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00:00It was one of the greatest civilizations on Earth, but its secrets lay hidden.
00:13All that was left of ancient Egypt were the crumbling remains of its stunning monuments.
00:19But why they were built, and who built them, remained a mystery.
00:30The answer surely lay here, in the sacred texts of the pharaohs, the hieroglyphs.
00:44For centuries, scholars had struggled to crack the code.
00:48All of them had failed.
00:56In the end, it would take a war to help solve the mystery.
01:00On one side, Napoleon Bonaparte, the most feared warrior in Europe.
01:09On the other, the might of the British Empire.
01:15But long after the guns went silent, the battle over the hieroglyphs would rage on between two of Europe's most brilliant minds.
01:23From France, a poor country boy, a genius of language.
01:28Test me. Go on.
01:29All right.
01:30Chair.
01:30Say.
01:31Table.
01:32Sochi.
01:32Bed.
01:33Lol.
01:34His name, Jean-Francois Champollion.
01:37If this is right, then so am I.
01:40And from England, the most brilliant mind of a generation.
01:44Where do you start?
01:46Mathematics.
01:47Urbane and rational.
01:49The celebrated scientist, Thomas Young.
01:52The heads must face the start of the word.
01:53The heads must face the start of the word.
01:55That's how we know which way to read them.
02:01This was to be a duel with much more than just personal pride at stake.
02:06Well, remember, we cannot possibly let the French beat us to it.
02:11I shall translate the hieroglyphs.
02:13That'll be my revenge on those English barbarians.
02:15The most important clue was a stone covered in strange writing.
02:20Both men believed they could unlock its secrets.
02:23Here it is.
02:24The hieroglyph for priests.
02:26Only one of them would succeed.
02:52When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798,
02:56he did more than just conquer a country.
02:59He uncovered a lost civilization.
03:02Egypt had been virtually closed to Europeans for centuries.
03:06And when the French saw the pyramids of Giza,
03:09they were astonished.
03:12Four and a half thousand years after its construction,
03:16the Great Pyramid was still the tallest building in the world.
03:20Everything about this ancient culture seemed extraordinary.
03:26Over here!
03:39Come and take a look at this!
03:41What do you think it is?
03:52Different scripts on one stone.
03:55Why would they do that?
04:00This is Greek!
04:01We can read this!
04:03There were three inscriptions on the stone.
04:10The mysterious ancient hieroglyphs at the top.
04:14Then another unknown text.
04:17And at the bottom, ancient Greek.
04:21This was a unique find.
04:23Although the first two texts were unreadable,
04:26Greek was a well-known language
04:28and could be easily translated.
04:39Along with his soldiers,
04:41Napoleon had taken an army of scholars
04:43to unravel Egypt's ancient culture,
04:47including antiquarians, artists, and linguists.
04:50It says here that all three scripts
05:01are saying the same thing.
05:06So by translating the Greek,
05:08they would know what the hieroglyphs said.
05:11But there were problems.
05:13And the first one was Horatio Nelson.
05:15At the Battle of the Nile in August 1798,
05:27Nelson had attacked the French fleet at Alexandria
05:29and ripped it to shreds,
05:33trapping the French in Egypt.
05:36After three years of siege,
05:38the British finally ran the French out of Egypt.
05:41Now, everything France had gained
05:47belonged to Britain and her allies.
05:56We agree, General Manoux,
05:58that your scientists may keep all their notes,
06:00drawings, and papers.
06:02But I must make clear
06:03that the antiquities you have seized
06:04may not leave the country with you.
06:07And that includes the stone.
06:09Stone? What's stone?
06:11That stone?
06:13No, I'm sorry.
06:15That particular stone doesn't belong to the Republic.
06:18It's mine, personally.
06:20I bought it from a local trader.
06:22Perhaps you could provide us with a bill of sale.
06:24Eh.
06:31The French had, however,
06:33thought to make copies of the stone.
06:35Their finest linguists and codebreakers in Paris
06:38were already trying to crack it.
06:41Most notably, an academic called Sylvester de Sassy.
06:50But its meaning eluded him.
06:52As far as he could work out,
06:54the hieroglyphs were mystical symbols.
06:56But far away in the provinces,
07:09a child prodigy, Jean-Francois Champollion,
07:10was growing up.
07:12Although too poor for a privileged education,
07:15his elder brother encouraged his gift for languages.
07:18And by the time he was 13,
07:20Champollion spoke six ancient tongues.
07:23From childhood, he was fascinated by the question
07:26of when the first civilisation began.
07:29Good day at school?
07:32No.
07:33Boring.
07:34That's four thousand,
07:36three hundred,
07:38then what's...
07:39pronounced it?
07:41No.
07:42I've done it.
07:43I've worked out the age of the world.
07:45And how do you manage that?
07:47Easy.
07:48Genesis chapter five.
07:49I counted back through all the ancestors of Noah,
07:52wrote back to Adam,
07:53and they lit up their ages.
07:55So, how old is it?
07:59Four thousand, three hundred and twenty-seven.
08:05I think.
08:08As Champollion grew up,
08:11he began to believe the answer
08:13lay in the ancient hieroglyphs.
08:15Stop it.
08:16Those shoes have got to last.
08:18You're the fussiest brother in the world.
08:19I can be angry, can't I?
08:20The stone was discovered by France.
08:23We had copies of the inscription.
08:25It's not the same thing.
08:26How do you know if a copy is accurate?
08:28I wanted to see the stone,
08:29to touch it.
08:30My quest for the true age of the world is over.
08:32If I can't read peroglyphs,
08:33the oldest language from the oldest nation.
08:35Well, there are experts in Paris
08:36working on translating them.
08:38It's just a matter of time.
08:39I can't wait for other people to do it.
08:41What if the English translate them first?
08:43If you can get me a good copy of the inscription,
08:45then I'll do it.
08:45I shall translate the hieroglyphs.
08:47That'll be my revenge on those English barbarians.
08:49You'll see.
08:59Originally, there may have been
09:01hundreds of copies of the stone.
09:03The Greek inscription suggested
09:05this was an act of propaganda
09:06on behalf of Egypt's 285th pharaoh,
09:10Ptolemy V.
09:12When he commissioned it in 196 BC,
09:15his reign, along with Egypt,
09:17was in trouble.
09:23By this time,
09:25the Egyptian civilization
09:26had existed for 3,000 years,
09:29but its glory days were well in the past.
09:31After a series of invasions,
09:39it had been conquered
09:40by the Greek-speaking warlord,
09:42Alexander the Great,
09:43in 332 BC.
09:46He had made himself pharaoh,
09:48brought in his own government,
09:49and Greek became the language of the rulers.
09:54The new elite could neither speak the local language
09:58nor read the hieroglyphs,
09:59and their presence fueled resentment in Egypt.
10:03Under Ptolemy V,
10:04the country was in open revolt.
10:07So, out of desperation,
10:08in temples throughout the land,
10:10he erected stone tablets.
10:14Each proclaimed Ptolemy's virtues
10:16and underlined his claim
10:18to be rightful pharaoh.
10:19The Rosetta Stone did not reflect
10:28the glorious achievements of pharaoh's past.
10:31It was a pathetic symbol of Egypt's decline,
10:34the beginning of the end
10:36of a great culture.
10:37A culture whose writings
10:52would soon become obscure
10:53and indecipherable.
10:59A culture whose writings
11:04would soon become obscure
11:05and indecipherable.
11:08Come and have a look at this.
11:14See this?
11:17What, that oval shape?
11:18There's a cartouche.
11:20That's what they call them now.
11:22The soldiers thought they looked like
11:23cartridges from their rifles, you see?
11:25Oh, I suppose so.
11:26Well, some people think
11:27they're this shape.
11:35Contains a name.
11:35It may be a royal name.
11:38No one's been able to prove it.
11:40No, but if the scholars are right,
11:41then this...
11:43means Ptolemy, doesn't it?
11:48Maybe.
11:49But how?
11:50Are hieroglyphs letters?
11:52Is there an alphabet?
11:52Is it just Ptolemy's name
11:55or does it describe it?
11:56Is it all his royal titles?
11:58We don't know.
11:59But we have your translation
12:00of the Greek.
12:01We know what it's saying.
12:04King Ptolemy,
12:05manifest God
12:06whose excellence is fine.
12:08So if this means Ptolemy,
12:09then these next to him
12:10mean manifest God
12:11whose excellence is fine,
12:11don't they?
12:12And how do you prove it?
12:14What if you read them
12:15in the other direction?
12:16Well,
12:17then these say it instead.
12:19But aren't hieroglyphs
12:20symbols and not words?
12:22Meaning what?
12:23Oh, I don't know.
12:24Think of a coat of arms.
12:26We know what that indicates,
12:28who it stands for,
12:29but we can't read it.
12:34Napoleon's experts
12:35thought they'd crack this
12:36in a matter of weeks.
12:37They didn't.
12:38Professor Sassi
12:39has been working on it
12:40in Paris for years.
12:41And others, too.
12:44It's not going to be easy.
12:48The answer is in here somewhere.
12:51And I'm going to find it.
12:59Come.
13:04This just arrived for you, sir.
13:08You'll understand the French
13:20are already ahead of us.
13:22And we're going to look
13:23pretty damn foolish
13:24if they translate
13:25this wretched stone
13:27while we've got it
13:29sitting in the British Museum.
13:31I see your point.
13:33Anyway,
13:34we've heard that you're
13:35the man for the job.
13:36So,
13:38what do you say?
13:41The Englishman Thomas Young
13:43was a brilliant scientist,
13:45a man of the Enlightenment.
13:47Amongst his achievements
13:48were how the human eye focused
13:50and a theory
13:51of how light travelled.
13:53His next challenge
13:54was to bring
13:55ancient Egypt
13:56back to life.
13:57apart from his immense wealth,
14:09Young had one advantage
14:11over Champollion
14:12in unlocking the secrets
14:13of this mysterious civilisation.
14:16The British possess
14:17the Rosetta Stone.
14:18Oh, well, even I can read
14:25this bit.
14:26Captured by the British Army
14:28in 1801.
14:31If only the rest
14:32was as easy.
14:34What are hieroglyphs?
14:37Are they words
14:38or just pictures?
14:40Well, they're pictures, aren't they?
14:43Are we supposed to even read them
14:44at all?
14:46But if we can,
14:47is it from left to right?
14:50Right to left,
14:50top to bottom?
14:54How can knowledge
14:55just disappear like that?
14:57Surely there must be
14:58someone who understands them.
14:59Didn't anyone leave a record
15:00of what they mean?
15:01Not as far as we know.
15:02this could be
15:04our best chance.
15:06It's not going to be easy.
15:09Look at this.
15:10It's badly damaged.
15:12Does Stone End
15:13here
15:13or here?
15:16How many of the
15:17hieroglyphs are missing?
15:18We just don't know.
15:19Doesn't that make
15:19the task impossible?
15:21Well, why don't you
15:21take a stab
15:22and find out?
15:23Well, remember,
15:24we cannot possibly
15:25let the French
15:26beat us to it.
15:28Hmm.
15:28Hear, hear.
15:32The most serious problem
15:42for Young and Champollion
15:43was that no one knew
15:45what hieroglyphs
15:46actually were.
15:48Simply symbols
15:49or letters that made
15:51the sounds of a
15:52spoken language.
15:55In every walk of life,
15:57symbols are used
15:58to communicate ideas.
16:01But they're not
16:02a language.
16:04They can't be spoken
16:05in the same way
16:06that the text
16:07of a book can be.
16:11It was widely believed
16:13that hieroglyphs
16:14were, in fact,
16:15silent symbols.
16:17But no one
16:18could be sure.
16:31What's this?
16:32It's for you.
16:34You won't get the education
16:35you deserve if you stay here.
16:36You're saying I can go to Paris?
16:38Oh, what do you think
16:39I'm saying?
16:40You can't pay for me.
16:41Where did you get all this?
16:42I've been saving it.
16:43I'm not sure what for,
16:44really, so you may as well
16:45take it.
16:48I can't believe you'll do this
16:49for me.
16:49Well, I have,
16:50so stop fussing.
16:51I won't let you down.
16:52This could be the key.
17:05The Greek
17:06tells us that this
17:08was the common language
17:09of Egypt at the time.
17:10I believe that hieroglyphs
17:12are symbols,
17:13but this script
17:15has the look
17:16of a spoken language.
17:18Well, there's more of it
17:19than hieroglyphs, too.
17:20I mean,
17:20that section's almost complete.
17:23Where do you start?
17:27Mathematics.
17:28What?
17:29It's simple.
17:31If we count the number of times
17:32the Greek words appear...
17:34I see.
17:35So we're looking for groups
17:36of symbols in here
17:38occurring the same number
17:39of times.
17:40Then we have a chance
17:41to work out an alphabet,
17:42and from an alphabet,
17:43words...
17:44And from words,
17:44sentences.
17:47Won't it take rather
17:48a long time?
17:48Quite probably.
17:53The task would be made
17:54considerably easier
17:56if either the stone's
17:58missing piece
17:58or a complete stone tablet
18:01could be found.
18:02So the British sent an appeal
18:04to this man,
18:06Giovanni Belzoni,
18:07the eccentric explorer
18:08who worked for the British
18:10consul in Egypt
18:11tracking down artifacts.
18:13War!
18:14War!
18:26It was said that
18:27if the missing piece
18:28was found,
18:29it would be worth
18:30its weight in diamonds.
18:32And if there was anyone
18:34who could find it,
18:35it was Belzoni,
18:37a man who had a gift
18:38for discovering
18:39Egypt's ancient past.
18:40War!
18:41War!
18:41War!
18:42War!
18:43War!
18:44War!
18:45War!
18:45War!
18:45War!
18:46War!
18:47War!
18:47War!
18:48War!
18:48War!
18:49War!
18:49War!
18:50War!
18:51War!
18:52War!
18:53War!
18:54War!
18:55War!
18:56War!
18:56War!
18:56War!
19:01It was the opportunity
19:02Champollion
19:03had been waiting
19:03for all his life.
19:05He arrived in Paris
19:06to study
19:07Oriental languages
19:08with the country's
19:09leading linguist,
19:10Sassi,
19:11a man who'd struggled
19:12with the mystery
19:13of the hieroglyphs
19:14with little success.
19:23Today?
19:23You'll begin your attempt
19:27to learn Persian,
19:28a language steeped
19:31in the rich culture.
19:32Yes,
19:32Monsieur LeTrois.
19:34Will we be studying
19:35hieroglyphs
19:36during our time here?
19:37No.
19:38I can see no good reason
19:40to study a script
19:41about which so little
19:42is known.
19:43The English
19:43are trying to translate them.
19:45I'm well aware
19:46of Mr. Young's
19:47achievements in England.
19:49Perhaps if we studied them,
19:51we could beat him.
19:55Hieroglyphs are symbols,
19:57the embodiment
19:58of an idea.
20:01Translating them
20:02is a task
20:02so monumentally difficult
20:03that it would take
20:04a lifetime
20:05if indeed
20:06it could be achieved
20:06at all.
20:07Now,
20:08if there are no
20:08other questions,
20:10what is it,
20:11Monsieur Champollion?
20:12Are you sure
20:13hieroglyphs are just symbols
20:14and not words
20:14and letters?
20:15Oh!
20:17You're saying
20:18I'm wrong,
20:19along with every other
20:20classical scholar
20:21from antiquity?
20:24Here you are,
20:25Monsieur Champollion.
20:32Enlighteners.
20:34What does that hieroglyph mean?
20:35I don't know.
20:38Well,
20:39let's pursue something
20:41that we do know,
20:42shall we?
20:43Gentlemen,
20:45open your Persian
20:46grammars
20:46at chapter one.
20:51So,
20:53what exactly
20:55do you wish
20:55to achieve here?
20:57The origins
20:57of the world?
20:58That's what's fascinated
20:59me ever since
21:00I was a boy.
21:01That's a worthy subject.
21:02When I first learned
21:03Latin,
21:03I thought that would help,
21:04but I prefer the Greek
21:05version of the Bible,
21:06don't you?
21:07Then that didn't provide
21:07the answer,
21:08so I turn to Hebrew.
21:09I'd like to tackle
21:09Aramaic while I'm here.
21:11Can you imagine
21:11actually speaking
21:12the same language
21:13as our Lord?
21:14I can.
21:15And I do,
21:16by the way.
21:17There are so many
21:18questions I've always
21:19wanted to answer.
21:20What language
21:21did Adam speak?
21:22Which is the oldest
21:23race in the world?
21:24And if Moses wrote
21:24the first five books
21:25of the Bible,
21:26why are they not
21:27an Egyptian,
21:27his native tongue?
21:28I'm not sure
21:29that's something
21:30we need to question.
21:32I know I can discover
21:33all the answers
21:33if I can just
21:34translate hieroglyphs.
21:36Really?
21:38How interesting.
21:44This is interesting.
21:47Have you got any word
21:48that crops up 24 times?
21:50It's not enough
21:51to be and or the.
21:52Uh-huh.
21:53It's got to be
21:54something else.
21:55Well, I've got king
21:59in the Greek.
22:00Basilius.
22:0223 times.
22:04Right.
22:06Basilius.
22:07I'm marking that
22:08as a possible.
22:09Mm.
22:09The next word
22:10occurs 14 times.
22:12Oh.
22:14Well, Ptolemy
22:15crops up 11 times.
22:19It could be the closest.
22:20Yes.
22:21Yes, this is promising.
22:23Ptolemaos.
22:24Mm.
22:26Excellent.
22:28More fun
22:29than you expected.
22:31Well, it is
22:31if you've drunk enough
22:32port.
22:33Any more in there?
22:33Mm.
22:39Young treated
22:40the hieroglyphs
22:41as a code
22:42to be broken,
22:43using the sheer power
22:44of logic
22:45and numerical analysis.
22:47Surely,
22:48he felt,
22:48if he applied
22:49his brilliant mind
22:50for long enough,
22:51the deeds
22:52the pharaohs
22:53described on the walls
22:54of their temples
22:54would at last ring out
22:56loudly again.
22:58But Champollion
22:59took a completely
23:00different approach
23:01to these ancient
23:01inscriptions.
23:03As a linguist,
23:04he was determined
23:05to find the meaning
23:06of the hieroglyphs
23:07through the study
23:08of the ancient
23:09languages of Egypt.
23:10Champollion was
23:20becoming convinced
23:21that the hieroglyphs
23:22made words,
23:23and words
23:24had to be spoken.
23:25So he began
23:26to study
23:27the last known language
23:28spoken during
23:29the time
23:30of the hieroglyphs.
23:31Coptic was still
23:46spoken in the
23:47churches of
23:48Coptic Christians,
23:49including one
23:50in Paris.
23:50Chant!
24:20Could this be the sound of the pharaohs?
24:30If only Champollion could match these sounds to the hieroglyphs,
24:35perhaps he might hear the pharaohs speak.
24:38Well, son, well, son, lavoi, lavoi, lavoi, lavoi, mich, mich, mich, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei.
25:03What on earth are you doing?
25:05Sir Joseph, how wonderful to see you.
25:10I didn't expect to see you so soon.
25:12Clearly. What was that noise?
25:14There are four Coptic names for a lion.
25:16Actually, strictly speaking, lavoi means lioness.
25:19Coptic?
25:20Yes, the closest living language to a common Egyptian.
25:22The language spoken by the Egyptians around the time of Cleopatra and Alexander the Great.
25:26And I found a church where they say mass in Coptic, right here in Paris.
25:30And the priest is teaching me.
25:31Just what you need? Another language?
25:33Don't mock. This could be the key to everything.
25:36What on earth have you done to your britches?
25:39Oh, yes. I told them on my first week.
25:43Never mind. It doesn't matter.
25:45Take them off. Give them to me.
25:46Do you have a needle and thread?
25:48I suppose the scripts of the stone are related. Have you thought of that?
25:58What if the hieroglyphs are just an older version of the common Egyptian?
26:01Look.
26:03Do you think it looks a bit like this hieroglyph?
26:14A little.
26:16Don't you see what I'm saying?
26:18If the hieroglyphs are connected to common Egyptian, they're the script of a language, not vague mystical symbols.
26:24Interesting theory. And you think this Coptic will help?
26:28I may be. If I can use it to work out common Egyptian. Test me. Go on. I'm pretty good. Ask me to name anything.
26:37All right. Chair.
26:40Set.
26:41Table.
26:42Sokji.
26:44Bed.
26:45Lol.
26:46I can't see much else.
26:49Ah.
26:51Sun.
26:54Ray.
26:56That's my favourite.
26:59I didn't just love that sound.
27:02Ray.
27:04Stop showing off.
27:05Now, what's Coptic for lunch?
27:23Jan!
27:24Jan!
27:26Jan!
27:27Jan!
27:28What is it?
27:29Look at this.
27:30from the stone and this from a papyrus. What's the difference?
27:38Well, it looks like the same cartouche, except the other way around.
27:43You know what that means, hm?
27:45You must be able to read hieroglyphs in either direction.
27:49Well, how do you know which direction to tune?
27:52Precisely.
27:54This stops me in my tracks.
28:04I assumed, left to right, as everything else on the Rosetta Stone appears to be read that way, but this...
28:11Wrong.
28:12What?
28:13It's the simple reflection.
28:14Everything has turned.
28:15Look.
28:16The heads must face the start of the word.
28:18That's how we know which way to read them.
28:19Oh.
28:20Well done.
28:21Young now began to publish a series of significant advances.
28:28Most impressively, he suggested how the name Ptolemy was spelt out in hieroglyphs.
28:35Champollion, by contrast, was still preoccupied with the practical task of earning a living.
28:56Assistant Professor.
28:57That's quite a ring to it, doesn't it?
28:58It's a start.
28:59Now you'll be a great day.
29:01Can't imagine you standing there saying, enlighten us, like old Sassy.
29:02What about you, John?
29:03Ah, I'll find something.
29:04Though times are changing, and that's what the future holds in store for Republicans like
29:05us.
29:06You mustn't give up on those hieroglyphs.
29:08I won't.
29:09But sometimes I feel like it.
29:10Look at this.
29:11My latest clues.
29:12See the sign?
29:13Here it is in the Coptic, then into the common Egyptian, then into the ancient Egyptian, and
29:19finally into the hieroglyphs.
29:20The oldest sign of them all.
29:21Which reminds me.
29:22Almost as old as your breeches.
29:23Spare-pair.
29:24No assistant professor.
29:25No assistant professor.
29:26No assistant professor.
29:27No assistant professor.
29:28No assistant professor.
29:29I won't.
29:30I won't.
29:31But sometimes I feel like it.
29:32Look at this.
29:33My latest clues.
29:34See the sign?
29:35Here it is in the Coptic, then into the common Egyptian, then into the ancient Egyptian,
29:38and finally into the hieroglyphs.
29:40The oldest sign of them all.
29:43Which reminds me.
29:46Almost as old as your breeches.
29:51Spare-pair.
29:52No assistant professor should be without them.
30:07You clumsy oaf.
30:08I'm so sorry.
30:11Who's in?
30:12Jean-Francois.
30:13I thought it was you.
30:15My God.
30:16You look so...
30:18Well, you're older, aren't you?
30:19Of course you are.
30:22Are you back from Paris to stay?
30:24Yes.
30:25I'm back with Jacques-Roseph and Zoe.
30:26They seem so happy together.
30:27They are.
30:28I'm very envious.
30:30You'd like to have married, sir?
30:31Oh, no.
30:32No, I...
30:33I mean, I...
30:34Well, I don't know what I mean.
30:36My mother.
30:37I have to go.
30:41Can I see you again?
30:46Yes.
30:51Yes.
30:57It is our duty as scientists to question everything.
31:00Whether it is the right of those who govern us or the power of those who direct our beliefs.
31:04our beliefs. We must always remember the study of ancient history is a quest for
31:11truth, however uncomfortable that truth may be. André. Professor Champollion, will we
31:17be studying hieroglyphs? Yes. Yes, we most certainly will.
31:34In 1815, defeat at the Battle of Waterloo meant the end for Napoleon and the short-lived French Republic.
31:46France was thrown into political turmoil.
32:04How did it go today? Oh, well, thank you, Zoe. Yeah, they're so keen to learn, especially
32:11about Egypt. Sometimes it's difficult to get them off the subject. I called by to see Rosine
32:18on my way home. How is she? Wonderful, as always. I even managed a few words with her father
32:31this time. I find it very difficult. What on earth do you talk about? Nothing much. I just
32:42asked for his daughter's hand in marriage. Marry Rosine Blanc? You can't. Why not? She's just
32:50a girl. She has no interest in languages or your work. I'll teach her. Isn't her father
32:55a royalist? I'll teach him, too. You couldn't possibly have agreed to the match. No, but I
33:02shall work on him. And what if his future son-in-law's the first man to translate hieroglyphs?
33:06I have a warrant for the arrest of Jacques Joseph and Jean-Francois Champollion. On what charge?
33:13Using the university library to hold political meetings and plotting against the king. That's
33:18not true. You've been found guilty of sedition. You've been removed from your teaching posts
33:23and exiled to your father's home in Physiac. I'll wait for you!
33:4514 priest. 14 priest. 14 to my left.
34:07Ha! Ha! Here it is. This, my dear Gurney, is the hieroglyph for priest.
34:20Oh. That means you've found God, King, Osiris, Isis, and now priest?
34:31Well, wait till the French see this. I'm not sure we need to worry.
34:36I'm not sure. Susie tells me that poor old Champollion has fallen foul of the new rulers
34:41and been thrown out of his job.
34:52And there was more good news for young, thanks to the explorer Giovanni Belzoni.
34:57Have it! There!
35:01His quest for Egyptian artifacts had taken him to the south of Egypt.
35:16And whilst he hadn't managed to unearth another copy of the Rosetta Stone, at the Temple of Philae, he claimed an ancient Egyptian artifact which promised to be almost as useful.
35:28What did I tell you?
35:29What did I tell you? I could fill ten boats from this place.
35:32This is beautiful. Don't you wonder what it means?
35:40One of the few men in the world who might have known what was written on this obelisk was in exile in the French countryside.
35:47Jean-Francois Champollion.
35:49But his brother Jacques Joseph's long campaign to get him released finally paid off.
35:55Champollion was all set to return to Paris.
35:58Belzoni brought his obelisk from the island of Philae.
36:17Apparently there's a Greek inscription on the base that mentions Cleopatra.
36:30In which case, this should be her cartouche.
36:35What if Champollion's already got a copy, now that he's back in Paris?
36:45Then we've got a race on our hands.
36:53Have you done it?
36:54Almost. I have a P, an O and an L from Ptolemy already.
36:58And this must be a K.
37:00It's Cleopatra, I'm sure of it.
37:02It's a novelist from England, sent to me by an old college friend.
37:05But can you trust? We've hardly had any reliable copies of anything yet.
37:09Well, if this is right, then so am I.
37:12Let me show you.
37:14This is what I think the Cleopatra cartouche should look like.
37:18My God.
37:24They're identical.
37:26You've beaten him.
37:28You can read hieroglyphs!
37:29No, I can't.
37:30Cleopatra is a modern Greek name translated into hieroglyphs.
37:33I need to prove that I can read real ancient Egyptian names.
37:36Names written in hieroglyphs in the first place.
37:39Maybe Sassy was right all along.
37:42Maybe ancient hieroglyphs are just silent symbols.
37:46But Champollion had taken an important step.
37:58He had worked out a hypothetical hieroglyphic alphabet,
38:02and by using it to write the cartouche for Cleopatra,
38:05he now had evidence that the alphabet was correct.
38:09He had done this not just by logical deduction,
38:13but by using the languages of Coptic and common Egyptian
38:16to work out the precise sounds of each hieroglyph.
38:20William Banks's obelisk now stands in the grounds of the Kingston Lacey Estate in Dorset.
38:38Ironically, although it looked like giving Young an advantage in the race,
38:42the obelisk ended up making his life more difficult,
38:46because in his reading of its hieroglyphs, he made a crucial mistake.
38:56Damn it! There's always something!
38:58It says Cleopatra in the Greek, but the first hieroglyph's clearly wrong.
39:02You know, Gurney, sometimes I'd rather have my teeth pulled.
39:08I'd rather have my teeth pulled.
39:38Oh, my God, Sir Trotten, what are you doing here?
39:48For you. Drawings. A friend of mine's just been to Egypt.
39:52Heard Young was getting close, so I thought you might need them.
39:55That is kind.
39:57Well, come in. Come in!
40:00It's a ruined temple at Abu Simbel. Any use to you?
40:03Oh, it's beautiful. What I wouldn't give to be standing there.
40:08Who's in the cartouche?
40:12I don't know. I've not seen that one before.
40:22Abu Simbel was an ancient temple.
40:25This monument was constructed long before the country was colonised by Alexander the Great.
40:30So the hieroglyphs which covered its walls were old enough never to have been corrupted by ancient Greek.
40:45The man who built this temple is widely seen as the greatest pharaoh of them all.
40:51And when this huge complex was constructed, he was at the height of his power.
41:00The four 65-foot statues which guard the entrance to the building were images of the pharaoh himself.
41:07The smaller temple at the side was a monument to love, a pharaoh's love for his queen.
41:25It was Giovanni Belzoni himself who had discovered the inner temple in 1817.
41:46Time to go in!
41:49Time to go in!
42:01Despite his achievement, Belzoni was unable to read the thousands of hieroglyphs that covered the temple walls.
42:07Now I understand the man who built this.
42:12I don't know his name, but I know he is a real showman.
42:19Champollion would now attempt to read the name of this ancient pharaoh for the first time in over a thousand years.
42:26Oh yeah.
42:27Remember, Sassy?
42:31Enlighten us.
42:33Ha!
42:34How close are we to enlightenment?
42:38There we are.
42:48Remember Sassy?
42:51Enlighten us.
42:53How close are we to enlightenment after all these years?
42:57Well, you know that it's a royal name.
43:00True. And this is an ancient temple. It's not Greek or Roman.
43:04Mm-hm.
43:06What does that one look like to you?
43:08I always thought it was like the sun.
43:11What if it was more than just a symbol?
43:13What if this ancient hieroglyph also made a sound?
43:16Would Coptic help?
43:18The Coptic for sun is ray.
43:21And the Egyptian god was also known as Ra.
43:25And I know this one.
43:27This double hieroglyph at the end makes the S sound in Ptolemus.
43:31What about that one?
43:33I don't know.
43:34What if it was the letter N?
43:37Ra-ma-s.
43:39Ra-ma-s.
43:41Ra-ma-s.
43:43Ra-ma-s-s.
43:45Ra-ma-s-s.
43:50The M was a guess, also based on Coptic.
43:54But he was right.
43:55Ra-ma-s.
43:56This is Rameses.
43:57The all had spoken.
43:59And Champollion had heard his voice across the millennia.
44:04By translating the hieroglyphs for Rameses,
44:05Champollion proved he could read the code of the pharaohs.
44:10He was now able to confirm that his hieroglyphic alphabet
44:14could be extended to read words written over 3,000 years ago.
44:20He'd done it by going backwards in time,
44:22beginning with the Coptic, then common Egyptian,
44:25finally arriving at ancient hieroglyphs.
44:36Champollion at last had the key
44:38to making the mysterious hieroglyphs
44:40that covered every temple wall in Egypt speak their secrets.
44:44The word Ra in Ramesses is directly related
44:47to the Coptic word Ra meaning son.
44:50The rest of his name was also a Coptic expression meaning born of.
44:55In ancient Egyptian culture, Ra was the creator of Egypt,
45:11a sun god, one of the most important of all Egyptian deities.
45:15He was represented with a disc, the sun, on his head.
45:19All pharaohs were said to be related to him.
45:23The name Ramesses literally means child of the sun god.
45:28Champollion had worked out that the hieroglyphs weren't only symbols,
45:34but also a language.
45:36He now possessed the first clues for bringing ancient Egypt back to life.
45:41Champollion's revelation happened in the autumn of 1822,
45:5024 years after the stone had been discovered.
45:53But there was a twist.
46:11Champollion's exhausting achievement edged him into dangerous territory.
46:15The Catholic Church was deeply concerned
46:18about what an understanding of the hieroglyphs might lead to.
46:22The reason? Noah's flood.
46:25Biblical scholars dated the event to the year 2349 BC.
46:31If the hieroglyphs proved that the whole Egyptian civilization
46:35had begun before the flood was supposed to have happened
46:38and continued unaffected by it,
46:41then that would create a serious problem for the church.
46:44As far as the church was concerned at the time,
46:47the Bible was historically accurate.
46:50So if the code of the pharaohs proved that it wasn't,
46:53the church's teaching would be seriously undermined.
47:04This new area of study.
47:07I suppose one must bow to fashion and call it Egypt.
47:11Egypt.
47:12Apology.
47:13Raises some interesting questions, does it not?
47:17Indeed.
47:18Particularly about the age and origins of the world.
47:22Exactly.
47:23So?
47:24My question to you is this.
47:28Whose side is he on?
47:30Whatever I might think of his political views, Father Abbott.
47:35Champolline is a brilliant scholar.
47:37And therefore?
47:38In this field,
47:40if he is not a strict adherent to the faith,
47:43he is a danger to the church.
47:46Wouldn't you say?
47:47Only if he succeeds.
47:50Champolline!
47:55Champolline!
47:56Champolline!
47:57Champolline!
47:58Champolline!
48:01Thank God.
48:03I thought you were going to die.
48:04You don't get rid of me that easily.
48:06You don't get rid of me that easily.
48:08There's still too much work to be done.
48:12It's time to tell people.
48:15Champollion started to let the world know what he'd discovered,
48:19in books, pamphlets, and a series of lectures.
48:30Has he done it?
48:31I don't know.
48:32You say it would be impossible. That's what I've told the Holy Father.
48:35That may yet be true.
48:36Oh, but you don't know that.
48:37If a loose canon like Champollion can read hieroglyphs,
48:39who knows what he'll attempt to discover.
48:41The church.
48:42And the church alone decates the dates of the world's creation.
48:44You want that power in his hands?
48:46Monsieur Champollion.
48:47Professor, good to see you.
48:48Good morning.
48:49Hello.
48:50Sir.
48:53Champollion!
48:57Welcome.
48:58Christique, thank you.
49:01This way, please.
49:06Wish me luck.
49:17Thomas Young was in Paris for one of his lectures.
49:20It has long been believed that the hieroglyphic script of ancient Egypt is a silent representation of ideas.
49:31But as Thomas Young in England has already indicated in his studies,
49:35the names of the Greek and Roman pharaohs of Egypt were spelled out in hieroglyphs that could be read.
49:43I agree with him.
49:45But no one, not even Dr. Young, has claimed that hieroglyphs from any other period could be read or spoken.
49:53Until today.
49:55And that is what I believe.
49:57Can you prove this, Monsieur Champollion?
50:08Let us start with the cartouche.
50:13And now, four simple hieroglyphs.
50:17Here at the end of the cartouche, we have a hieroglyph also seen at the end of Ptolemus.
50:22Making the sound, S.
50:28This I strongly believe to be an M.
50:31And here we have something else.
50:34Not just a symbol, but a sound.
50:38A sign indicating the sun.
50:41In Coptic, Ray, but also known as the god, Ra.
50:44Ra.
50:46Which gives us.
50:48Ra.
50:49Ma.
50:50Sis.
50:52Ramesses.
50:54An ancient Egyptian,
50:56and not a Greek pharaonic name.
50:59Surely this is guesswork.
51:02Not science.
51:04The ancient hieroglyphs are silent.
51:10There was another cartouche at Aberdeenburg.
51:15Ssss.
51:20We have the M and the S.
51:23But what is this bird?
51:26To me, it looks like the Egyptian Ibis.
51:30A bird associated with which god?
51:33Sos.
51:36Exactly, Professor Cersei.
51:39Another symbolic hieroglyph that also provides us with a sound.
51:42The sound that you have so eloquently pronounced.
51:46Put these sounds together.
51:49And we have...
51:51Thos-mo-sis.
51:53Thos-mosis.
51:55The name of pharaohs who ruled 1,500 years before Alexander the Great conquered Egypt.
52:00What this means, gentlemen, is that hieroglyphs are the script of a spoken language.
52:12With further study, we may be able to read all hieroglyphs back to the beginning of ancient Egyptian civilization.
52:18Knowledge of this hidden time may provide us with the answers of questions that have long troubled us.
52:26For example, the exact origins of the world.
53:14Monsieur Champagnon.
53:15Oh, Monsieur.
53:16We meet at last.
53:17Congratulations.
53:18You've done well to extend my hieroglyphic alphabet.
53:23But as you've said, this theory of yours is still untested.
53:28Oh, I fully intend to test it.
53:31On every papyrus and document I can find.
53:34My dream is to go to Egypt and read from the tombs and monuments themselves.
53:39This is just the beginning.
53:41Well, we shall see.
53:44You seem to have staked your entire life's work and reputation on proving this theory.
53:50What can I say?
53:51Good luck to you, Monsieur Champollion.
53:55Champollion has yet to prove that he can read all hieroglyphs.
53:56That's little comfort to the church, Professor Cersei.
54:00I've heard enough to know that this man has the power to undermine all of us.
54:05He must be stopped.
54:06He must be stopped.
54:07He must be stopped.
54:08He must be stopped.
54:11He must be stopped.
54:12He must be stopped.
54:13He must be stopped.
54:18He must be stopped.
54:19He must be stopped.
54:25He must be stopped.
54:27He must be stopped.
54:28He must be Sit.
54:29He must be guarded.
54:31If you are front, he must be locked.
54:32But whether you'll see that paragons were closed west.
54:34Great!
54:35Come back!!
54:36It was a drunken diary.
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