CRACKING CODES THE HOSETTA STONE AND DECIPHERMENT RICHAUD PARKINSON CKACKING CODES TIIC ROSETTA STONE AND DCCiniCRMENT :Tifri(ei^!gD*fV«:^.^CCC.T«gS.sm/terXIZI!|?V-fU <-«~>. w»Mf<jfii-T«nic r<"^ «ni»».»«-»t»T»H«T.T)« Copyrighted material CKACKING THE ROSETTA STONE AND DECIPHEIIMENT KICHAKD PAKKINSON WITH CON I RIBUT lONh BY W. DIFFIE, M. FISCHI K AND R.S. SIMPSON UNIXTRSITY or CALIFORNIA PRTSS • ISI RKf I I Y l.OS ANGLLES 0 1999Hie'IhisKei of the Biidsh Museum UiwwtHiy ofOfifemia PicM Bctkeky and Lot Angdn. Calif<>rrit.i FuUiihed by arnnigemrnt with Brinsli Museum Pcei» ISBN 0-52ID-22306-3 (cloth) ISBN (^2fr4a24«-2 (p^xtbick) DetigneiJ by Hwry Green lypaet in Bembo Hioatlyphs lypewt by N.Smdwick in dte Oeo fbiK, ( Jesipiid.! b\ 'l.'o Hn|r;;jiiv, l>^e<l OH the folU CDiiiniUuoncd by A H. (•jrdiiii.-r jjid used by Oxford Univcnity I'rcu f'riiucd in Gnut BriBtn M Cambridge Univenity Ptrw 98765432 1 I BUM TM'IM I Facnmilc drawiag of die Roseoi Stone, by S. Quiifce ' CONTENTS I itt r>f ihhrfviariorK unA rnnvi'ntintK 7 Writing and Art: Cultur.ll Icons 107 Foreword, by W. V. Davies 8 Decoratiiv Hieroglyphs 107 Preface 10 Monumaital An : Cjiltniiil Display 1 14 The Powers of Writing 127 Uterac}' and the Social Pouvr oflVriting 1 27 1 Deciphering the Rosetta Stone 12 llie CJods and Saints ofl Vriline 132 Scripts 12 'Amonu the Ruined Languages' 14 Mutilated Hieroglyphs and 'Daniiiatio Memoriae' 140 Kcvcalinj^ the Kosetta Stone: l^isctn ery. Publication and Display 1 ' The IVactice of Wriciiii; 113 The Original Context of the Rosetta Stone 25 Scribes ' Etfuipnieut 1 43 The Decipherment of the Rosetta Stone 31 The Rosetta Stone after Champollion 41 In AiiHtiii.il Srrihet .it Dfir el.XIfAiii.i 1 ^3 What Could Be Written:Tvpes ofText 162 2 Reading aText:The Egyptian Scripts Unwritten Aspects of Reading a Culture 1 69 of rhe Roserra Srnne 4fi The Egyptian Language 47 4 The Fntiire: Further Codes to Crark 176 The Classical Eg\'ptian Writing System 56 The Death and Spread of the Egyptian Scripts 178 Tlie Shapes of Signs 56 Other Deciphered and Undeciphered Scripts and Languages 184 T7ic Uses of Signs 57 Decipherment versus CryptanalysLs, by Wliitfield Diffic and Mary Fischer 190 Rcadint; Ancient Writint;:Towards a Dialogue 193 3 Towards Reading a Cultural Code: The Uses of Writing in Ancient Egypt 70 AI'PF-NDIX Evolving Egyptian Scripts 73 The Demotic Text of the Memphis 77<c Birth ofli 'ritiiig 73 IX-cR-f on the Rosetta Stone IS>K translation bv R.S. Simpson 'Ilie Ideal Script 75 A Syllabic Orthography 79 Glossar>' 201 Figiiraliiv Hieroglyphs, or 'CrYPlogntphy' 80 Select Bibhography 202 Cursiif Hieroglyphs and Hieratic 88 CiMirnnl:im-i^ of Rrifi<h MiKfiim Abbm'iations, Ou>tiership'inarks atid 'Fumy Signs' 93 EA Inventory^ Numbers 203 neiiwiic 98 Chronology 204 Coptic H>2 Indev 205 Copyri ' In memory of thb old building OF THE Griffith Institute, Oxford, WHICH WAS DI NTHOYI n IN l<;<;S. AND FOB John Baines (who, THANKfULiv, wasn't) O cnftsmen ofThoth. mate teams ofthe Ibis, who travel guided by the heart, . who look at these inscriptions - fix your heart on the contents, without ne£^ecting qtecial {dirases! Copy the texts! Be firm in its utterance, to perfection! STBLA of PBTBHOKNEBKHEM,£.iU} 140 Lc kaan-iiu'ilcii d'aihuu l:.iiypin'it « V.v; iiii cgypiologiie. Celui-d, ett revam lw, w pent s<mir comment fyaient les kcteufs-modites des andens, puisqu'il ne peut mfme pas coimaltre leim letteun tMs, la ketun, par nattm, ne taissant pas de traces. The nuHicI n-.iiifr ol'.uiv F.ii\pti.iti writer is no! .111 E_i^ypcoloL;ist. riic latter, oil the otlar liaiid, cuiinot knuw wlut the model readers of the ancients were like, since he cannot even know their actual teaden, reading by its nature leaving no traces. Phiiiffb DEBCBAiN.Lf rfeniter«Mb9iir^nutek,1987) y I ighted material LIST or ABBKLVIATIONS AND CON\ LNTIONS MU'.REVIATIONS MAS MiinrhniT Ai;\ ptolo^ischc Studicii AA Aj-'i^.-pti iloLnsi lu- AI'h.iiiilkmLicii MIXAIK Miiieiluiigen dts Deuiiilieu Anhaoleguilini litstittiti, AbuSung Kain ^riin.Wkibaden and A4auu) ADAIK Abhaiklliiiigi'ii ik-s Dcuiwlicii Anluulugiwlicn MEEF Memojn ofthe Egypt ExpkmdonFiiod ASAE Aimdes Ju iminr Ja mli^lh 4t Vigjfptt (Caim) MIFAO Mi-iiioiR'^ vk- riiittitut fiantais d'archiiilagie oriciit.ik' Jc C.iiri.' ASE Atchaeokigical Survey ofEgypt MMA The McCFupuiitan Museum ul Art, AUAT Agj'pieii und •ilto'! TcsMinciit Dept ofEgyptian Ait (New Yoik) AV AiichaologuchcVeidflfeudkhuqgni, OBO OAm Bifalkus et Orientalis Deuochcs AictuologuclMS Institiit KaiiD OMKD (hidliiidl:uiu!i\:i \L<lt tl( liiii!< u nil liri Riflamtttrum BAe BibUotfaecaA^^ypdaca will ( hiillkiliii li I^ultti iLfKlcii) BdE BiUioth^ue d'enide, ImtitDt francais I'M B. I'ortor and K.L.U. Moss. 7«>/x>^w/>/»i.i/ d'archcologic oricntalc BibHtgraphy r^Amdatt ^ypfiau Hi'm\'/)7>'«i lixis, BIFAO Bulletin dt VinstitMtfiantais d'tudirol^gie «rim(dc Relief) and Mntings t-vu (1927-51, 2nd cdn, (Cairo) Oxfoid, I960-) BM Britiih Muieum PSBA Ihvceedii^ 4^the Society of BiblkalAidiaeolegy (London) BMQ Briiali Mhmcm Qiuineify (London) RamesslJe K A. Kidticti. Riitmssidc /;/.<< n)'fri'ti.<, Hi^toriail BSFE fiKUetfii Je la Sodilijimfabe rf'^Qjuo^pV (Rarii) butriptiem jud Bihlu>:^r,ii>liii.il i-vii (Oxiord. 1V75-VI)) CdE CfatmffM (Tigyple (Bruueb) RJE Rome d 'inypied<!^ie (Cairo and Parte) DE OtfCHniom in ^gypuhgf (Oxfind) SAOC Studies in Ancient Oriental Civiliiation DFIFAO DfKuments de fbuillcs de I'lmtitut fian^ SAK SmUm mrAbigypibchm KsAur (Jtbatatgi d'archcolojjic orientale de Caire WdO Die Uvit des Oriettts (Wkippeital. Siungart and E£F Eg> pi I:\piunMicn Fimd Goningrn) EES Egypt Exploiation Society ZAS Zeitsdmfijur agyptisthe Sprache und Abertumsbmik EtuJa tilioMHX Triiiuif.v dii iciirn- d'anfieolcgie meditofoniame (Leipzig de I'academic polonaise des sdntces (Winaw) fj.\/ CJ^<ltiii.;ir Mt--_illi:ii lC".ottiiii;i-ti; 1 ONVENTIONS HAH Hil(iiAlu'iiiK-i pciiiiijiiM 111- Hi i!r!i^;i- ( ^ Indii .ito ,1 I .mmii lu- 11) till- iiriL;in.il U'\t <> Poiiucd brjckcts iiuiuacc an erroneous oiuiMion m the BriliA Mmam (London) by the ancient oopyin in translated matter fiom in aneient JARCE piinutl ofiheAmerttM Reseattk Center <n Egypt (Bosion) { } Curicd brackets indicate a Mipertluous addiiiuii by the ancient copytet in tiamlaied matter fixun JI.A Joiirihil >y /:i;}/'(r..'H . )/. Iiat\>h<;y (London) .111 .I'l, IrMt TiA't. JSCS Journal ol Sem Ltuu-ni Siiidia (Chicago) bi ji kc-t> [ J Squw: indicate gtpi due to damage to JSSBA Jamul <fthe SedetyJer the Study (>f Egypiim the manuscript ui traiubtcd matter fiom an ^(MfijHfrto (ToRMUo) ancient text KnAiJeumd tfiftr Smfan Ant^m^ Savki * An ivkrnk iii.lii .itL'\ .1 !n pmlu'tif.il rci'diistmction (Khartomq) ot .( uurii. ur .1 liypntlK ta.tl (;raiiuiiatK'al example. LA LexOten AaiAgyptoiogie SMALL CAPITALS Written in red in onginal. Copyrighted material FOR.tWOR.D nc of the most famous antiquities in the world, the Rosetta Stone needs litde introduction. Dbcoveied in July 1799 at Rosetta (now el-Rashid) in Egypt^ north-west Delta, and part of the British Museum's collections since 1802. the Stone, a tragmcr t i i mite stela inscribed with a biliniiu.il text in ancient Egyiitian and Cire<. k, pl r. li i i riic i.il role it) the eveiitu.il decipherment of F.g\ pt's hierogly]iliic script - ,i be.umfiil hue complex vvntiiig syNtcin. true knowledge ot' which had been lost tor over thirteen centuries. The special exhibitioD 'Ctaddng Codes:The Rosetta Stone and Decipherment' has been mounted to celebrate the bicentenarv- of this momentous discovery: It U-\h tho stDfv of till- Stone's fortuitous iitH-.irthiiii:. of the suvt.iitK'd scr.inible for llie pn/e nt dec. ifMn-rnient, of the dnini.itic brcikchroiigh after years of fnistr.i- tion, and of the brdliant fni.il decoding'. I^lacing tlie aduevenient ui Us wider conieict, it con^>aies the hierogjiyphic script (and its derivatives) to other writing systems, and its decipherment to diat ofother ancient scripts. It explores in depth the role of writing in ancient Egypt — its aesthetic, iconographic and niagico- religious properties, as well as its more mundane scribal uses - and considers the extent to w hich the cracking of a Hiii-^uistic code and the reading of a text allow one to read" the underlying cultural code, inevitably an uncertain process in tlic case of a kti^-dead society. It also assesses the relative eflkiency of difieient types of script and questions the vridely held but simplistic view that the modern western alphabet represents the high point of a process of evolution. It ends with the future, w itli codes yet to he cracked, with scripts still unyielding of their secrets, p.uu-niK .nv.niing ihcir own "Rosetta Stone*. The exhibition contains over two hundred objects, most ot tlie them, mclud- ing of course the Stone itself, fiom the British Museum's collections, a small but significant number fiom other sources in the UK and abroad The curator of the - '-'i-j ' FOREWORD 9 exhibition is Dr Riclurd Parkinson, an Assiscaiu Keeper m (lie l^epartineiu of Egyptian Antiquities and an authority on ancient Egyptian litennue, who has worked duoug^out in dose coUaboiation with staff of the Museum's Design Office and of the Conservation I>epanment. m^o in pieparaiion for the exhibi- tion have cleaned the Stone carefully and to wonderful effect. Dr Parkinson is also the principal .luthor of this associated volunie.