Michel Ange Lancret (December 15, 1774 – December 17, 1807), was an engineer with the French Corps of Bridges and Roads. He was a student of the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1794, became an Engineer of Bridges and Roads in 1797, and was a ''savant'' who accompanied

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's 1798 campaign in Egypt as a member of the

Commission des Sciences et des Arts The Commission des Sciences et des Arts (''Commission of the Sciences and Arts'') was a French scientific and artistic institute. Established on 16 March 1798, it consisted of 167 members, of which all but 16 joined Napoleon Bonaparte's conquest ...

, a corps of 167 technical experts. He began describing various monuments on the banks of the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

and remnants of ancient civilization of the pharaohs. He also wrote the initial report about the

Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a Rosetta Stone decree, decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle te ...

that was published on behalf of Napoleon's newly founded scientific association in Cairo, the

Institut d'Égypte The Institut d'Égypte or Egyptian Scientific Institute is a learned society in Cairo specializing in Egyptology. It was established in 1798 by Napoleon Bonaparte to carry out research during his Egyptian campaign and is the oldest scientific inst ...

. In the report he noted that it contained three inscriptions, the first in hieroglyphs and the third in Greek, and rightly suggesting that the three inscriptions would be versions of the same text. Lancret's report, dated 19 July 1799,Parkinson, R.B. Diffie, Whitfield. Simpson, R.S. Cracking Codes: The Rosetta Stone and Decipherment. p.20. 1999. University of California Press 0-520-22248-2 was read to a meeting of the Institut soon after 25 July. On his return to France he was appointed in April 1802 to become the Commissioner for what would be the

Description de l'Égypte The ''Description de l'Égypte'' ( en, Description of Egypt) was a series of publications, appearing first in 1809 and continuing until the final volume appeared in 1829, which aimed to comprehensively catalog all known aspects of ancient and m ...

, and directed the publication from 1805.

References

French military engineers 1774 births 1807 deaths Commission des Sciences et des Arts members {{France-engineer-stub