Atlantis Online
March 29, 2024, 06:13:26 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Update About Cuba Underwater Megalithic Research
http://www.timstouse.com/EarthHistory/Atlantis/bimini.htm
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

THE ROSETTA STONE

Pages: 1 [2] 3 4   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: THE ROSETTA STONE  (Read 9025 times)
0 Members and 60 Guests are viewing this topic.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #15 on: August 16, 2007, 08:02:46 am »

« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 08:10:56 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #16 on: August 16, 2007, 08:09:20 am »

                               

The trilingual inscription on the Rosetta Stone - in Greek, Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Demotic - provided scholars with a new opportunity to decipher the Egyptian scripts. Here, a table in Champollion's Précis du Systeme Hieroglyphique (1824) compares Greek letters with Demotic and Hieroglyph. (this picture is slightly messed up)



« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 08:17:38 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #17 on: August 16, 2007, 08:12:14 am »

                                             

Coptic played an important role in the decipherment of  Hieroglyphs. Here, in Champollion's Précis (1824), royal names are written in Coptic (left) and in Hieroglyphs (as they appeared on the Rosetta Stone) Number 28, for example, reads as PTOLMIS (Ptolemy)
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 08:18:04 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2007, 08:30:47 am »

                                            







                                          






                               T H E   F A T H E R   O F   I T A L I A N   E G Y P T O L O G Y



IPPOLITO ROSELLINI




by Fabrizio Calzia



The birth of a man of learning

Ippolito Rosellini, the future father of Italian Egyptology, was born in Pisa on 13 August 1800 to a family of tradesmen from Pescia. His parents were in no financial difficulty and Ippolito, a delicate child, was able to devote himself immediately, and very profitably, to learning, the great passion of his life.

Rosellini demonstrated an unusual intelligence and a natural vocation for study. His progress was remarkably rapid and in 1817 he entered the University of Pisa, graduating in theology on 5 June 1821. He specialised in the Hebrew and Arabic languages, becoming professor of oriental languages when he was just 24 years old.  It was during this period that he learned about French Egyptologist Jean François Champollion’s great discovery of how to decipher hieroglyphics (1822), based on his genial intuition of studying the Rosetta stone as described in “Précis du système hiéroglyphique des anciens Egyptiens” published in 1824.



Rosellini meets Champollion

In summer 1825 Rosellini had the opportunity, in Florence, to meet Champollion. A deep and genuine friendship grew up between them, nourished by mutual esteem and a common interest in the study of hieroglyphics. They were a perfect complement to each other, with Champollion contributing his intuition and ingeniousness, while the strength of Rosellini lay in his stubborn analytical skills. The Frenchman, however, thanks to the standing of his discovery and France’s reputation in scientific circles, was always the teacher and Rosellini his disciple…

Nevertheless, it was Rosellini who taught the first official course in Europe, at the University of Pisa, on the history, language and antiquities of Egypt. It was 1826 and Ippolito’s ambitions went far beyond the boundaries of the classroom. So much so that he asked the university for a year’s sabbatical to visit his friend Champollion in Paris, where he intended to do detailed research into hieroglyphics. In Paris, while Rosellini and Champollion continued their work together, Ippolito met and fell in love with his future wife Zenobia Cherubini, the daughter of famous musician Luigi Cherubini, who was a friend of Gioacchino Rossini. And it was Rossini himself who finally convinced Zenobia’s strict father to let Ippolito marry his daughter…
« Last Edit: August 22, 2007, 10:42:04 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #19 on: August 16, 2007, 08:41:45 am »










The grand project
The two friends and men of learning set about organising the project of a lifetime, proposing that their respective governments mount a scientific expedition to Egypt. Champollion had a very easy task and the French government immediately granted him the amount he asked for. Rosellini petitioned the grand duke of Tuscany, Leopoldo II, and there were grounds for hope as the grand duke was an admirer of Rosellini and wished to be seen as a patron of the arts and man of culture. Rosellini astutely pointed out to Leopoldo II that sending a Tuscan mission to accompany the French expedition would bring honour to the Sovereign and the State…

The operation received the backing of Champollion, who gave Rosellini a letter for the grand duke in which he explained the idea behind the undertaking and its scientific importance.

On 27 July 1827 Rosellini sent his petition to Leopoldo II through the Tuscan ambassador in Paris, Daniele Berlinghieri. But he didn’t stop there. In the petition he informed the grand duke that the next day he would be setting off for Tuscany to illustrate to him in person “the project of a Tuscan association to the literary expedition to Egypt”.

The operation was a success and Leopoldo II immediately gave his blessing the the project, with the support and encouragement of ministers. There was a tradition of good trading relations between Tuscany and Egypt and an initiative like this couldn’t help but be good for trade. There was absolutely no doubt about Rosellini’s candidacy as the scientific director of the Tuscan mission: “No-one is more suited than Rosellini, in consideration of the confidence and esteem placed in him by Champollion”.

The council of ministers took Rosellini’s proposals still further, suggesting to Leopoldo II that a naturalist should accompany the mission, charged with collecting for natural history museums and botanical gardens “any objects which they do not have and which could be purchased in Egypt at very low cost”.

The person chosen to perform this task was Giuseppe Raddi, from Florence, who had already demonstrated his skills in Brazil. Leopoldo’s ministers were fully aware of his capabilities and reputation: “The knowledge of this man, who displays the utmost modesty combined with a tireless commitment to succeeding in all he undertakes, as well as always demonstrating the most praiseworthy disinterest, could in many circumstances be profitable for the studies which Champollion and his companions propose to undertake”.

On 1st September 1827 Rosellini received a letter containing the answer he expected, the go-ahead for the Tuscan mission to Egypt.

The same letter went on to establish terms and conditions: Rosellini was allowed to join “the highly reputed Champollion to order, as the leader of a Tuscan mission, drawings to be made of Egyptian monuments as yet unknown, or not illustrated, and to excavate those which remain buried in Egypt, in such a way as to enrich the Museums of the State”.

Rosellini was to have three Tuscan draughtsmen in his charge: Alessandro Ricci from Siena (who, as a doctor, also had the task of providing medical assistance), architect Gaetano Rosellini (Ippolito’s uncle) and the painter Angelelli.

However, the expedition was to last no longer than eighteen months and the total amount established was 50,000 francs, inclusive of 18,000 for excavations to unearth monuments for the State’s museums. The budget also included three francs a day for each of the draughtsmen, in addition to 3,500 francs to be paid to them during their stay in Egypt, plus salary for two servants, supplies of paper, instruments, tools, medical supplies, etc., as well as gifts in the form of porcelain and crystal, to take to the Pasha and to other local government officers.” The seal of the mission had to bear the wording “Tuscan literary mission to Egypt”.
And Rosellini himself? He received the extraordinary fee of eighty “francesconi” a month (equivalent to about 450 francs), in addition to his salary as university professor.
Reports on the progress of the expedition were to be addressed to the grand duke and “sent to his excellency the minister of Foreign Affairs”.
Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #20 on: August 16, 2007, 08:45:59 am »

                          






The Franco-Tuscan expedition



By the end of October 1827, all preparations seemed complete and the expedition was ready to set sail from Toulouse. However, the uncertain political situation in the Middle East (which became critical after the battle of Navarrino sealed the fate of the Greeks on 20 October) made a postponement advisable. It took almost an entire year for relations between Egypt and France to settle down and only on 31 July 1828 were Champollion and Rosellini, both sailing on the corvette “Eglè”, finally able to leave Toulouse for Egypt. The French and Tuscan missions travelled and worked together in close collaboration, with Champollion acting as general and scientific director.  The French mission, in addition to its director, also included Antoine Bibent (a young architect who soon abandoned the expedition for health reasons), Alexandre Duchesne (draughtsman), Bertin (draughtsman), Nestor L’Hôte (draughtsman), Lehoux (draughtsman) and Salvador Cherubini (Zenobia’s brother and Rosellini’s brother-in-law was a member of both missions). The Tuscan mission had seven members: Ippolito Rosellini, Giuseppe Angelelli (draughtsman), Alessandro Ricci (doctor and draughtsman), Gaetano Rosellini (engineer and architect), Giuseppe Raddi (naturalist), Gaetano Galastri (assistant to Raddi) and Salvador Cherubini.




                                                   




 On 18 August 1828 the expedition arrived in Alexandria. Their mission lasted more than a year, taking them up the Nile as far as Wadi Halfa or the second Cataract (31 December 1828): “The banks of the Nile continue to be a delight thanks to the cultivations and luxuriant vegetation covering them. Cotton, hemp and other plants flourish thanks to the irrigation channels dug by the farmers and fed from the waters of the Nile. The tamarisk is very common, as is the Nile mimosa, which has abundant small flowers like our gaggia (robinia pseudoacacia), but with a more delicate fragrance. The Arabs call it sunth, which derives from the ancient Egyptian name scionti…” this was how Rosellini described the unusual “cruise” up the Nile during a moment of relaxation…

During their stay in Egypt, the Tuscan scientists made important drawings, produced a significant amount of documentation and gathered “rare monuments”. Raddi, in particular, “dutifully assembled a hoard of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, molluscs, plants, minerals and rocks, which enriched the Museums of Pisa and Florence significantly”.  His mission, however, was to be the cause of his death. During the expedition he fell seriously ill and was put in all haste on a ship sailing for home. Unfortunately he died during the voyage on 6 September 1829 at Rhodes. The consuls of Sardinia and Austria on the island saw that the important objects gathered reached Tuscany.

Raddi wasn’t the expedition’s only victim. Alessandro Ricci, its doctor, suffered the same fate. Bitten by a scorpion at Thebes and paralysed, he finally died in 1834 without ever fully recovering.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 08:59:01 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #21 on: August 16, 2007, 08:47:32 am »











An Egyptian Museum for Florence



From a purely scientific point of view, however, the expedition was a great success. When he returned to Tuscany at the end of 1829, Rosellini brought 900 objects which were to form the core of the Egyptian Museum in Florence, the second most important in Italy after Turin. One of these objects, an Osortasen stone portraying the subjection of various Nubian districts to the rule of king Senvorstret I from the XII dynasty, risked becoming a bone of contention between Champollion and Rosellini. Rosellini had promised it to his French friend but Alessandro Ricci, unaware of the agreement, had it loaded onto one of the Tuscan mission’s ships. Champollion never brought the matter up. In part because their main joint project continued to be the publication of the expedition’s findings. The two friends discussed it at length again in 1831 in Paris (the year Rosellini became the father of a baby girl) and drew up plans for its publication together. However, only a short while later on 4 March 1832, when he was just 42 years old, Champollion died of a fatal illness after an apoplectic fit in December 1831. Rosellini decided not to abandon the project and complete it himself.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 10:19:20 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #22 on: August 16, 2007, 08:48:53 am »








“The monuments of Egypt and Nubia”
Financed by Leopoldo II, “The monuments of Egypt and Nubia” was originally to have had ten volumes divided into three parts. Rosellini managed to publish only eight of them. The ninth was published posthumously: “Historical Monuments” (five volumes on Egyptian history), with an atlas of 169 figures, 28 of which in colour; “Civil Monuments” (three volumes on everyday life), with an atlas of 135 figures, 74 of which in colour; “Religious Monuments” (one volume on religion in Egypt), with an atlas of 86 figures, eight of which in colour.

The tenth volume has been lost forever. It should, however, be noted that the work as a whole faithfully reflects the plans drawn up by Rosellini with his friend Champollion, bearing further witness to Rosellini’s loyalty.

Although his health was delicate, Rosellini devoted all his energy to the project. The first volumes were quickly published, despite the opposition of numerous Frenchmen, including Champollion’s elder brother, who had already seized on the incident regarding the Osortasen stone to turn against Rosellini. Rosellini worked in a rigorously scientific manner, providing only facts about the monuments to avoid “mixing the light of fact with the fog of hypothesis”. The first volume was published in November 1832, with the second hard on its heels. Then, gradually, Rosellini’s pace flagged. His health wasn’t good and there were also publishing problems, with advance orders failing to materialise and some booksellers going bankrupt before they had paid for the copies. Rosellini was forced to ask Grand Duke Leopoldo II for an extension on his loan, and while this deferred his problems, it did not solve them. In the meantime Rosellini’s reputation grew. In 1835 the University of Pisa appointed him to the position of University Librarian. Here too, working with unceasing enthusiasm, he made a name for himself, opening three lit and heated reading rooms, establishing a free loan scheme and encouraging the purchase of new volumes.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 09:04:03 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #23 on: August 16, 2007, 08:50:12 am »

                                        







His death

Rosellini was unable to keep up with all his commitments: his university professorship, the faculty presidency, the library, his publication and his family (he was now the father of three children after the premature death of his first born daughter Ida). His illness, however, continued unabated and Rosellini decided to retire to the country to concentrate on his lifetime’s work. One which was in any case destined to remain uncompleted. Rosellini saw the eighth volume published, but only managed to complete, but not print, the ninth.

1843 was a year of suffering for Rosellini. He entered a coma on the night between the 16 and 17 of May and died on 4 June.

His remains are buried in Pisa’s Camposanto Vecchio, near the Cathedral, and the tomb of the father of Italian Egyptology can still be visited today.

160 years after his death, Ippolito Rosellini remains a very contemporary figure. His literary work represents not only a historical testimony of the French-Tuscan expedition of 1828-29, but a fundamental object of study for scientists and Egyptologists.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 10:25:24 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #24 on: August 16, 2007, 09:06:53 am »


Pharaoh in a portable throne with a box-like design. Note the Winged Sphinx striding above the Lion's back. (p.179. Edda Bresciani et al. Bilderwelten und Weltbilder der Pharaonen, Das alte Agypten in den Tafeln der Monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia von Ippolito Rosellini. Mainz. Verlag Phillip von Zabern. 1993, 1995. ISBN  3-8053-1755-7)
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 09:09:43 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #25 on: August 16, 2007, 09:11:01 am »


Close-up of the above Throne, note the wings of the striding Sphinx. Phoenician thrones had the wings of the Sphinxes extended. Cf. also this same kind of throne for the Egyptian god, Amon-Re.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 09:12:53 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #26 on: August 16, 2007, 09:15:42 am »


Blind Harpist playing harp with the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
by Ippolito Rosellini.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 10:12:24 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #27 on: August 16, 2007, 09:17:15 am »

Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #28 on: August 16, 2007, 09:19:42 am »


Four Ladies at a banquet, from the tomb of the scribe Nebamun at Thebes.  Original now in British Museum. 

Watercolor-sketch below is by Ippolito Rosellini.   
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 09:24:36 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #29 on: August 16, 2007, 09:26:21 am »


Granite relief mural from Abu Simbel celebrating the victory of Ramesses II (the Great) at Quadesh.   

Watercolor by Ippolito Rosellini on the Franco-Tuscan Expedition of 1828
« Last Edit: August 16, 2007, 10:15:37 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy