This book sheds new light on the work of Jean-Fran???ois Champollion by uncovering a constellation of epistemological, political, and material conditions that made his decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs possible. Champollion's success in understanding hieroglyphs, first published in his Lettre ??? M. Dacier in 1822, is emblematic for the triumphant achievements of comparative philology during the 19th Century. In its attempt to understand humanity as part of a grand history of progress, Champollion's conception of ancient ...
Read More
This book sheds new light on the work of Jean-Fran???ois Champollion by uncovering a constellation of epistemological, political, and material conditions that made his decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs possible. Champollion's success in understanding hieroglyphs, first published in his Lettre ??? M. Dacier in 1822, is emblematic for the triumphant achievements of comparative philology during the 19th Century. In its attempt to understand humanity as part of a grand history of progress, Champollion's conception of ancient Egypt belongs to the universalistic aspirations of European modernity. Yet precisely because of its success, his project also reveals the costs it entailed: after examining and welcoming acquisitions for the emerging Egyptian collections in Europe, Champollion travelled to the Nile Valley in 1828/29, where he was shocked by the damage that had been done to its ancient cultural sites. The letter he wrote to the Egyptian viceroy Mehmet Ali Pasha in 1829 demands thatexcavations in Egypt be regulated, denounces European looting, and represents perhaps the first document to make a case for the international protection of cultural goods in the name of humanity.
Read Less
Add this copy of Philology and the Appropriation of the World: to cart. $122.11, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2023 by Palgrave Macmillan.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Contains: Illustrations, black & white. Socio-Historical Studies of the Social and Human Sciences . XX, 187 p. 27 illus. Intended for professional and scholarly audience.
