Download The Keys of Egypt: The Obsession to Decipher Egyptian by Lesley Adkins PDF

By Lesley Adkins

While Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798, his troops and scientists have been astonished to find old temples, tombs, and statues, all coated with unusual markings-the final remnants of a language misplaced in time.  After the Rosetta Stone used to be exposed, wish used to be raised that the secret of this old writing may be solved.  Egyptomania unfold all through Europe, and the hunt to decipher the hieroglyphs all started in earnest, for it was once understood that repute and fortune awaited the coed who succeeded.In rural France, Jean-Francois Champollion, the intense son of an impoverished bookseller, was once keen about breaking the code of the traditional Egyptians texts.  At 16 years of age he determined that he may commit his lifestyles to the decipherment of hieroglyphs.Suffering from hardships of poverty, yet with committed aid from his older brother, Champollion made sluggish yet major development in decipherment.  After the Revolution, besides the fact that, France used to be a perilous position; an unguarded note might suggest spoil, exile, or perhaps death.  regularly possessed of sturdy political opinions, Champollion usually came across himself in grave body of workers danger.  but he endured to try for the major to the traditional texts, and he persisted regardless of unwell health and wellbeing and the information that he used to be on the mercy of vicious political enemies. much more troubling to him was once the specter of failure-his closest competitor, the English general practitioner Thomas younger, additionally operating to resolve the puzzle of the hieroglyphs, and he used to be quickly gaining ground.  In 1812,  Champollion made the decisive leap forward, beating younger to the prize and turning into the 1st individual with a view to learn the traditional Egyptian language in good over 1000 years.The Keys of Egypt is the attention-grabbing precise tale of the race to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs and of the rediscovery of the realm of historic Egypt- a global that were closed to the West for hundreds of years.

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Extra resources for The Keys of Egypt: The Obsession to Decipher Egyptian Hieroglyphs

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In a curved defensive line across Aboukir Bay. The French sailors were primarily concerned with finding supplies. and over one-quarter of them were on shore. with some foraging as far away as Alexandria and Rosetta. Despite an appearance of strength. the ships were only prepared for an attack from the seaward side - the guns on the landward side were not manned and some were obstructed by stores and baggage. It was two in the afternoon when the leading ships of Nelson's fleet rounded the headland of Aboukir.

Having safely reached Egypt, no time could be wasted in getting ashore, because the French knew that British warships might appear at any time to attack before the army was disembarked and before the French fleet could be reorganized into battle formation. The landing began off Marabout beach, to the west of Alexandria, at about midday on 1 July, but the ships were some three miles off­ shore, with rocks and reefs between them and the beach, and the weather was rapidly deteriorating. The first boats reached land at eight in the evening, and the troops continued disembarking all through the night.

They had been regarded as a low priority. and some had not been treated very well after the main force had left the ships. being made to sleep on deck and denied food. Most were unceremoniously dumped on the outskirts of Alexandria. along with their personal luggage. and were left to fend for themselves. Alexandria was a shock and a dis­ appointment. There was no trace of the city that had once been the cultural and intellectual centre of the ancient world. 000 volumes. its temples. theatres. pal­ aces and the tomb of Alexander the Great.

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