Two hundred years ago, Jean-François Champollion deciphered the Egyptian hieroglyphs, solving one of the greatest enigmas in the history of humanity. For Arte, director Jacques Plaisant looks back on this scientific epic that he would never have been able to complete without the help of his older brother.
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This documentary tells us a forgotten story. Brought to light by the recent study of the archives of the Champollion family, it sheds new light on the extraordinary adventure of deciphering hieroglyphics. After nearly twenty years of hard work, on September 14, 1822, Jean-François Champollion declared to his older brother Jacques-Joseph that he had just completed his translation system. A brother at his side from the beginning, helping him to face the scientific and political obstacles that have hindered his long research. An essential role that director Jacques Plaisant highlights in his documentary entitled In the secret of hieroglyphics: the Champollion brothers.
In 1828, six years after having deciphered the hieroglyphs, Jean-François Champollion, then curator in charge of the Egyptian collections at the Louvre Museum, realized his dream by organizing a scientific mission to check that his hieroglyphic system was working well. Franco-Tuscan expedition led by Champollion and his collaborator and friend, the Egyptologist Ippolito Rosellini.
“Ever since he was a kid, he’s wanted to go to Egypt. When he manages to mount the expedition, he wants to see it all. That is to say, in a year and a half, he wants to see everything. And he’s the only one at the time who can decipher, so when he arrives he has a book opening before his eyes.“, says the director. A founding journey for modern Egyptology, which the decipherer will not survive long. A little more than two years after his return to France, Jean-François Champollion died on March 4, 1832 at only forty and Jacques-Joseph tirelessly devoted the rest of his life to bringing the work of his younger brother to life.
Deciphering the Rosetta Stone, Champollion realizes that there are 1419 hieroglyphs for only 86 Greek words https://t.co/aK0XjFREBU pic.twitter.com/nwalCflFcq
— ARTE (@ARTEfr) September 11, 2022
In the secret of hieroglyphics: the Champollion brothersdocumentary by Jacques Plaisant (2022 – 93mn) – Available on arte.tv until March 7, 2023.
It should also be noted that on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the decipherment of hieroglyphs and to celebrate its 10th anniversary, the Louvre-Lens is organizing a major exhibition called: Champollion, the path of hieroglyphics. To discover until January 16, 2023.