authenticity of Champollion's achievement was still being questioned, but the forward-thinking scholars of Newcastle-upon-Tyne embraced his breakthrough. |
| They also helped in a practical way. The letters show that the inscription on the Great North Museum: Hancock's own, unwrapped female mummy, Bakt-en-Hor, was amongst the earliest hieroglyphic texts read by Champollion, and offer new insights into the process of his decipherment. | They also helped in a practical way. The letters show that the inscription on the Great North Museum: Hancock's own, unwrapped female mummy, Bakt-en-Hor, was amongst the earliest hieroglyphic texts read by Champollion, and offer new insights into the process of his decipherment. |
| Maitland, who is giving a free public lecture on her findings at the Hancock next Thursday, 4 October, says: | Maitland, who is giving a free public lecture on her findings at the Hancock next Thursday, 4 October, says: |
| When I first discovered that the Natural History Society had in its possession an incredibly rare letter written by Champollion, one of the first pioneers of Egyptology, I was astounded. Further investigation revealed a copy of an additional letter written even earlier, just one year after Champollion's initial breakthrough, when his understanding of the ancient Egyptian language was still in its infancy. It's been exhilarating to read his faltering yet surprisingly confident early work on one of our very own objects. | When I first discovered that the Natural History Society had in its possession an incredibly rare letter written by Champollion, one of the first pioneers of Egyptology, I was astounded. Further investigation revealed a copy of an additional letter written even earlier, just one year after Champollion's initial breakthrough, when his understanding of the ancient Egyptian language was still in its infancy. It's been exhilarating to read his faltering yet surprisingly confident early work on one of our very own objects. |
Dr Sarah Glynn, Manager of the Great North Museum: Hancock, says: | Dr Sarah Glynn, Manager of the Great North Museum: Hancock, says: |
| Champollion's decipherment of the Rosetta Stone has become a symbol of the universal quest for knowledge and the potential for human communication across the ages. The letters in the Society's collection are a really thrilling find that brings to light a previously unknown role that the north east and our Egyptian collections played in the earliest steps of the decipherment of hieroglyphs. | Champollion's decipherment of the Rosetta Stone has become a symbol of the universal quest for knowledge and the potential for human communication across the ages. The letters in the Society's collection are a really thrilling find that brings to light a previously unknown role that the north east and our Egyptian collections played in the earliest steps of the decipherment of hieroglyphs. |
Hieroglyphs from the North: Newcastle's rediscovered correspondence with the decipherer of the Rosetta Stone by Margaret Maitland is at the Great North Museum: Hancock on Thursday 4 October at 6pm. Free but booking required on 0191 222 5121. | Hieroglyphs from the North: Newcastle's rediscovered correspondence with the decipherer of the Rosetta Stone by Margaret Maitland is at the Great North Museum: Hancock on Thursday 4 October at 6pm. Free but booking required on 0191 222 5121. |
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