The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-02-12

~ monuments containing the sculp-
tnred story of men that lived and OF
deeds that were done long before the
call of Abraham out OF Ur OF the
ChsIdees.
The AIexandrian library, destroyed
by Moslem bigotry, had persisted in
the flames, and in il all the treasures
Of ancient classical literssim were
lost to the world forever. But In
Egypt was q library of stone, which
neither the violence OF man nor the
ravages OF time could destroy, But
all its volumes were sealed. and no
man could open them. But mere
wss 3 key to AL the treasures OF
knowledge. Il is related OF dlstln-
guished dignitAry OF the Romlsn
Church that he was once summoned
to administer the consultations 70 >
dying soldier. But when be reached
the bedside of the penitent he found
that be had been reared under 3 dill
feren. sun and spoke an unWritten
snguage-uuknoWn to the scholars
of Europe. But the missionary TO
the heather people to which he be-
logged had taught him the Lords
Prayer in his native tongue, and
this was the key by which the schol-
arlv priest could commune with him.
The two had the Lords Prayer 10
common, the priest in his own
tongue and the savage in his; and by
this simple formula, consisting OF
only ten short sentences, the priest
was able to construct q grammar
sufficiently accurate, and q voca-
bulary sufficiently copious, to en-
able him to communicate all neces-
ssry consolation to the dying barbsr-
ian.
Now, in precisely the came way
this Rosetta stone brings us into COM
munion With the mind of ancient
Egypt. We know ancient Greek,
and in its words We have a faithful
translation OF 826 hieroglyphics.
This. of course, is equivalen. to an
almost complete ALPHABET and diction.
airy. and enables ne 10 translate
nearly all the hieroglyphics on
thousand other monuments.
Accordingly, as soon as the stone
was discovered, the French General,
Dugua, brought from Egypt to Paris
plaster cast and two impressions of
it made at Cairy; and in 1903 an ana.
Iysls CT the Greek inscription by citi-
zen AmeilhOn was published by
order OF the French Institute.
The Royal Antiquarian Society of
London, as soon IS the original was
received. caused accurate copies to
be engraved and sent all over Europe.
The greatest scholars OF the age de-
voted thems elves TO it. Prof. Person.
the great Grecisn in London, and DR..
Hene, the Secretary Of the Society OF
Science in Gottingeu, studied the
Creek inscription and succeeded not
only in translating the part that was
entire, but in supplying the blanks
made by the fractures and in sstis-
factorily sscertaining the purport OF
the whole.
Other continental scholars devoted
themselves to the Demotic and the
heiroglyphic portions. They demon
stra!ed that the Greek was a true
trsnslation of these, and completely
oVerthreW the long. established opin-
ion that the hieroglyphics had ceased
to be used and understood after the
conquest of Egypt by Cambysis,
which event occurred B. @. 525.
Quartremere, great Egyptologist,
established, in the meantime, the
fact that the Coptic, which is still a |
written language in the religious
services of the Coptic Church, is |
identical with the language of an |
Gent Egypt.
The attention of the learned was
directed mainly to Demotie inscrip-
tlons, first, because it was the best |
preserved, and second, because they |
thought it would prove to be the
easiest to decipher. In this, how.
ever, they found themselves mistaken.
1t really was the hardest.
In 1902 De Saoy, the greatest orr
entail scholar of the day, succeeded |
in making out in the Demotic IT,
scription the groups of letters which
the proper names, Ptolemy,
Alexander and Alexan-
dria.
A Swedish gentleman named
living at Rome, made a |
skeleton alphabet from the Demotic
text. but inssmuch as he failed to
note the suppression OF the novels.
as is the case with Hebrew, Arabic.
and other oriental languages, be
Jailed in reading the Demotic in.
He did, however, succeed in match
ing one passage in the Demotic with
one in the hieroGlyphic. But little |
Up to this time (1802) was known oil
The hieroglyphs. We had the real
Key, but We had not learned how to
put 1t in the key-hole. For twelve
Iears 90 progress was made, but in
1914 DR. Thomas Young, one CT the
physicians of St. Georges Hospital
n LondoI, formerly Lecturer at the
Royal Inst tntion." published On sp.
oroved alphabet of the Demotic, and
/ translation of the inscription mar
Illel with the Greek lines). dis !
inguishing the contents of the lines
With as much precision as he could | l