The Keys of Egypt: The Race to Read the Hieroglyphs

Description

When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798, his troops were astonished to discover ancient temples, tombs and statues, all covered with hieroglyphs - the last remnants of an unreadable script and a language lost in time. On their return, Egyptomania spread rapidly and the quest to decipher hieroglyphs began in earnest: fame and fortune awaited the scholar who succeeded. Jean-Francois Champollion, the brilliant son of an impoverished bookseller, was obsessed with ancient languages from a very young age, and once he heard of the unreadable ancient Egyptian text he had found the challenge to which he would dedicate his life: the decipherment of hieroglyphs. Desite his poverty, Champollion made gradual progress, although he had to fight against jealous enemies, both professional and political, every step of the way - a dangerous task, when, in post-Revolutionary France, a slip of the tongue could mean ruin, exile or even death. Failure threatened, as he was only one of many attempting to read the hieroglyphs, and his main rival, the English Thomas Young, claimed that decipherment was imminent. But Champollion refused to be distracted, and finally in 1822, he made the decisive breakthrough. Even then he was forced to defend his reputation against attack from his critics, his success was complete: he was the first person able to read the ancient Egyptian language in well over a 1000 years.

Lesley Adkins, an archaeologist and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, is the author of several books on archaeology and ancient history, including The Keys of Egypt, written with her husband Roy Adkins and published to acclaim in 2000. This is the gripping tale of Jean-Francois Champollion and his decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, set against a background of late 18th and early 19th-century France and Egypt. Her latest book, this time as sole author, is Empires of the Plain, a biography of Henry Rawlinson, a fearless soldier, gifted sportsman, brilliant linguist and tireless explorer. The book details Rawlinson's tremendous achievement in copying and deciphering ancient cuneiform writing, as well as his adventures and discoveries in what is today India, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. Lesley lives near Exeter in Devon. She has a degree in archaeology, ancient history and Latin from the University of Bristol. Her previous books include The Handbook of British Archaeology, Introduction to Archaeology, Introduction to the Romans and The Little Book of Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Husband-and-wife Lesley and Roy Adkins are both archaeologists and Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Roy has a degree in archaeology from University College Cardiff. Their previous books include 'The Handbook of British Archaeology', 'Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome', 'Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece' and 'Dictionary of Roman Religion', and they have just completed 'The Little Book of Egyptian Hieroglyphs'. Lesley and Roy recently moved to Devon, where they are embarking on the restoration of an extensive garden.

'A fascinating and elegantly written biography of Champollion, doing justice to one of the great stories of academic heroism.' Simon Singh, Sunday Telegraph 'A fascinating account of the race to unlock the cryptic language of the pharaohs' Giles Milton, Daily Mail