The Life and Times of Jean-François Champollion, Episode 416

Today Annie Sargent brings you a conversation with Elyse Rivin  about Jean-François Champollion the man who deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics. We talked about the places he lived, the positions he held, and how he became obsessed with languages. The period of the late 1700s early 1800s was a fascinating time in French history and this episode will help you see why.

We talk about the places you can visit if you want to learn about Champollion and his work, we talk about the circumstances of his upbringing just as the French Revolution was brewing. His older brother was also very interested in languages and young Champollion followed in his footsteps and showed great interest in exotic writing systems.

Table of Contents

• [00:00:38] Today on the podcast
• [00:01:23] Podcast supporters
• [00:01:41] Annie’s Cookbook: Join Us at the Table
• [00:03:27] Places related to Champollion
• [00:03:58] Museum of Writing
• [00:06:01] Museum in Vif
• [00:07:32] Early Childhood
• [00:10:14] Jean Francois Champollion and school
• [00:10:48] His older brother
• [00:12:35] Interest in Languages and writing systems
• [00:18:50] I am Egypt. Egypt is me.
• [00:19:16] The Egyptians wrote on everything
• [00:21:21] Champollion gets a copy of the Rosetta Stone
• [00:25:20] Reading the Rosetta Stone
• [00:31:03] Cracking open 3000 years of Egyptian history
• [00:32:06] Writing systems invented to bring Christianity to first peoples
• [00:35:51] Egyptomania in Europe
• [00:38:16] Orientalism in art
• [00:38:53] The definitive translation of the Rosetta Stone
• [00:39:58] Champollion assimilates Egyptian culture
• [00:42:52] Outro
• [00:45:28] Preparing a trip to France?
• [00:46:28] Self-guided tours
• [00:46:59] Christmas decorations in Paris in 2022
• [00:51:57] Related episodes
• [00:52:42] Thanksgiving at Annie’s house
• [00:55:51] Show notes
• [00:56:07] Next week on the podcast

#France, #Champollion, #Hieroglyphics, #FrenchHistory

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