“Lettre à M. Dacier”
In "Lettre à M. Dacier," a pivotal document in the
history of linguistics and Egyptology, Jean-François Champollion unveils his
revolutionary phonetic alphabet, reshaping the academic understanding of hieroglyphic
letters and their intricate connection to the sounds of spoken language. This
groundbreaking letter not only articulates Champollion's methodology in
deciphering the ancient script, but it also presents compelling arguments that
challenge long-held misconceptions about the nature of Egyptian writing. The
significance of this correspondence extends far beyond its immediate academic
context; it laid the foundational principles of modern Egyptology and propelled
scholars toward a more nuanced appreciation of ancient civilizations. Through
this exploration, we delve into the key arguments presented by Champollion, the
implications of his work for future archaeological and linguistic studies, and
the lasting influence his discoveries have had on the interpretation of not
just hieroglyphs, but language itself.
1. Background & Context
- Written in
September 1822: Champollion completed the letter on September 22, 1822, and
presented a draft to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres on September
27—a pivotal moment for Egyptology (Wikipedia).
- Recipient: It was
addressed to Bon-Joseph Dacier, secretary of the Académie, chosen
for his scholarly reputation and influence (Wikipedia).
2.
Champollion's Core Arguments
a)
Writing as a hybrid system
He
famously described hieroglyphs as:
“a complex system, figurative, symbolic, and
phonetic all at once, in the same text, the same phrase, I would almost say in
the same word.” (Wikipedia)
This was
groundbreaking, stressing that hieroglyphs weren’t purely pictorial or
ideographic—they interwove sound and meaning.
b)
Phonetic signs in names
Building
on readings by de Sacy, Åkerblad, and Young, Champollion showed that cartouches
on the Rosetta Stone encoded Greek and Roman names phonetically:
· He identified names like “Ptolemy,”
“Cleopatra,” “Berenice,” “Arsinoë,” and others, showing they used phonetic
signs (Wikimedia Commons).
· He used cross-script comparison
(demotic, hieratic, hieroglyphic) to derive a syllabic “alphabet”
of Egyptian phonetic signs (British
Museum).
c)
Evidence beyond Greek/Roman era
Remarkably, Champollion hinted that
phonetic hieroglyphs were not limited to the Ptolemaic period
but used in much older texts too—to write names like “Ramesses” and “Thutmose”
(Wikipedia).
3. Some
Key Excerpts & Insights
· From his draft (later published):
“The
Rosetta Stone introduces an additional system that we call phonetic… indicating
the sounds of the proper names of the rulers Alexander and Ptolemy…” (Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons).
· He argued phonetics were a necessary
adaptation in ideographic scripts—similar to how Chinese
characters sometimes incorporate phonetic markers .
He concluded more subtly in the
letter:
“I am
sure … that phonetic-hieroglyphic signs used to represent the sounds of Greek
and Roman names were also used in ideographic texts inscribed long before … and
that they already had … the same value representative of sounds …” (archive.schillerinstitute.com).
4. Why the
Letter Matters
1.
Systematic phonetic alphabet—Champollion wasn’t guessing names; he built a
crystal-clear system of phonetic reading.
2.
Foundation of Egyptology—it shifted hieroglyphs from mysterious symbols to a
linguistic system open to scholarly analysis.
3.
Scientific rigour—he
demonstrated methodical comparison across scripts and languages, rooted in
direct evidence.
4.
Gateway to the past—by revealing phonetics, he unlocked grammar, syntax, and
entire corpora previously unreadable.
5. Next
Steps & Deeper Reading
· The full text—including four
illustrative plates—was published in late October 1822 by Firmin Didot (44
pages) (Wikipedia, Wikipedia).
· There are digitized transcriptions
and annotated editions available on Gallica, Wikisource,
and scholarly archives—complete with his tables of phonetic signs (Internet
Archive).
· Champollion’s later works (like the Précis
and his exploration of Old Kingdom inscriptions) expand upon the principles
introduced here.
Conclusion
The
“Lettre à M. Dacier” is the founding moment of modern Egyptology. In it,
Champollion:
· Declared hieroglyphs to be
phonetic, not only symbolic.
· Presented a phonetic
alphabet that systematically translated royal names.
· Asserted that this phonetic system
predated Greek influence—making it intrinsic to Egyptian script.
· Combined expertise in Coptic,
demotic, and Greek to build an authoritative, replicable decoding
method.