Johan David Åkerblad
Encyclopedia
Johan David Åkerblad was a Swedish
diplomat and orientalist, a student of Silvestre de Sacy
. Sacy's investigation of the Rosetta Stone
did not give any result and Åkerblad took on his work in 1802 and managed to identify all proper names in the demotic
text in just two months. He could also read words like "Greek", "temple" and "Egyptian" and found out the correct sound value from 14 of the 29 signs, but he wrongly believed the demotic hieroglyphs to be entirely alphabetic. One of his strategies of comparing the demotic to Coptic
later became a key in Champollion's eventual decipherment of the hieroglyphic
script and the Ancient Egyptian language.
Fredrik Thomasson, The Life of J. D. Åkerblad. Egyptian dispherment and orientalism in revolutionary times. Leiden 2011.
Om det sittande Marmorlejonet i Venedig (1800-3)
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
diplomat and orientalist, a student of Silvestre de Sacy
Silvestre de Sacy
Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy , was a French linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist.-Early life:...
. Sacy's investigation of the Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
did not give any result and Åkerblad took on his work in 1802 and managed to identify all proper names in the demotic
Demotic
Demotic may refer to:*Demotic Greek, a variety of the Greek language*Demotic , a script and stage of the Egyptian language...
text in just two months. He could also read words like "Greek", "temple" and "Egyptian" and found out the correct sound value from 14 of the 29 signs, but he wrongly believed the demotic hieroglyphs to be entirely alphabetic. One of his strategies of comparing the demotic to Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
later became a key in Champollion's eventual decipherment of the hieroglyphic
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
script and the Ancient Egyptian language.
published works
Fredrik Thomasson, "A dangerous man of the Enlightenment." J.D. Åkerblad and Egyptology and Orientalism in times of revolutions. Florens 2009.Fredrik Thomasson, The Life of J. D. Åkerblad. Egyptian dispherment and orientalism in revolutionary times. Leiden 2011.
Om det sittande Marmorlejonet i Venedig (1800-3)