(literally: 'Egyptian Grammar') is a grammar
reference book
A reference work is a document, such as a Academic publishing#Scholarly paper, paper, book or periodical literature, periodical (or their electronic publishing, electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information ...
by the French
Egyptologist
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...
Jean-François Champollion
Jean-François Champollion (), also known as Champollion ''le jeune'' ('the Younger'; 23 December 1790 – 4 March 1832), was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure ...
, published posthumously in France in 1836. Its full title, the ''Grammaire égyptienne ou Principes généraux de l'écriture sacrée égyptienne appliqué à la présentation de la langue parlée'' means ''Egyptian Grammar or General Principles of Egyptian Sacred Writing Applied to the Presentation of the Spoken Language''.
Origins
Upon his return from Egypt to France on 5 March 1830, after almost twenty months of absence, Champollion immediately gave priority to the clarification of his ''Grammaire''. Like the record cards of or the plates of , the ''Grammaire'' contains numerous records and drawings reproduced in Egypt, by Champollion himself and his assistants;
but he died in 1832 without being able to publish it. It was his brother,
Jacques-Joseph Champollion, who would handle its publication in 1836.
Marcellin Jobard
Jean-Baptiste-Ambroise-Marcellin Jobard (17 May 1792 – 27 October 1861) was a Belgian lithographer, photographer and inventor of French origin. Founder of the first significant Belgian lithographic establishment, the first photographer in Bel ...
, a lithographer from
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, whom claimed to have advised Champollion the use of
lithography
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
for the printing of the ''Grammaire égyptienne''.
The printing combines lithography and typography, with lithographic stone transfer methods improved by Jules Feuquières, used by 's lithographic workshop in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, which was responsible for the lithographic printing process of the ''Grammaire''.
''Grammaire'' points out that the Egyptian hieroglyphs are a complex system, writing figurative, symbolic, and phonetic all at once.
This work went hand in hand with the ''Dictionnaire égyptien en écriture hiéroglyphique'', another work by Champollion which was also published posthumously by his brother in 1841. The aim of ''Dictionnaire égyptien'' was to create a complete method of learning
hieroglyphic writing
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters.I ...
.
Émile Prisse d'Avennes
Achille-Constant-Théodore-Émile Prisse d'Avennes (27 January 1807, Avesnes-sur-Helpe – 16 February 1879, Paris) was a French archaeologist, Egyptologist, architect and writer.
Biography
Prisse d'Avennes was born in Avesnes-sur-Helpe, Fra ...
, a French engineer, became Egyptologist after studying ''Grammaire égyptienne''.
Hieroglyphics
''Grammaire égyptienne'' contains many hieroglyphs in a rather particular style.
Editions
There are many editions of this work, notably:
* ''Grammaire égyptienne ou Principes généraux de l'écriture sacrée égyptienne appliqué à la présentation de la langue parlée'', Firmin-Didot Frères, 1836
* ''Principes généraux de l'écriture sacrée Égyptienne'', Institut d'Orient, 1984,
* ''Grammaire égyptienne'', Solin, 1997,
* ''Grammaire égyptienne'', Actes Sud, 1998, 555 pages,
Bibliography
* Marie-Christine Claes, "Autour de la Grammaire égyptienne de Champollion : Marcellin Jobard, Charles Motte et Jules Feuquières, utilisateurs de la lithographie pour l'impression des hiéroglyphes", from ''Bulletin des Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire'', Brussels, volume 82, 2011
013
013 is a music venue in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The venue opened in 1998 and replaced the ''Noorderligt'', the ''Bat Cave'' and the ''MuziekKantenWinkel''. 013 is the largest popular music venue in the southern Netherlands.
There are two concer ...
pp. 55–99.
Gallery
File:Grammaire Egyptienne by Jean Francois Champollion, 1836 - National Cryptologic Museum - DSC07733.JPG, ''Grammaire égyptienne'', chapter V
File:Grammaire égyptienne, chap. I, p. 8.jpg, ''Grammaire égyptienne'', chapter I, p. 8
File:Grammaire égyptienne, chap. I, p. 9.jpg, ''Grammaire égyptienne'', chapter I, p. 9
File:Opening of Champollion, p. 2.jpg, Reproduction of hieroglyphs from the ''Grammaire''
File:Opening of Champollion, p. 7.jpg, Reproduction of hieroglyphs from the ''Grammaire''
File:L'écriture, p. 121.jpg, Champollion's handwritten page in the ''Grammaire''
References
External links
''Grammaire égyptienne'' Online (1836 edition) {{in lang, fr
1836 books
Grammar books
Books about the ancient Egyptian language
Egyptian hieroglyphs