Miscellaneous works of the late Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S., &c., and one of the eight foreign Associates of the National Institute of France.

  • Young, Thomas, 1773-1829.
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Miscellaneous works of the late Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S., &c., and one of the eight foreign Associates of the National Institute of France. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    lated. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to account for the non-occurrence of some Coptic words, which must un- questionably be in the inscription : for instance, the name of the month Mechir, which is mentioned in the Greek as a sy- nonym of Xandicus or Xanthicus, and which, according to Kircher, anwsers in the Coptic to January, although the place which it ought to occupy in the inscription is easily ascertained by the context. Nor can we readily discover the Coptic months Thout and Mesore, which must also occur in the sub- sequent part, nor the term Pschent, implying a crown of a particular form; at the same time that the exact coincidence of the names of the Egyptian months, with the later Coptic, strengthens very materially the evidence of the near approach of the two languages to identity. The frequency of occurrence of the different characters in the inscription by no means coin- cides with that of the Coptic letters, which Mr. Akerblad sup- poses to correspond with them in other cases ; and the difference appears to be too great to be wholly accidental. It is not, however, impossible that future investigations may remove all the difficulties which still embarrass this subject; and, at any rate, the stone of Rosetta affords a far better prospect of furnishing us with some knowledge of the ancient characters of Egypt than any other monument of antiquity, or than any ela- borate speculations of a later date. Added 9 November, 1814. The whole of these observations may be considered as preliminary to an attempt, which has since been made, to compare the three inscriptions of the stone of Rosetta minutely with each other: the general results of this comparison, as the first foundations of the knowledge of ancient Egyptian literature, may not be unworthy of some attention, even in an imperfect state. Conjectural Translation of the [Mr. Gough's] Translation of Egyptian Inscription. the Greek Inscription, '^'■copied and corrected by Porson. From Dr. Clarke's Greek Mar- bles. Cambr. 1809. P. 58. (1) [In the ninth year, on (1) In the reign of the the fourth day of Xanthicus], young prince, who received B 2