The Story of the Rosetta Stone, "Finding a Lost Language"

Egyptian hieroglyphics had been used by the Egyptians for thousands of years. However, a particularly bleak period of Egyptian history is the conquest of Egypt by Persia. The Egyptians were dominated by Persian intruders. The events that changed the nature of Egypt were not the Persian conquest but rather the war between Persia (the rulers of Egypt) and the united Greek city-states. Greece had originally been united by Philip of Macedon and then ruled effectively by Alexander the Great. Alexander defeated the Persian forces and then took his army to Egypt. There he was welcomed as a conquering hero by the Egyptians because he brought an end to Persian rule. He was made a god by the Egyptians as well as a pharaoh. He, however, had other campaigns to wage and took his army off to the Middle East and the Indus River Valley leaving a regent in charge of Egypt.

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, his empire was divided among his three most trusted and powerful generals. The throne of Egypt fell to Ptolemy I, the son of Lagus. Ptolemy took Alexander’s preserved body in a jar filled with honey back to Alexandria. Ptolemy ran Egypt like a business, strictly for profit. . He was welcomed by the Egyptians as part of Alexander the Great’s family. Ptolemy then became the pharaoh, Ptolemy I. By so doing, he set the name standard for the 32nd Dynasty which turned out to be the last of Egypt’s great dynasties. All of his male successors were called Ptolemy and all of his female successors were called Cleopatra.

As we move to the end of this Greek Dynasty, there was increasing involvement with the Roman Empire. The Roman civil war between Caesar and Pompeii indirectly involved Egypt. Pompeii lost this war and turned to Egypt for shelter and young Ptolemy (several generations below Ptolemy I) had him executed and delivered to Caesar. The young Ptolemy, thinking this would ingratiate him with Caesar was totally incorrect. His sister, Cleopatra, who was vying for the throne had other ways of ingratiating herself with Caesar - they had children together. Caesar was unfortunately assassinated while visiting Rome and his empire was divided up between General Marcus Antonious and his adopted son, Octavian. Marcus Antonious was better known as Marc Antony. Marc Antony took rulership of that part of the Empire that contained Egypt and that resulted in his inheriting Cleopatra. They, too, had children. His relationship with Octavian broke down and resulted in a war which Marc Antony lost. Antony was killed and Cleopatra committed suicide. Their male children were executed and their female children were probably married off to local princes. The Egyptian dynastic system was ended and a Roman Governorship was established.

During the Ptolemic dynasty, Egyptian and Greek languages were used simultaneously. During the Roman Governorship only Latin was used and occasionally Greek. Within a hundred years the Egyptian hieroglyphics were no longer used or understood by anyone and even the Roman authors of the time suggested that hieroglyphics was not even a language. In the truest sense this is now a dead language.

Ultimately the Roman Empire fell and the Middle Ages "came about". Nevertheless, there existed a constant contact between Europe and Egypt such that hieroglyphics were consistently known by the European elite. The reason for this is that medical practices of the Middle Ages resulted in the prescription of bitumen, ground up mummies as a cure for various kinds of diseases. Thus, there was a trade in whole mummies which resulted in examples of hieroglyphics coming into Europe throughout the Dark Ages.

As a result, there were some early attempts at translation of hieroglyphics. In 1633, a Jesuit priest named Anthanasius Kircher, whose specialities were the humanities, science, language and religion translated the word ‘autocrat’ or in Greek ‘autocratur’ into German and did so by substituting ideas for the images. His translation read "the originator of all moisture and all vegetation whose creative forces is brought into this kingdom by the holy mukta" (is this a ‘bureaucrat’?)

The history of the deciphering of the Egyptian hieroglyphics during the 16th and 17th centuries took small steps toward final interpretation. Some scholars thought that the hieroglyphics were the origin of other languages. Some believed that hieroglyphics spelled nothing at all. Yet others believed that the hieroglyphics were an indication of social stratification or social significance.

This speculation would have continued had not a political event interceded. The almost constant warfare between Britain and France resulted in a major change in the understanding of hieroglyphics. The French under Napoleon Bonaparte decided that they could defeat the British by attacking Egypt and subsequently controlling the rich food supply from along the Nile.

In August of 1798, 13 French ships landed near Alexandria at Aboukir Bay in Egypt and marched inland to fight the British near Cairo. The night before the battle, Napoleon exhorted his troops on by saying something like "Soldiers, from the tops of these pyramids, forty centuries are looking down at you." The French ground forces won the conflict but the British navy, under the command of Lord Horratio Nelson, defeated the French navy. Napoleon believed that he would be in Egypt for only a few months, but he and his men were stranded there for three years with no way to return home. Napoleon had brought with him between nearly 1000 civilians including 167 of whom were scientists, technicians, mathematicians and artists who studied the art, architecture, and culture of Egypt during their "extended vacation." From 1809-1828, they published a 19-volume work called Description of Egypt. Their observations, drawings and illustrations were circulated throughout Europe and created a tremendous interest in antiquities of Egypt.

The soldiers continued to "dig in" and they reconstructed forts as most soldiers had done during previous centuries by using building stones previously used by earlier peoples. In 1799, while extending a fortress near Rosetta, a small city near Alexandria, a young French officer named Pierre-Francois Bouchard found a block of black basalt stone. It measured three feet nine inches long, two feet four and half inches wide, and eleven inches thick and it contained three distinct bands of writing. The most incomplete was the top band containing hieroglyphics, the middle band was an Egyptian script called Demotic script (he did not know that), and the bottom was ancient Greek (he did recognize the bottom band). This stone was called the Rosetta Stone. He took the stone to the scholars and they realized that it was a royal decree that basically stated that it was to be written in the languages used in Egypt at the time. Scholars began to focus on the Demotic script, the middle band, because it was more complete and it looked more like letters than the pictures in the upper band that were hieroglyphics. It was essentially a shorthand hieroglyphics that had evolved from an earlier shorthand version of Egyptian called Heiratic script.

Material from Egypt was continuously coming into Europe. In order to display their status, the European gentry and nobility normally had some Egyptian relics in their possession, perhaps an art object on a table or if one were quite rich, they might have an obelisk in the front yard of the estate. Material containing hieroglyphics continued to enter Europe at a reasonably accelerated rate.

The first to make any sense of the Demotic script on the Rosetta Stone was a French scholar named Silvestre deSacy. deSacy was an important and skilled French linguist. He identified the symbols which comprised the word ‘Ptolemy’ and ‘Alexander’ thus, establishing a relationship between the symbols and sounds. Johann Akerblad who history records as a Swedish diplomat, looked at the Rosetta Stone with an additional knowledge of Coptic. Coptic was the language used by the Coptic church of Egypt, an early Christian group who preserved the language which was used as early as the 4^th century. Coptic was written with the Greek alphabet but utilizes seven additional symbols from the Demotic script. Akerblad’s knowledge of Coptic allowed him to identify the words for ‘love,’ ‘temple’ and ‘Greek’ thus, making it clear that the Demotic script was not only a phonetic script but it was also translatable.

The earliest translation of the Greek text on the Rosetta Stone into English was done by Reverend Stephen Weston in London in April 1802 before the Society of Antiquaries . About this time, both deSacy and Thomas Young, attempted to decipher the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone. Young was successful in determining that foreign names could not be represented by symbols because symbols are based upon the words used in a given language. Thus, foreign names had to be spelled phonetically. In hieroglyphics there are groups of symbols that are separated from other symbols. These encircled inscriptions are called cartouches. Thomas Young determined that the cartouches were proper names of people who were not Egyptian like the names of Ptolemy and Alexander which in Greek were Ptolemaios and Alexandrus. He successfully deciphered 5 cartouches. His publication on this matter was far reaching.

At this point there is involvement by a young French historian and linguist named Jean-Fracois Champollion. Champollion had mastered many Eastern languages. In 1807, Champollion went to study for two years with noted French linguist Francois Antoine-Isaac Silvestre deSacy. Later in his career, Champollion had compiled a Coptic dictionary and read Thomas Young in 1819. Looking at Young’s writing on the subject of hieroglyphics, he realized that what Young had actually proven was that all of hieroglyphics were phonetic, not just those hieroglyphics that were contained within the cartouches. Utilizing hieroglyphics from an estate at Kingston Lacey in Britain, Champollion correctly identified the names of Cleopatra and Alexandrus and verified Ptolemeus which had previously been identified by Young He published his results and continued his research. In 1822 new inscriptions from a temple at Abu Simbel on the Nile were introduced into Europe and Champollion had correctly identified the name of the pharaoh who had built the temple. That name was ‘Ramses.’ Utilizing his knowledge of Coptic he continued to successfully translate the hieroglyphics opening up an understanding of the Ancient Egyptians.

Hieroglyphic Technology

Hieroglyphic text processing programs allows script of hieroglyphics to be studied, analyzed, and edited by a computer. Two hieroglyphic text-processing programs are Glyph for Windows and MacScribe.

Glyph for Windows

Glyph for Windows is a hieroglyphic text-processing program designed for IBM-compatible computers. The program runs along with Microsoft Windows. With this program, hieroglyphic scripts can be easily processed and print out in sharp quality by any kind of printer, although laser printers produce the most fluent lines of hieroglyphics. Glyph for Windows looks similar to many Windows applications, with functions and options can be found in pulldown menus, dialog boxes, and hot keys.

Hieroglyphics are entered in the main window in code form. The codes are Gardiner numbers or the glyphs' phonetic value combined with codes that signify the position of the glyph. While code is entered into the main window, a bar on the bottom of the window shows the represented hieroglyphic on each respective line. The Egyptologist can easily edit or change codes that may be incorrect. The entire document can be viewed in hieroglyphic form in a separate pop-up window.

Glyph for Windows designed user-friendly for easy use by the most traditional Egyptologist. Glyph for Windows is able to produce lines or columns of text, both from left-to-right and from right-to-left. The program can process any sign, from simple groupings to complex. Signs can be shaded to represent damaged or partly lost signs. Also the program has the capability of creating cartouches, Serekhs and Hwt-enclosures.

MacScribe

MacScribe offers two major features. First, MacScribe is designed to work with Macintosh computers. Also, it allows the user to process hieroglyphics using internationally accepted hieroglyphic computer-encoding standards. Like Glyph for Windows, hieroglyphs can be entered using the signs' Gardiner number or phonetic value. However, they can also be entered by choosing them from a window using a mouse click.

Using MacScribe a sign can be rotated or inverted. It allows text to be formatted in lines or columns or from right-to-left or left-to-right. The codes for the hieroglyphics are hidden. Also, text can be export to other applications and programs. MacScribe is capable of using any Macintosh hieroglyphic font.

Genetic Archaeology

In the last 50 years archaeologists have been looking through old relics to try to tell the story of different peoples, now they are starting to use the people themselves. They are using mummified corpses and soft tissue from dead people and animals from places like Egypt. The tool they use from them is DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid), the scientist extract DNA molecules from soft preserved tissue and then using a PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) they duplicate the DNA up to several million times which then yields plenty for analysis. This was the first breakthrough, in 1989 research groups from England, Japan; France successfully removed DNA from preserved teeth, bones and hard tissue.

These findings can ultimately help in determining the genealogy of the Egyptian Kings and Queens because it is now possible to extract some of the major components of the makeup of these people. They can tell from the DNA of the Kings and Queens the possible lineage’s they possess. This means that maybe they can find out if one of these people was related to another and how they were. Because there was allot of intermarrying going on between brothers and sisters and some of the offspring will have the same DNA sequence which will then tell scientists who some of the unknown mummies are that were found in tombs along with others.

This will not only be useful in determining the lineage’s among kings and queens but it will also tell us about the commoners of the time, such as those that were found in a cemetery at Fag el Gamous in Fayum. They found multiple burials in a single grave, often two adults and one or more children or several children buried with a single adult. Up until now we would not know what these people died from but now with this new way of getting into their past it is possible to gage what type of diseases were present in their era and if they were possibly killed by them.

So far from these people they have determined that tuberculosis was present in this population, and it is likely that diseases such as cholera and malaria were present in that area. They were able to find this because it was possible to recover DNA fragments from pathogenic bacteria that were present in the remaining tissue.

The questions about Egypt are fascinating and with help from new advances in technology and science and medicine it will be possible to answer some of them and hopefully to unlock some of their secrets.

FIR'AWN WHO WAS DROWNED

(Deeds) after the manner of the people of Fir'awn and those before them: They treated as false the Signs of their Lord: so We destroyed them for their crimes, and We drowned the people of Fir'awn: for they were all oppressors and wrong-doers. (Surat al-Anfal: 54)

Ancient Egyptian Civilisation, along with other city states established in Mesopotamia at the same time, is known to be one of the oldest civilisations in the world and it is recognised to have been an organised state with the most advanced social order of its age. The facts that they discovered writing around the 3rd millennium BC and used it, that they made use of the river Nile and were protected against dangers abroad on account of the natural setting of the country, greatly contributed to the Egyptians improving their civilisation.

But this "civilised" society was one in which "the reign of pharaohs" prevailed, which is the system of denial mentioned in the clearest and most straightforward way in the Qur'an. They puffed up with pride, turned aside and blasphemed. In the end, neither their advanced civilisations, their social and political orders, nor their military successes could save them from being destroyed.

The Authority of the Pharaohs

The Egyptian civilisation was based on the fertility of the River Nile. Egyptians had settled in the Nile valley due to the abundant water of this river, and because they could cultivate the land with the water supplied by the river without being dependent on rainy seasons.

The historian Ernst H. Gombrich states in his writing that Africa is very hot and sometimes it does not rain there at all for months. For this reason, many areas in this huge continent are extremely dry. Those parts of the continent are covered with vast desert. Both sides of the River Nile are also covered with deserts, and it hardly rains in Egypt. But in this country, rain is not needed so much, because the River Nile runs right down the middle of the whole country. 1

So, whoever has control of the River Nile, which is of such great importance, is also able to control Egypt's biggest source of commerce and agriculture. The pharaohs were able to establish their dominance over Egypt in this way.

The narrow and vertical form of the Nile valley did not allow residential units situated around the river to expand much, and therefore Egyptians formed a civilisation made up of small-scaled towns and villages instead of big cities. This factor also fortified the dominance of the pharaohs over their people.

King Menes is known to be the first Egyptian Pharaoh who united the whole of ancient Egypt, for the first time in history, in a united state around the 3rd millennium BC. In fact, the term "pharaoh" originally referred to the palace where the Egyptian king lived, but in time, it became the title of Egyptian kings. This is why the kings, who were rulers of Old Egypt started to be called "pharaohs".

Being owners, administrators and rulers of the whole state and its lands, these pharaohs were accepted as reflections of the biggest god in the distorted polytheistic religion of old Egypt. The administration of Egyptian lands, their division, their income, in short, all the estates, services and production within the country's borders were managed on behalf of the pharaoh.
The absolutism in the regime had furnished the pharaoh ruling the country with such a power that he could have anything he wished. Right at the establishment of the first dynasty, at the time of Menes who became the first King of Egypt by uniting Upper and Lower Egypt, the River Nile started to be delivered to the public through canals. Beside that, production was taken under control and the entire production of goods and services were assigned to the king. The king distributed and shared these goods and services in the proportions his people needed. It was not hard for the kings, who had established such a power in the region, to reduce the people to submission.

The King of Egypt, or with his future name, the pharaoh, was looked upon as a holy being who held great power and met all the needs of his people: and he was transformed into a god. The Pharaohs definitely believed in time that they were indeed gods.

Some of the words the pharaoh mentioned in the Qur'an used during his conversation with Musa prove that they held this belief. He tried to intimidate Musa by saying "If thou dost put forward any god other than me, I will certainly put thee in prison!" (Surat ash-Shuara: 29), and he said to the people around him "no god do I know for you but myself" (Surat al-Qasas: 38). He said all this because he regarded himself as a god.

Religious Beliefs

According to the historian Herodotus, the Ancient Egyptians were the most "devout" people in the world. However, their religion was not the religion of Truth, but a perverse polytheistic one and they could not abandon their perverse religion because of their extreme conservatism.

The Ancient Egyptians were largely influenced by the natural environment in which they lived. The natural geography of Egypt protected the country against external attacks perfectly. Egypt was surrounded by deserts, mountainous lands and seas on all sides. Attacks likely to be made on the country had two possible routes and it was very simple for the Egyptians to defend those routes. The Egyptians remained isolated from the external world thanks to these natural factors. But passing centuries transformed this isolation into a dark bigotry. Thus the Egyptians acquired a viewpoint which was locked against new developments and novelties, and which was extremely conservative about their religion. The "religion of their ancestors" mentioned frequently in the Qur'an became their most important value.

This is why Fir'awn and his close circle turned their backs on Musa and Harun when they announced the Religion of Truth to them, by saying: "Hast thou come to us to turn us away from the ways we found our fathers following - in order that thou and thy brother may have greatness in the land? But not we shall believe in you!" (Surah Yunus: 78)

The religion of Ancient Egypt was divided into branches, the most important of which were the official religion of the state, the beliefs of the people and belief in life after death.

According to the state's official religion, the pharaoh was a holy being. He was a reflection of the people's gods on earth and his purpose was to dispense justice and protect them on earth.
The beliefs widespread among people were extremely complicated, and the elements in item which clashed with the state's official religion were oppressed by the reigns of the Pharaohs. Basically, they believed in many gods, and these gods were usually depicted as having animal heads on human bodies. But it was also possible to meet with local traditions which differed from region to region.

Life after death made up the most important part of Egyptian belief. They believed that the soul went on living after the body died. According to this, the souls of the dead were brought by particular angels to the God who was a Judge and forty-two other witness judges, a scale was set in the middle and the heart of the soul was weighed in this scale. Those with more goodness passed on to a beautiful setting and lived in happiness, those with more wickedness were sent to a place where they were subject to great torments. There, they were tormented throughout eternity by a strange creature called the "The Dead Eater".

The belief of the Egyptians in the Hereafter clearly shows a parallelism with the monotheistic belief and the religion of Truth. Even their belief in the hereafter alone proves that the religion of truth and the message had reached ancient Egyptian civilisation, but that this religion was later corrupted, and monotheism was turned into polytheism. It is already known that warners calling people to the unity of Allah and summoning them to be His slaves were sent in Egypt from time to time, as they were to all the earth's peoples at one time or another. One of these was the prophet Yusuf whose life is told in detail in the Qur'an. The history of Yusuf is also extremely important because it includes the arrival of the Children of Israel in Egypt and their settlement there.

On the other hand, in the historical resources, there are references to some Egyptians who invited people to monotheistic religions even before Musa. One of them is the most interesting pharaoh in the history of Egypt, that is, Amenhotep IV .

The Monotheistic Pharaoh Amenhotep IV

The Egyptian pharaohs were generally brutal, oppressive, belligerent and ruthless people. In general, they adopted the polytheistic religion of Egypt and deified themselves through this religion.

But there is a pharaoh in Egyptian history who is very different from the others. This pharaoh defended belief in a single Creator and was subjected to great resistance by the priests of Ammon, who profited from the polytheistic religion, and some soldiers who supported them, and so he was finally killed. This pharaoh was Amenhotep IV who rose to power in the 14th Century BC.

When Amenhotep IV was enthroned in 1375 BC, he came across a conservatism and traditionalism which had been lingering for centuries. Until then, the structure of the society and the relations of the public with the royal palace had carried on without any change. The society kept all its doors firmly shut to all external events and religious innovations. This extreme conservatism, also remarked by ancient Greek travellers, was caused by the natural geographical conditions of Egypt as we have explained above.

Imposed on people by the pharaohs, the official religion required an unconditional faith in everything old and traditional. But Amenhotep IV did not adopt the official religion. The historian Ernst Gombrich writes;

He (Amenhotep IV) broke with many of the customs hallowed by an age-old tradition. He did not wish to pay homage to the many strangely shaped gods of his people. For him only one god was supreme, Aton, whom he worshipped and whom he had represented in the shape of the sun. He called himself Akhenaton, after his god, and he moved his court out of reach of the priests of the other gods, to a place which is now called El-Amarna2

After the death of his father, young Amenhotep IV was subjected to great pressure. This oppression was caused by the fact that he developed a religion based on monotheism by changing the traditional polytheistic religion of Egypt, and attempting to make radical changes in all fields. But the leaders of Thebes did not allow him to convey the message of this religion. Amenhotep IV and his folk moved away from the city of Thebes and settled in Tell-El-Amarna. Here, they established a new and modern city named "Akh-et-aton". Amenhotep IV changed his name which meant "Contentment of Amon" to Akh-en-aton, which meant "Submitting to Aton". Amon was the name given to the greatest totem in Egyptian polytheism. According to Amenhotep, Aton is the "creator of the heavens and the earth", his equating the name with Allah.

Disturbed by these developments, the priests of Ammon wanted to snatch Akhenaton's power by profiting from an economic crisis in the country. Akhenaton was finally killed by being poisoned by conspirators. Succeeding pharaohs were careful to stay under the influence of the priests.

After Akhenaton, pharaohs with a military background came to power. These again caused the old traditional polytheism to become widespread and spent a considerable effort to return to the past. Nearly a century later, Ramses II, who was to have the longest rule in the history of Egypt, came to the throne. According to many historians, Ramses was the pharaoh tormenting the Children of Israel and fighting against Musa.

The History of Egyptology

Napoleon I and Vivant Denon paved the way in the discovery of Egypt in archeology. On July 2, 1798 Napoleon stepped onto Egyptian soil after leaving France. He was on his way to seize British lands in India but came upon resistence from British Naval forces.

After spending nineteen days in the desert of Egypt, Napoleon and his men, came across the Nile and the city of Cairo. On the horizon in silhouettes were shadowy figures that were later to be known as the Pyramids of Giza. These symbols were of a lost society, formed and prospering before the birth of Islam. Napoleon's response was of ecstatic proportions, "Soldiers, forty centuries are looking down upon you!"

The discovery of Egypt awoke a political and scientific interest. While Napoleon was busy running Egypt, Denon, an artist, was busy and enthralled with capturing the essence and archeological importance of Egypt through the use of his paper and crayons. He was giving the world a visual record of Egypt while scholars and scientists were examining and cataloging all that they could find. During his findings a key to the Egyptian myteries was discovered. This piece was a black basalt stele known as the Rosetta Stoneconsisting of three bands of writing.

In September of 1801 the French were forced to turn over the collection of Pharaonic antiquities to England aftrer they captured Alexandria. The pieces were then transported and housed in the British Museum by order of George III. Despite loses of the original findings; France had its resources. As pieces were unveiled a copy was produced thus allowing French scholars to continue their studies. The first to make use of these findings was Denon who published, "Voyage dans la Haute et la Basse Egypte". Between the years of 1809 and 1813 the works of Jomard were published. These works, "Description de l'Egypte," were a unique step in archaeological history.

Although Caroline, Napoleon's sister, was excavating Pompeii there was still a problem. The scholars were learning rudiments of archaeology and were trying to decode the hieroglyphics. Even though they had the Description filled with drawings, descriptions and copies, they could not decipher their meaning successfully. It was found to be "scientifically unsolvable" by De Sacy. It wasn't until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone by a French soldier under Napoleon that gave some hope of unlocking the mystery of the writings. The only problem was that there was no one to decode the stone at the time. It wasn't until the findings of the Rosetta Stone were published in an Egyptian newspaper that a boy found and twenty years later deciphered.

This man of unknown genius was Jean-Francois Champollion. He was especially interested in foreign languages and studied Arabic and Coptic, among others. In 1808, on August 30, he sent his findings to his brother. The findings contained evidence that he was able to find the correct value of individual characters on one line. Later in 1822 he published "Letter to M. Dacier in regard to Alphabet of the Phonetic Hieroglyphs," in which he proved his ability to unlock the mysteries of the Rosetta Stone.

Although excavation success was never apart of his resume', Champollion did lead an expedition through Egypt from July 1828 to December 1829. During this time he proved his hypothesis to be true. He also corrected past errors of classifying architecture in the ruins of Memphis and errors in the dating of artifacts. Despite his genius in unlocking the Rosetta Stone, he would not receive true recognition until 1896; Sir Peter le Page Renouf gave an address to the Royal Society of London on Champollion's theories. It was this act that caused them to pay homage to Champollion sixty-five years after his death and opened the long process of excavating Egypt.

The formal introduction of Egyptological thought starts with Mariette, a French archaeologist, who discovered the tomb of the Apis Bull. Mariette arrived in Egypt in 1854 in order to translate hieroglyphic texts, but on a hunch began the search for the temple of Serapis. Mariette’s hunch that the temple lay within the saqqara of Memphis, proved to be correct. After finding the tomb of the Apis Bull, Mariette was appointed as Conservator of Monuments in Egypt in 1858, and became the director of the Antiquities Service. The aim of the Service of Antiquities was to create a museum in Cairo where Egyptian monuments and treasures could be exhibited, this was achieved with the founding of the Boulaq Museum.

Maspero, was to continue Mariette’s work. Maspero was Director General of the Antiquities Service from 1881 until 1914. Maspero founded the French Mission, a permanent establishment which was to be a base for the publication of papers and monuments, and for the education of students of Egyptology. The Antiquities Service allocated excavation permits and gave many Egyptology students firsthand knowledge of ancient Egypt. Previously, the education had been limited to exhibits in foreign museums. In addition, the early Antiquities Service allowed archaeologists to keep a percentage of their findings. It has not been until recent times that the Antiquities Service itself, no longer operated under a foreign administration, has stopped the practice of giving archaeologists a percentage of their finds. This ended the ancient days of grave robbing which the study of Egypt was founded upon.

The nineteenth century brought with it many explorations of ancient Egypt. These explorations included the pyramids of Giza, as well as the other minor pyramids, such as the pyramid of Meidum, the Saqqara pyramid, and the Mastabas. A new door of scholarship had dawned upon the egyptological scheme. With it came a multitude of translated texts, as well as many amazing discoveries of the pyramids and its kingdoms. Many of these discoveries have yielded a broad range of knowledge from a variety of scholars. Margaret Murray, William Flinders Petrie, and others all aided in the establishment of Egyptology as a science, applying scientific techniques to the study of Egypt. Such techniques stemmed from scientific interest in the subject rather than an interest in grave robbing and collecting artifacts.

Flinders Petrie spent from 1880 - 1883 studying and excavating the Great Pyramid of Giza. Because of his care and meticulous field methods, Petrie became known as one of the great innovators of the scientific methods in archaeological excavation. In 1884, Petrie discovered fragments of the collassal statue of Ramses II during his excavations of the Temple of Tanis.

The twentieth century brough another flourish of interest in Egyptology. In October of 1891 at the age of 17, Howard Carter set sail for Alexandria, Egypt, which was his first journey outside of Britain. His first project was at Bani Hassan, the gravesite of the Sovereign Princes of Middle Egypt during 2000 B.C. Carter’s task was to record and copy the scenes from the walls of the tomb. At this early age, Howard Carter was a diligent worker with much enthusiasm. He would work the day through and then sleep with the bats in the tomb.

Later, he was privileged to work for Flinders Petrie, a strong field director and one of the most credible archaeologists of his time. Petrie believed Carter would never become a good excavator, but Carter proved him wrong when he unearthed several important finds at the site of el Amarna, the Capital of Egypt during the sovereignty of Akhenaten. Under Petrie’s demanding tutorage, Carter became an archaeologist, while keeping up with his artistic skills. He sketched many of the unusual artifacts found at el Amarna.

Carter was later appointed Principle Artist to the Egyptian Exploration Fund for the excavations of Deir el Babri, the burial place of Queen Hatshepsut. At the age of 25, Carter was offered the job of Inspector General of Monuments for Upper Egypt by the Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, Gaston Maspero, in 1899. Carter’s responsibilities included supervising and controlling archaeology along the Nile Valley.

Carter’s employment at the Egyptian Antiquities Service came to an end in an unfortunate incident between the Egyptian site guards and a number of drunken French tourists. The incident gave Carter a black mark and caused him to be posted to the Nile Delta town of Tanta, a place with very little archaeological involvement. This forced Carter to resign from the Antiquities Service in 1905. Carter sustained a hard existence after resigning from the Antiquities Service. He had to make a living by working as a commercial watercolorist or sometimes a guide for tourists. This lifestyle continued until around 1908 when Carter was introduced to the Fifth Lord Carnarvon by Gaston Maspero. The partnership proceeded happily, as each partner’s personality seemed to compliment the others.

Carter became the Supervisor of the Excavations funded by Carnarvon in Thebes and by 1914 Carnarvon owned one of the most valuable collections of Egyptian artifacts held in private hands. However, Howard Carter had still more ambitious aspirations. He had his eye on finding the tomb of a fairly unknown pharaoh at the time, King Tutankhamun, after various clues to its existence had been found, Carter tore up the Valley of the Kings looking for Tutankhamun’s burial place, but season after season produced little more than a few artifacts. Carnarvon was becoming dissatisfied with the lack of return from his investment and, in 1922, he gave Carter one more season of funding to find the tomb.

Howasrd Carter's work on King Tutankhamun's tomb began on November 1, 1922. It took only three days before the top of a staircase was unearthed. Almost three weeks later the staircase was entirely excavated and the full side of the plaster block was visible. By November 26, the first plaster block was removed, the chip filling the corridor was emptied, and the second plaster was ready to be taken apart. At about 4 P.M. that day, Carter broke through the second plaster block and made one of the discoveries of the century, the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

The tomb’s artifacts took a decade to catalogue. During this time, Lord Carvarvon died in Cairo of pneumonia. After the media got wind of the treasures of King Tutankhamun and the death of Lord Carnarvon, the hype about a mummy’s curse set the media on fire. Much to Carter’s displeasure, letters poured in from spiritualist from around the world, selling advice and warnings from "beyond the grave."

Finally, the artifacts were sent to the Cairo Museum and the corpse of the young king was studied and laid back to rest. After his work was done with King Tutankhamun, Carter no longer worked in the field. He retired from the archaeology business. He took up the pursuit of collecting Egyptian antiquities and, indeed, became a very successful collector. Often, toward the end of his life, he could be found at the Winter Palace Hotel at Luxor, sitting by himself in willful isolation. He returned to England and in 1939, at the age of 65, Howard Carter died.

Kent Weeks has an ongoing project that has produced a wealth of archaeological information and helped to generate interest in the general field of Egyptology among the public. One of the largest finds of the project has been the rediscovery of Valley of the Kings number five (KV5). KV5 revealed the tombs of the sons of Rameses II.(4) The discovery of KV5 has helped Weeks and his team uncover mummies, jewelry, and other artifacts that have helped advance Egyptology into the twenty first century. Weeks wrote a book entitled The Lost Tomb, published in 1998, that details many of the findings of KV5.

Within the present time, Egyptology has utilized many new technologies and techniques in excavations. There has also been many new discussions and theories concerning Ancient Egypt. These discussions, have been on topics such as: the age and construction of the Sphinx, the interpretation of papyrus, the lay out of the pyramids of Giza (their relation to astronomical phenomena), the lineage and ancient histories of Egypt, the role of women in ancient Egypt, the study of Egyptian religion, and in a wider sense have emphasized the culture of ancient Egypt. In addition, Egyptology is no longer predominated by foreign interests as it was by the French, and English in the beginning of the discipline. As the modern age has progressed, Egypt has taken back much of it’s own history. In doing so Egypt has established itself as the center for the serious study of Ancient Egypt and Egyptology.

ANCIENT EGYPT: A MAGNIFICENT CIVILIZATION - II

A Construction Technology Full of Secrets

The most important structures built in Ancient Egypt, which visitors today still gaze at in wonder, are the mysterious pyramids. The most magnificent of these if the Great Pyramid, regarded as the largest stone edifice constructed in the world to date. Various theories as to how this pyramid was built have been put forward by historians and archeologists since the time of Herodotus. Some people have maintained that slaves were used in the construction of the pyramid and that several different techniques were employed, from the ramp technique to a terraced pyramid. The picture that emerges from these methods is this:

- If this pyramid had been built by slaves, then the number of slaves working on it would be extraordinarily high, in the region of 240,000.
- If there were a ramp built to construct the pyramid, then it would have taken some eight years to dismantle the ramp after the pyramid had been completed. This, according to the Danish civil engineer Garde-Hanson, is a ridiculous theory, because once the ramp had been torn down giant rough blocks would have been left over, which we could see everywhere around. Yet no such evidence is to be seen anywhere. i

Stating that Garde-Hanson has considered aspects underestimated by other theoreticians, Moustafa Gadalla, in his book Historical Deception: The Untold Story of Ancient Egypt, goes on to say:

Try to visualize the staggering figures as you visit the pyramid: 4,000 year-round quarrymen producing 330 blocks per day. During inundation season, 4,000 blocks per day are transported to the Nile, ferried across, hauled up the ramp to the Giza plateau, and set into place in the core – a rate of 6.67 blocks per minute! Imagine 6.67 blocks every 60 seconds!!! ii

- In addition to all this, bearing in mind the fact that the surface area of each of the pyramid’s faces is some 5.5 acres, then some 115,000 casing stones were needed for each surface. These stones have been so scrupulously laid in place that the gaps between them are too small even to permit a piece of paper to fit between them. iii

All this is some of the information that shows that the secrets regarding the construction of the pyramids have still not been resolved by modern science and technology.

Striking facts about the Pyramid of Giza

Some of the mathematical research onto the pyramids at Giza has shown that the Ancient Egyptians possessed a highly developed knowledge of mathematics and geometry. According to these calculations, in addition to their knowledge of mathematics and geometry, the people who planned the pyramids must also have known about the measurements of the Earth, its circumference, its axis, and the angle of tilt of that axis. This information about the pyramids, the construction of which began around 2500 BC, is even more striking when one considers that they were built some 2000 years before the great mathematicians Pythagorus, Archimedes and Euclid:

- The angles of the Great Pyramid divides the Nile delta into two equal halves.
- The three pyramids at Giza have been arranged so as to make a Pythagorean triangle, forming sides with ratios of 3-4-5.
- The ratio between the height of the pyramid and its circumference is equivalent to that between the radius of a circle and its circumference.
- The pyramid is a giant solar clock. The shadows it casts between the middle of October and the beginning of March show the seasons and the length of the year. The length of the stone pillars around the pyramid is equivalent to the length of one day’s shadow.
- The length of a normal side of the rectangular base of the pyramid is equivalent to 365.342 Egyptian cubits (a unit of measurement of the time). This is very close to the number of days in a solar year (this has been calculated at 365.224 days).
- The distance between the Great Pyramid and the center of the Earth is equivalent to that between the North Pole and the pyramid.
- In the pyramid, the ratio of the height to twice the length of the base is the number Pi.
- The total surface area of the four faces of the pyramid is equal to the square of its height. iv

If One Wished to Rebuild the Pyramids…

In 1978 the Indiana Limestone Institute of America Inc. (the largest and most expert body in the world regarding limestone) carried out a study regarding what size workforce and what kind of materials would be needed if one were to build a pyramid similar to the Great Pyramid. The result was thought-provoking. The company officials described the difficulty involved: They note that if they raise the potential force to the maximum, which means raising present-day production three-fold, quarrying and transferring such a quantity of limestone would take 27 years. In addition, all this work can be done using advanced American technology, in other words hydraulic hammers and electrical crystal-headed saws. This enormous effort will be used solely to quarry and transport the limestone. This does not include the laboratory tests necessary for the building of the Great Pyramid, nor other such preparatory work. v

So how were these giant pyramids built in Ancient Egypt? By what power, with what machinery, by what techniques were the rock terraces set out? By what means were the rock tombs carved out? How was lighting provided during construction? (No staining or soot has been found on the walls or ceilings of the pyramids and tombs.) How were blocks of stone removed from the quarries, and how were the different shaped faces of the blocks arranged? How were these blocks, weighing several tons, transported, and how were they put together to an accuracy of 1/1000 of a centimeter? The list of questions could be a lot longer. Can these questions be answered in a logical and rational way through the evolutionist misconception of the history of mankind? Of course, not.

With its art, medicine and culture, Ancient Egypt was a giant civilization. The works left behind by the Ancient Egyptians, the medical therapies they used and the accumulated knowledge and experience they possessed are some of the most important proofs of this. Some scientists today are even able to claim that the works produced by the Egyptians, for whom, according to the evolution of history thesis, the building of the pyramids must have been exceedingly difficult, were actually made by beings from space.

Of course the claim that “ visitors from space built the pyramids” is an exceptionally irrational and illogical one that evolutionists hide behind since even with all their demagoguery they are unable to provide a better explanation. First and foremost, there is not the slightest evidence to support this claim. When evolutionists realize that they cannot produce an explanation based on chance or the evolutionary process, they immediately hide behind the idea of “visitors from space.” Indeed, they came up with this ridiculous claim when they realized that the DNA in the cell nucleus and the first protein, which represents the fundamental building block of life, had far too complex and extraordinary a structure to have come about by chance from inanimate substances: “visitors from space brought the fist living organism to the Earth and left it behind.” The ridiculous nature of this claim, which is put forward by various evolutionist scientists, is of course one of the signs of the despairing position they find themselves in.

The civilization in Egypt and all the other civilizations down the course of history were all founded by people possessed of reason and will. We today express our amazement when we examine artifacts dating back to 3000 BC, and scientists and experts in the field debate and research how these could have been brought into existence. But what really matters is this: the civilization of 5000 years ago, the traces of which can be seen in Egypt today, was of course built with the experience and knowledge accumulated over thousands of years. In other words, the roots of this civilization go even further back. Therefore, in the very earliest times there were no primitive, half-animal humans lacking the power of speech, and living solely by hunting, as is claimed by evolutionists and other believers in the evolution of history. Ever since the first human being was created, man has had the same human characteristics, such as intelligence, conception of beauty, understanding, consciousness and moral values, as modern man today.

ANCIENT EGYPT: A MAGNIFICENT CIVILIZATION - I

Ancient Egypt is one of the most magnificent civilizations founded by man thousands of years ago. The Ancient Egyptians attained very high levels of medicine, science and art, and left hundreds of works behind them. They possessed more knowledge and experience than would have been possible were they the continuation of a primitive society. The levels achieved by the Egyptians have still not been achieved in many parts of the world today. In various parts of Africa, certain regions of South America, and various parts of Asia, and even in Egypt itself, a life way beyond the general level of civilization is still led. The civilization of Ancient Egypt, which registered such great successes in medicine, especially anatomy, urban planning, architecture, fine arts and textiles, is today studied by scientists with great awe and amazement.

The Origin of Medicine in Ancient Egypt

The level of development achieved by medicine in Ancient Egypt is quite amazing. Findings obtained from excavations have amazed both archaeologists and many historians because no historian expected such a highly developed technology in a civilization that existed in the 3000s BC.

It has been revealed, using X-ray analysis of mummies, that brain surgery was performed in Ancient Egypt. i What is more, these operations were carried out using highly professional techniques. When mummy skulls that underwent surgery are examined it can be seen that the sites of the surgery have been cut very neatly. Skull bones that have fused back together have been found, proving that these people survived after such operations. ii

Another example concerns various medicines. Giant strides were made in medicine in the 19th century due to the rapid progress made in experimental science. The discovery of antibiotics was one of the greatest advances made in that century. Yet the word “discovery” is not strictly accurate, because many of these techniques had already been known to the Ancient Egyptians. iii

One of the most important works showing just how advanced the Egyptians were in science and anatomy is without doubt the mummies they left behind them. The Egyptians used hundreds of different techniques in the process of mummification.

The mummification process that permits the bodies of living things to be preserved for thousands of years is actually a highly complex one. In essence, the technique employed by the Egyptians is this:

Firstly, the brain and some of the internal organs of the deceased were removed using special instruments. The next stage in the mummification procedure involved dehydrating the body for 40 days with natron. (Natron is a mineral salt, primarily a mixture of sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate with small amounts of sodium chloride and sodium sulfate.) The excess body fluids were drained away and then the body cavity was stuffed with linen, sand or sawdust. The skin was anointed with special herbal preparations and then coated with molten resin to further preserve it. Finally the body was carefully wrapped in linen bandages. iv

The Egyptians’ mummification techniques were applied not only to human beings but also to animals. Archaeological findings and mummification techniques in particular show that medicine in Ancient Egypt was highly advanced. In addition, it must not be forgotten that mummification, carried out without damaging the shape of the body and by extracting all the deceased’s internal organs, shows that the people who performed it possessed a sufficient knowledge of anatomy to know to position of all the various organs.

Many medical techniques and implements used by the Egyptians 5000 years ago apart from for mummification have also been unearthed during excavations. The details of these may be listed as follows:

- The priests involved in medicine in Egypt treated all kinds of disease in their temples. Just as today, Egyptian doctors specialized in various fields of medicine. Every doctor had his own branch. Expert physicians in provided services, from eye doctors to dentists.

- Doctors in Egypt were supervised by the state. If the patient failed to recover or died, the state would investigate the reasons and determine whether or not the method of treatment employed by the doctor conformed to the rules. If any oversight had taken place during treatment this was identified and doctors punished within the framework of the law.

- Every temple possessed a well-equipped laboratory in which medicines were prepared and stored.

- The first steps in pharmacology and examples of the use of bandages and compresses go back to Ancient Egyptian times. The Smith Papyrus described how adhesive strips made out of linen were used to heal wounds. Linen was also an ideal material for making bandages.

- Archaeological findings have revealed a detailed picture of medical practices. In addition, the names and titles of more than 100 doctors specializing in their own fields have been discovered.

- A cavity was made in a relief on the wall of another temple in Kom Ombo and a box of surgical instruments placed inside it. This box contained a pair of large metal scissors, surgical knives, saws, probes, spatulas, small hooks and pincers.

- The techniques employed were numerous and varied. Breaks and fractures were set together, splints employed and wounds closed up with stitches. Breaks treated with great success can be found in most mummies.

- Although no trace of surgical sutures has been found in mummies there are 13 references to wound suturing in the Smith Papyrus (which is wholly concerned with medicine). This indicates that the Egyptians managed proper wound suturing, in which a linen thread was employed. The needles were in all probability made out of copper.

- Egyptian doctors were able to distinguish between sterile wounds and infected ones. They used a mixture of goat fat, fir oil and crushed peas to clean infected wounds.

- The discovery of penicillin and antibiotics was made relatively recently. However, the Ancient Egyptians used the first organic versions of these therapies. In addition, the Egyptians were familiar with different types of antibiotic. They wrote prescriptions suited to various types of disease. v

As we have seen, Egyptian civilization took major strides forward in the field of medicine, developing methods of treatment and training expert doctors. In addition to these successes in medicine, excavations have also revealed that the Egyptians were very interested in such subjects as urban planning and architecture.

An Advanced Level of Mathematics

Numbers were used in Ancient Egypt from very early times. Papyruses from 2000 BC that describe mathematical problems have been found. These documents are known as the Kahun, Berlin and Rhind papyruses. These documents state, with examples, the bases on which measurements are made. The Egyptians made use of Pythagorus’s Theorem, and knew that a triangle whose sides measure 3-4-5 is a right-angle triangle, in their construction measurements. vi

In addition, the Egyptians knew the difference between planets and stars. They added the stars, which are very hard to see, to their studies of astronomy.

On the other hand, since the Egyptians’ lives were dependent on the rising and falling of the Nile, they constantly had to measure and check it. Their ruler had a “Nilometer” made to record the rise and fall of the waters of the Nile, and appointed officials for the purpose.vii

The Egyptians’ knowledge of medicine, urban planning, and engineering and how it should be put into practice are just a few of the proofs that they possessed an exceptionally advanced civilization. This knowledge and the measures they implemented once again overturn the thesis, advocated by evolutionists, that “societies progress from a primitive state to a civilized one.” A society that existed 5000 years ago possessed a more advanced level of civilization than some communities living in the same place in our own day: that is something that cannot be explained in terms of evolution. There is also no doubt that at the time when the Egyptians were enjoying that advanced civilization there were more backward civilizations and people living in more primitive conditions in other parts of the world. Yet none of these had any less-then-human- features, nor any supposedly ape-like ones. The Ancient Egyptians, other people living in primitive conditions at the same period as them and human communities that existed hundreds of thousands of years ago, as well as modern man, have all been entirely human in all respects. Some communities may have lived in more advanced conditions and others in more backward ones, but this does not show, as Darwinists maintain, that they are a species descended from animals or that one group evolved from another. Such an interpretation is a violation of reason and logic.