Letters Written from Egypt and Nubia in 1828 and 1829

Champollion, Jean-François, 1790-1832Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.9
Word count
552K words
Chapters
56

Tags

Foreign Language Books Historical Geography EgyptologyScript DeciphermentTravel NotesArchaeological ExpeditionEpistolary FormScholarly ExpeditionField NotesAncient CivilizationNile CivilizationExotic Culture

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Lettres écrites d'Égypte et de Nubie en 1828 et 1829 by Jean-François ChampollionAuthor: Champollion, Jean-François, 1790-1832,Language: French, Class: PJ: Language and Literatures: Oriental languages and literatures, Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

This is a collection of letters from Champollion's 1828–1829 journey through Egypt and Nubia, in the original French. Its unique value lies in putting a scholarly breakthrough back on site: the key figure in the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs travels along the Nile examining monuments while writing to family and friends about what he sees, recording inscriptions, and discussing his judgments. Readers can see vivid descriptions of temples and tombs and feel how a scholar turns travel observations into philological evidence. The epistolary form is intimate and informal, mixing narrative and commentary, and reveals the thinking process better than a formal paper. For readers interested in Egyptology, the history of archaeology, and scientific travel writing, this is firsthand material with a human pulse. Note that the original is nineteenth-century French, with proper names and place names spelled differently from today; patience is required.

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Reading tips

  1. Learn the basic background of Champollion's decipherment of hieroglyphs before starting the letters; this makes his sensitivity to inscriptions easier to understand.
  2. Read in the order of the journey and follow the route along the Nile on a map to build a sense of space.
  3. Mark ancient place names and divine names first and look them up together after finishing a stage, avoiding frequent interruptions to the reading rhythm.
  4. The French original can be read in volumes or sections; after each group of letters, write a few summary sentences to trace the route and scholarly discoveries.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
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FAQ

Is there a Chinese translation of this book? The version provided here is the French original released by Project Gutenberg, with no information on a Chinese translation. If reading French is difficult, look separately for Chinese translations of Champollion's letters or works on Egyptian expeditions as a reference.
Do I need to know ancient Egyptian history first? Not systematically, but understanding the general process of deciphering hieroglyphs and the background of nineteenth-century Egyptian expeditions will significantly lower the barrier. The letters focus on observations and judgments, and historical details can be looked up as you go.
Are the letters mainly scholarly argument or travel observations? Both. The author describes monuments, local life, and companions along the way, and also discusses inscription reading and dating. The scholarly content unfolds through on-site observation; it is not a rigorous paper, and is therefore better read as an expedition diary.

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About the author

Champollion, Jean-François, 1790-1832 Author · French · 1790–1832

Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832) was a French Egyptologist and linguist. He is best known for successfully deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822, an achievement that laid the foundation of modern Egyptology and allowed later readers to engage directly with ancient Egyptian texts. One work by him is held in the collection, Lettres écrites d’Égypte et de Nubie en 1828 et 1829, consisting of letters written during his expedition to Egypt and Nubia in 1828–1829. These letters record monuments and travel observations while reflecting his direct study of hieroglyphic materials, combining scholarly value with a sense of firsthand presence. Public information on the details of his life is limited; his influence rests chiefly on his pioneering decipherment of hieroglyphs.