The life of J.D. Åkerblad
Subtitle: Egyptian decipherment and orientalism in revolutionary times
By: by Fredrik Thomasson
Series: Brill's studies in intellectual history -- v. 213
Publisher: Brill
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Leiden; Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 455
ISBN-13: 9789004211162; 9789004236356
Subjects: Linguists; Diplomats; Intellectual life; History; Biography; Middle East specialists
Description: "Johan David Åkerblad (1763-1819) contributed to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs and Demotic and is known as a predecessor of Jean-François Champollion. This intellectual biography offers a new and less heroic interpretation of the first reading of the Egyptian scripts. Åkerblad, an exceptional linguist, was a diplomat and orientalist who spent several decades living in the Ottoman Empire, France and Italy. Of humble birth, he was a supporter of the French Revolution - something that stymied his career. His life cannot be understood in a purely Swedish national framework, and this study firmly situates him as an international scholar. The book discusses European expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean during the tumultuous decades around the year 1800, and traces Åkerblad's momentous life in relation to the debates on 'orientalism', the tradition of classical studies and the history of science."--Back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [421]-445) and index.