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andhereforeleaveourgreatgreatgrandfathersin
theircaves；thesoutheandeasteshoresof
thediterranean；oodtheearliestschoolofthe
hunrace
theegyptianshavetaughtusnythingstheywere
excellentfarrstheykneirrigationtheybuilt
teleserhegreeksandh
servedastheearliestdelsforthechurchesinhweworship
noedacalendarhproved
sueasuringti
thatithassurvivedost
iortantofall；theegyptianshadleaedhoopreserve
speechforthebenefitoffuturegenerationstheyhadinvented
theartofing
edtoneagazines
thatakeitforgrantedthattheworldhasalwaysbeen
abletoreadandatteroffact；ost
iortantofallinventions；isquitenehoutten
docuntssanddogs；each
theirkittensandtheirpuppiesafeplethingsandwho；
becausetheycannote；possessnoheycan
keuseoftheexperienceofthosegenerationsofcatsand
dogsthathavegonebefore
inthefirste
toegypt；theyfoundthevalleyfullofstrangelittlepictures
edtohavesothingtodohthehistory
oftheuntrybuttheronsinterestedin‘‘anything
foreignanddidnotinquireintotheoriginofthesequeer
figuresplesandthewallsof
thepalaadeoutofthe
papyrusreedthelastoftheegyptianpriestswhohad
understoodtheholyartofkingsuchpictureshaddiedseveral
yearsbeforeegyptdeprivedofitsindependencehad
beeastorehousefilledportanthistorients
hlyuse
toeitheorbeast
seventeencenturiesainedaland
ofsterybutintheyear1798afrenchgeneralbythe
naofbonapartehappenedtovisiteasteafricatoprepare
foranattackuponthebritishindianlonieshedid
notgetbeyondthenile；andhiscaaign；
quiteaccidentally；thefausfrenchexpeditionsolvedthe
probleftheancientegyptianpicturelanguage
onedayayoungfrenuchboredbythedreary
lifeofhislittlefortressontherosettariverauthofthe
niledeagingang
theruinsoftheniledeltaandbeholdhefoundastone
likeeverythingelseinegypt
ithlittlefiguresbutthisparticularslabof
blackbasaltanythingthathadeverbeen
disvereditcarriedthreeinscriptionsoneofthesewas
ingreekthegreeklanguagehatis
necessary；sohereasoned；‘‘istoparethegreektexth
theegyptianfigures；andtheyoncetelltheirsecrets
theplansoundedsileenoughbutittookrethan
tyyearstosolvetheriddleintheyear1802afrench
professorbythenaofchaollionbegantoparethe
greekandtheegyptiantextsofthefausrosettastonein
theyear1823heannouncedthathehaddisveredtheaning
offourteenlittlefiguresashorttilaterhediedfrobr 》
overainprinciplesofegyptianinghad
beeknohestoryofthevalleyofthenileis
betterknoississippiriver
enrerdhousandyears
ofchronicledhistory
astheancientegyptianhieroglyphicstheeans
‘‘sacredinghaveplayedsuchaverygreatrolein
history；afeindifiedforaveevenfoundtheir
ething
abouttheingenioussystecenturiesago
topreservethespokening
generations
ofurse；youknoasignlanguageisevery
indianstoryofoureplainshasachapterdevotedto
strangessagesoflittlepicturesh
tellhoanybuffaloesanyhunters
thereainpartyasaruleitisnotdifficultto
understandtheaningofsuchssages
ancientegyptian；hoasignlanguagethe
cleverpeopleofthenilehadpassedbeyondthatstagelong
beforetheirpicturesantagreatdealrethantheobject
heyrepresented；asishalltrytoexplaintoyounow
supposethatyoupollion；andthatyouwere
exaningastackofpapyrussheets；allveredhhieroglyphics
suddenlyyouanh
asaeansofursethat
afarrouttocutdoreethenyoutakeanother
papyrusittellsthestoryofaqueentheage
ofeightytidstofasentenceappearsthepicture
ofthenhthesaythandle
saustansothingelsebut
thatistheriddleanfinallysolved
hedisveredthattheegyptianshefirsttouse
ofcharactersh
reproducethe‘‘soundorphoneofthespokenwordand
akeitpossibleforustotranslateallourspokenwords
intoa；hthehelpofonlyafesanddashes
andpothooks
letusretuforanttothelittlefellohthesaw
theeansacertaintoolhyouwillfind
inaeansthepasttenseoftheverb
‘‘tosee
thisishadhappenedtotheheurse
ofeantonlytheparticulartool
eaninghadbeenlostandit
………………………………
第7节
hadbeethepastparticipleofaverbafterseveralhundred
years；theegyptianslostsightofboththeseaningsand
thepicture｛illust｝catostandforasingleletter；the
lettersashortsentenceeanhere
isadeenglishsentenceasittenin
hieroglyphics｛illust｝
the｛illust｝eitheransoneofthesets
inyourhead；eans‘‘i；theperson
alking
a｛illust｝iseitheraninsecthershoney；orit
representstheverb‘‘tobeeanstoexistagain；it
ybethefirstpartofaverblike‘‘beeor‘‘behave
inthisparticularinstanceitisfollo｝h
ansa‘‘leafor‘‘leaveor‘‘lievethesoundofallthree
e
the‘‘eyeyoukno
finallyyougetthepictureofa｛illust｝itisagiraffe
itispartoftheoldsignlanguageoutofhehieroglyphics
developed
youcannouchdifficulty
‘‘ibelieveisawagiraffe
havinginventedthissysteheegyptiansdevelopedit
duringthousandsofyearsuntiltheyuldeanythingthey
essages
tofriends；tokeepbusinessacuntsandtokeeparerdofthe
historyoftheiruntry；thatfuturegenerationsghtbenefit
bythestakesofthepast
thenilevalley
thebeginningofcivilisationinthe
valleyofthenile
thehistoryofnisthererdofahungrycreaturein
searchoffoodwhereverfoodanhas
travelledtokehisho
thefaofthevalleyofthenilesthavespreadat
anearlydatefroheinteriorofafricaandfrohedesert
ofarabiaandfroheepartofasiapeoplehad
flotheirshareoftherichfar
togethertheseinvadershadfordaneehcalled
itself‘‘reor‘‘thenjustasetiscallarica
‘‘godsorytheyhadgoodreasontobegrateful
toafatetothisnarroripofland
inthesuerofeachyeartheniletuedthevalleyintoa
shalloheersrecededallthegrainfields
andthepasturesost
fertileclay
inegyptakindlyriverdidtheillionnand
deitpossibletofeedtheteengpopulationofthefirst
largecitiesofistruethatall