Corfe Castle.
_Ancient Language of Egypt_ (Vol. iv., pp. 152. 240.).--The only works
on the language of ancient Egypt preserved in the hieroglyphical
inscriptions that possess any authority are the _Grammaire Egyptienne_
of Champollion[4], and the appendix to the first volume of the Chevalier
Bunsen's _Egypt's Place in Universal History_. Much, however, is known
to individuals who have studied the language, which has not been
published, or perhaps digested into a system; and the works mentioned
are by no means to be depended on as to matters of detail, especially as
respects the verbs and pronouns, though the general principles of
interpretation may be considered as settled. There was another language
used by the ancient Egyptians, and expressed in what is called the
demotic or enchorial character. Brugsch of Berlin is the highest
authority as to this; his work, _De natura et indole linguae popularis
AEgyptiorum_, is, I believe, incomplete, but he has published others in
Latin and German.
[Footnote 4: This contains the latest views of the author, whose
most important discoveries were made near the close of his life.
The _Precis_ contains much that Champollion afterwards rejected as
erroneous. The _Dictionnaire_ is a compilation, made after his
death from what he wrote at different periods of his life. It is
inconsistent with itself, and abounds in errors, so as to be worse
than useless to the student.]
The work on Egyptian chronology, from which most seems to be expected,
is that of Lepsius; but he has yet published only the first volume,
which consists of preliminary matter. Le Sueur's treatise, though
crowned by the French Academie, is a failure. Bunsen's less palpably
erroneous, but a great part of the second and third volumes, which were
published in German in 1844, would require to be re-written. Those who
wish to study the chronology, as systematised by the Egyptians
themselves, should consult the Turin _Book Of Kings_, of which an
accurate fac-simile, with explanatory text, has been lithographed, and
is about to be published by subscription, under the superintendence of a
committee, of which Sir Gardner Wilkinson is the most prominent member.