the Egyptians in speaking and writing, after the introduction of
Christianity into Egypt. It was written in Greek letters, with some
additional alphabetical characters for sounds which the Hellenic
alphabet would not reproduce. It represents the most recent dialect of
the Egyptians, replete with many borrowed and alien words from the
Greek, and it succeeded the demotic as this sprang from the ancient
Egyptian language which was written in hieroglyphics. As we possess many
of the Scriptural books in Coptic translations, and more recent Coptic
manuscripts with an Arabic version in the margin, it is scarcely less
intelligible for us than Greek and Arabic themselves. The church of the
monophysitic Coptic Christians on the Nile employs it to-day in the
liturgies according to which divine worship is conducted. The founder of
a scientific knowledge of the Coptic language in Europe was the same
Athanasius Kircher who attempted the deciphering of hieroglyphics
without success. To him we are, however, indebted for the first Coptic
vocabularies and essays at grammar, (these were taken from the Arabic,
and written in Latin.)
A succession of European scholars afterwards extended and perfected his
work, which, although fundamental, was full of defects and errors. When
Lepsius began the study of Coptic it had already been treated by
Lacroze, Wilkins, Scholz, Woide, Tuki, Quatremère, and Zoega, in part
grammatically, and in part lexicographically. Peyron’s lexicon was also
approaching completion.
No one had yet ventured to assign this language its proper scientific
philological rank. Its three dialects had long been known, and not only
Champollion, but Seyffarth also, had made use of them in the
interpretation of the most ancient hieroglyphic words.
There was no lack of Coptic manuscripts and books[16] in Paris, but
there was a very obvious want of old Egyptian hieroglyphic writings,
well published. The inscriptions[17] reproduced in the great
_Description de l’Égypte_, had been copied previous to the deciphering
of hieroglyphics. They had been transcribed at random, without accuracy
or intelligence, and were useless for the philologist. Rosellini’s work
on monuments[18] was prepared as the combined result of the expedition
sent to Egypt by France, under Champollion, and that sent by Tuscany
under Rosellini. The publication of it had scarcely been commenced when
Lepsius obeyed the summons of Bunsen. The same is true of Champollion’s
_Monuments de l’Égypte_, etc.
In the following pages we shall have to show all that had been achieved
by Egyptological research in the provinces of history and mythology, and
what Lepsius found there, both to clear away, and to build up.
LEPSIUS IN PARIS AS AN EGYPTOLOGIST.
From the very first Lepsius devoted himself with ardent zeal and
indefatigable industry to Egyptological studies. Before us lie the
letters which he addressed at that time to his new patron and subsequent
friend, Bunsen. They show with what benevolent, indeed fatherly,
sympathy, the famous scholar and statesman watched the progress of his
protégé in the field to which he had invited and introduced him; what
pains he took to smooth the way for him both by word and deed, and how
perfect was the understanding with which he followed the scientific
efforts and achievements of the new Egyptologist. Bunsen also exerted
himself to assure the pecuniary position of the young scholar; but as
the emperor above the senate, so did Alexander von Humboldt stand above
Bunsen. Where the influence of the latter proved insufficient, and his
good wishes could not be carried into effect, it became necessary to
appeal to the power and benevolence of the man of world-wide fame, who
was always ready for vigorous action when it was a question of
furthering important scientific endeavors, or helping promising and able
young scholars. As Lepsius in the first place was infinitely indebted to
Bunsen, so was he in the second instance to A. von Humboldt. It is
singular how many of the later German masters of science, besides our
friend, were aided by this great and truly humane man as by a
Providence. He removed obstacles from their path, built bridges for
them, and opened to them portals which no other hand than his was in a
position to unfold.
From the letters to Bunsen we learn that Lepsius at first was absorbed
in Coptic, and, as might have been expected, as a comparative
philologist. At the beginning he was discouraged by the entire
linguistic isolation in which this interesting idiom stood, but he soon
thought to detect a certain fundamental relationship between it and the
Indo-Germanic and Semitic families of languages. On the twentieth of
January, 1835, he already invited Bunsen to consider with him, in a
quite superficial and cursory manner, the affixes of the _pronomen
personale_, in Coptic and Hebrew, and the relationship of the two
formations.[19]
He next exerted himself to place before the public a specimen of Coptic
grammar. He wished to begin by publishing a comparative division, which
should be chiefly based upon the pronominal stems, and should establish
the basis upon which the Coptic language had developed. It was further
intended to show what position this should hold among the better known
tongues. He had taken the bull by the horns, and was soon to find that
little could be accomplished by giving prominence to such similarity in
the terminal suffixes as struck the eye, or by the comparison of
Indo-Germanic and Semitic numeral words with the Egyptian, between
which also many conformities existed.
As the first results of these new studies there appeared two papers on
the alphabet and numerical words, which were submitted to the Berlin
Academy in 1835, and were printed at the press of that learned
institution. The apothegm, that even the loftiest speculation only
teaches us to comprehend what is already in existence, occurs in the
first of these papers.[20]
By means of this treatise the knowledge of the true principles of the
most ancient alphabetical order was advanced by a long step, and what
was new therein was combined with the most thorough regard for all that
had been previously attained.
In the second treatise[21] he considerably extended previous
investigations, and at the same time imposed upon himself voluntary
restrictions which offer the most favorable testimony to his early
acquired method and critical rigor. He would have been able to arrive at
still more important results with the present knowledge of ancient
Egyptian numerical words, and the numerical signs in hieratic and
demotic.
He never followed up “the manifest connection between the Semitic and
the Egyptian-demotic alphabet” which he then thought to have discovered.
We entertain no doubt that during his apprenticeship he took certain
Parisian hieratic texts for demotic, and if this was the case, then at
that time, with the intuition peculiar to him, he had already hit upon
the truth which was established many decades later by de Rougé,
Lenormant, and ourselves; namely, that the Semitic, and indeed,
primarily, the Phœnician alphabet, must be traced back to the Egyptian
hieratic. He also worked enthusiastically over the principles of sound
in the Coptic. This language, which at first seemed to him quite
“chaotic” on account of the “cumulative vowels” which it presents,
became more attractive to him after he had learned, by comparison of the
manuscripts written in the different dialects to distinguish between
them, and to penetrate more deeply into their wonderfully subtle
syntactical construction. It was of great advantage to him in these
studies that Peyron’s Coptic Lexicon was published just at this time,
and that he was able to procure each proof-sheet as it left the press.
After he had obtained a good insight into the Coptic he ventured to
attack the demotic and ancient Egyptian written in hieroglyphics. As, in
the works then published on the ancient Egyptian language, deduction and
hypothesis appeared far too much alike, he was extremely glad to receive
the ready assistance of Salvolini, the disciple of Champollion mentioned
above. This very talented Italian, under the direction of the master,
Champollion, had occupied himself with Egyptology exclusively for ten
years, and Lepsius was able to inspire him with such interest that he
wrote to Bunsen of the young scholar in the warmest terms. But after
Lepsius was permitted to examine the literary legacy of Champollion he
perceived that Salvolini had secretly made reckless use of another’s
labors, and that precisely those things which the younger Egyptologist
had considered the most important discoveries of Salvolini, had been
made, not by him, but by the master, Champollion.
Biot’s book[22] on the vague year of the Egyptians, which had been
published shortly before, led Lepsius also to the study of the calendar
and chronology of the Egyptians, and prompted him to make Bunsen fully
acquainted with his views on the year of Sirius and the Sothiac cycle.
He sent the work mentioned to his patron, and in consequence of a
request made by him, furnished him with everything that appeared in
Paris in the way of new literary productions.
Bunsen meanwhile was solicitous for the material welfare of his
protégé, and it is not a little to be ascribed to his and Gerhard’s
influence,--Boeckh too was a zealous advocate,--that the Academy of
Sciences at Berlin awarded Lepsius five hundred thalers for his farther
improvement in Egyptology, and that Gerhard,--although not
officially,--could offer him the prospect of the same amount for a
second year.
Before this assistance had been promised him he had written to Bunsen:
“It is easy to understand that there may be much opposition to
furnishing aid for such a special object, as every one will not regard
the importance of it in the same way ... but I am especially anxious
because I have not yet been able to present to the Academy anything
which could give me an ostensible claim to the assistance which I
desire. On this account I have thought that it might be of advantage to
my affairs if I should put in order and send to the Academy my treatise
on numerical words and arithmetical figures. It seems to me that I have
indisputably found the key to this interesting subject in the Egyptian
figures and Coptic numeral words. If all this meets with your approval,
I would first send this treatise to William von Humboldt, who is most
interested in special investigations of this subject, and probably,
also, in the method of treating it. The extremely friendly letter, and
the favorable opinion (far beyond my expectations), which he sent me,
when I forwarded to him my little pamphlet on Sanscrit paleography, have
given me hopes of a kind reception from him.”
In fact, the treatise was despatched to Berlin, but when it arrived
there William von Humboldt was no longer among the living, and it was
with great difficulty that Lepsius was able to recover his manuscript.
The Berlin Academy awarded him the sum mentioned without it, for they
knew that the recipient was worthy, and that it would produce good fruit
to science.
“The death of William von Humboldt,” Lepsius wrote to Bunsen on the
thirtieth of April, 1835, “has greatly grieved me, as well on account of
the personal kindness which he repeatedly manifested towards me, as on
account of the irreparable loss which the science of language has
suffered thereby. It was he especially by whom I most hoped to be
understood in my philological aims, and whose verdict I had always in
mind throughout this last work. You must be aware that he leaves two
works in manuscript, one on the Sanscrit languages of the Indian
Islands, another on languages in general.”
The handsome stipend of the Berlin Academy smoothed Lepsius’ way to
Italy, whither Bunsen summoned him with ever increasing urgency.
Up to that time, Panofka and de Witte, out of scientific enthusiasm, had
taken charge of the editorial work for the Institute in Paris. When they
retired, Bunsen appointed Lepsius in the place of de Witte, who
initiated him into the business. After his predecessor had left Paris,
Lepsius took charge, in his absence, of the printing of the annals of
the Institute and of the correspondence. These affairs claimed a large
portion of his time, and he would have gone immediately to Rome, the
headquarters of the Institute, had he not felt that his work in Paris
was not completed as far as Coptic was concerned. He also devoted
himself with special ardor to ancient Egyptian and hieroglyphics. In
these he continued to profit by the assistance of Salvolini, whose
rapidly progressing interpretation of the Rosetta stone interested him
greatly. Yet Lepsius already began to feel a slight mistrust of him,
especially on account of the unfavorable manner in which he expressed
himself regarding the industrious Egyptologist Rosellini, whom
Champollion had esteemed highly. From Bunsen, too, Lepsius had heard
nothing but praise of the latter, and moreover, Rosellini’s historical
works served him as a starting point for his own chronological
investigations, which began to interest him the more, the better he
succeeded in deciphering for himself the names of kings and little
historical hieroglyphic texts. For the great rapidity and certainty of
his progress he was indebted to the excellent linguistic training which
he had enjoyed. He had already exercised his talent for deciphering in
handling the Eugubian Tables. The critical method of his philological
guides had so become a part of his flesh and blood, that Bunsen could
justly describe him as safe against the danger of publishing anything
uncertain or untenable, or of announcing good results prematurely.
Before Rosellini had become personally acquainted with Lepsius he
magnanimously confided to the promising new disciple of his science all
of his notes that the latter desired to see, and gave him by letter
whatever explanations he wished. This he did in such an amiable manner
that Lepsius wrote to Bunsen: “I have taken extraordinary pleasure in
the inestimable liberality and courtesy of Rosellini. One meets with the
contrary among the French scholars here. If the French were better
etymologists they would perceive that in science as in life _liberté_
and _liberalité_ come from the same root.”
The letter which our friend sent to Bunsen on the twenty-fourth of June,
1835, as a draught of a paper to be addressed to the Berlin Academy of
Sciences,[23] contains more detailed information as to the history of
his first attempts in Egyptology while at Paris. With this communication
he also submitted to the Academy the treatises mentioned above on
numerical words and the oldest alphabetical systems (see page 81). The
allowance of five hundred thalers which we mentioned was only granted
for one year, but Boeckh had kindly prevented a motion that the stipend
should be granted only once, from coming to a resolution. Thus Lepsius,
who knew the state of affairs, wrote confidently to Bunsen: “I cannot
think that the Academy will leave me in the lurch later, if, with God’s
help, I have made some progress in this fruitful science, and shown them
that I am as good a husbandman as another with my plow and ox. Therefore
I will henceforth specially aim to deserve the confidence of the
Academy, and I believe that I shall best compass this by keeping them
informed of my operations on the field upon which I have entered.”
At that time there were, as we have already observed (See page 78), very
few good inscriptions published, and in August he had already advanced
so far in hieroglyphics that he was constantly looking about for new
texts, in order to copy and afterwards study them. To attain the highest
ends he felt that it was necessary to know and own all the inscriptions
that had been preserved from the time of the Pharaohs. In Göttingen he
had endeavored to obtain both material and intellectual possession of
all the treasures of the plastic art of the ancients by making copies of
them. Thus also in Paris he wished to acquaint himself with all the
monuments of the time of the Pharaohs which had reached that city, and
either to transcribe the inscriptions upon them, to copy them by
tracing, or to obtain them in the form of impressions taken on paper.
Copies of such as were accessible had long lain in his portfolio, but he
had heard that there was a magazine in which was stored, in utter
confusion, a great abundance of Egyptian monuments, especially the
larger ones. Yet it seemed impossible to obtain admission to these
hidden treasures. “It is the universal complaint,” writes Lepsius, “that
Louis Philippe does nothing in any way for the monuments of antiquity,
his taste is all for modern works of art, and he now employs all the
artists and officers of the Museum on the historical picture gallery in
Versailles. Just now, also, several guardians of the Louvre are
occupied there, and therefore they represent that it is impossible to
detail a guardian for me in the magazine.” He impatiently awaited the
decision from day to day, but it did not come; indeed it was still
withheld even after Herr von Werther, the Prussian Ambassador, had
interposed on behalf of Lepsius, and had procured him permission to copy
the Egyptian collection in the _Musée Charles X._ But this was of far
less importance to Lepsius than what was hidden in the magazine, for
there were all the sarcophagi and statues, and an exceedingly rich
collection of stelae, besides a hundred and fourteen tablets of plaster
casts from the walls of Karnak, and a great number of other matters. The
time of his departure from Paris drew near, and it would have seemed
almost intolerable to the ardent young investigator to leave France
without having seen these extremely important monuments. Just then
Alexander von Humboldt came to Paris, Lepsius complained to him of the
difficulty, the most influential of all men of that time interceded for
him, and he was immediately allowed access to the storehouse, at first
with a guardian, but afterwards without one.
Lepsius now spent the last weeks of his sojourn in Paris in taking the
most careful paper impressions from all the monuments there. About fifty
quires of blotting paper were soon consumed, and many a night of vigil
did he spend in making fair copies of the descriptions of the monuments
from which the impressions were taken, and of the results of his own
measurements. These treasures, so laboriously acquired, were of great
service to him later, and accompanied him from Rome to Berlin, where
they now are.
Furthermore, through Humboldt’s mediation, he had an opportunity to
inspect all the drawings and manuscripts of Champollion, and he found
them “surprisingly copious and interesting.” He was able to take the
first of the forty numbers of Champollion’s great work on monuments,
ready printed, to Italy with him. Champollion’s grammar was also soon to
be published.
Something had been neglected in regard to Lepsius’ military obligations,
which might have been momentous to the farther progress of the ardent
investigator, but this oversight did him no injury either, in
consequence of the warm commendation which Alexander von Humboldt had
given him to the Governor of Mentz, General v. Müffling. It cannot now
be ascertained on what grounds the robust and well developed young
doctor was released from military service, but before us lies a letter
written immediately after he had presented himself, which says, in
reference to his military duties: “And now in Mentz I have been relieved
of all farther anxiety in this respect.”
“In the latter part of my stay in Paris,” he writes to Bunsen in the
same letter, “I have learned to regard Barucchi, the director of the
Turin Museum, as a very excellent and courteous man. He has promised me
every possible facility and convenience in the Turin Museum for study,
so that now I can go there with great confidence of good results.”
Gladly and hopefully he crossed Mont Cenis to Turin; and yet the parting
from Paris had become hard for him. He had gained much there, and
acquired a fixed aim in life; there he had come to mature manhood, and
his whole personality, as well as his scientific activity and solid
abilities, had awakened the same good will on the Seine as previously in
Germany, at Leipsic, Göttingen, and Berlin. And no wonder! For nature
had endowed the youth, intellectually so highly gifted, with a tall and
imposing figure, and crowned it with a head whose beauty was to outlast
the years. The noble and sharply cut lineaments of his countenance
reflected the earnestness, the force, and the acuteness of his mind, and
wherever he showed himself in the circle of the leading literati of
Berlin, where there was no lack of impressive heads, all eyes were drawn
to him, and even strangers were attracted to inquire about him. When his
abundant hair had become snow-white he was one of the handsomest of old
men. He told us, in an hour of social relaxation, that he was once
climbing one of the Swiss mountains in very hot weather--I believe it
was the Faulhorn,--and had sat down near the summit, with dripping brow.
A strange gentleman, who had joined him, had sunk down beside him, and
had responded to his observation that it was frightfully hot: “You ought
to be accustomed to that, Professor. When one has climbed the pyramids
and made excavations in Ethiopia, as you have--.” Lepsius asked the
stranger how he came to know him, and received from the other--as it
turned out afterwards, a medical colleague from Heidelberg,--the answer,
“How can one forget your medallion-countenance after once seeing it?”
His profile was, in truth, singularly fine. I, myself, first met Lepsius
in his forty-ninth year, 1859, as his pupil, but the impression which he
made on me at that time was such that I willingly credited the assurance
of a Leipsic friend, whose parents’ house Lepsius had frequented as a
student, that he had been one of the handsomest young men of his day.
The same bearing which he retained throughout his life, and which
entirely corresponded to his essential nature, must also have been
peculiar to him as a student. It was quiet, yet not stiff, well-bred,
and equally appropriate in all circumstances of life. Moreover, with all
his industry and earnestness, he was at that time always glad to go into
society, and he long preserved and cherished his musical gifts and
pleasure in singing, as well as his fondness for chess.
ITALY.
The route which Lepsius took to Rome was entirely determined by the
Egyptological studies to which he had devoted himself with such great
zeal and success during the latter part of the time in Paris. It led him
first to Turin.
There he might hope to find all that was best and of most importance,
for the Egyptian museum at Turin is now, and was at that time, one of
the largest and richest in the world, and so far exceeded Lepsius’
expectations that instead of several weeks he allowed himself to be
detained there for more than three months.