Abstract
IT is a seemly thing to “praise famous men … renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understanding … who were honoured in their generation, and were the glory of their times”, but it is well, even in a centenary notice, to be strictly accurate in assigning priority. Champollion accomplished great and lasting work for Egyptology, but it is not correct to describe him as the man “who first deciphered the hieroglyphics”(NATUBE, p. 307, Feb. 27, 1932). The phrase implies a rounded-off and complete contribution to knowledge such as is seldom made by any pioneer, and was certainly not made by Champollion. He did notable work in the deciphering of hieroglyphics, but he owed much to the labours of at least one of his predecessors, and unfortunately was not at all ready to acknowledge the help which such work had afforded him.
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FERGUSON, A. Young, Champollion, and Hieroglyphics. Nature 129, 638–640 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129638a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129638a0