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The Riddle of the Rosetta : How an English Polymath and a French Polyglot Discovered the Meaning of Egyptian Hieroglyphs / Diane Greco Josefowicz, Jed Z. Buchwald.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2020]Copyright date: ©2020Description: 1 online resource (576 p.) : 81 b/w illus. 2 tablesContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691200910
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 493/.1 23
LOC classification:
  • PJ1531.R5 B77 2020
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Introduction -- PART 1. A QUAKER’S ODYSSEY -- PART 2. ANTIQUITY EMBRACED -- PART 3. SCRIPTS AND BONES -- PART 4. READING THE PAST -- PART 5. ANTIQUE LETTERS -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Name Index -- Subject Index
Summary: The legendary rivalry behind the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphsIn 1799, a French 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-François 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.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780691200910

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Introduction -- PART 1. A QUAKER’S ODYSSEY -- PART 2. ANTIQUITY EMBRACED -- PART 3. SCRIPTS AND BONES -- PART 4. READING THE PAST -- PART 5. ANTIQUE LETTERS -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Name Index -- Subject Index

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http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

The legendary rivalry behind the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphsIn 1799, a French 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-François 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.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 03. Jan 2023)