Karl Richard Lepsius 1810 – 1884

Karl (or Carl) Richard Lepsius (December 23, 1810 – July 10, 1884) was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist and linguist and pioneer of modern archaeology. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (750x1073, 48 KB) [edit] Summary [edit] Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Karl Richard Lepsius ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (750x1073, 48 KB) [edit] Summary [edit] Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Karl Richard Lepsius ... December 23 is the 357th day of the year (358th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Motto Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital Königsberg, later Berlin Government Duke1  - 1525–68 Albert I (first)  - 1688–1701 Frederick III (last) King1  - 1701–13 Frederick I (first)  - 1888–1918 William II (last) Prime Minister1,2... An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ... Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. ... This July 2007 does not cite any references or sources. ...

He was born in Naumburg an der Saale, Saxony (now in Germany), the third son of Karl Peter Lepsius and Friedericke Glaser, and studied Greek and Roman archaeology at the universities of Leipzig (1829–1830), Göttingen (1830–1832), and Berlin (1832–1833). After receiving his doctorate following his dissertation De tabulis Eugubinis in 1833, he traveled to Paris where attended lectures by the French classicist Jean Letronne, an early disciple of Jean-François Champollion and his work on the decipherment of the Egyptian language, visited Egyptian collections all over Europe and studied lithography and engraving. This article is about the town in Saxony-Anhalt; for Naumburg in Hesse, see Naumburg, Hesse. ... Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DED Capital Dresden Minister-President Georg Milbradt (CDU) Governing parties CDU / SPD Votes in Bundesrat 4 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  18,416 km² (7,110 sq mi) Population 4,252,000 (11/2006)[1]  - Density 231 /km... This July 2007 does not cite any references or sources. ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... Göttingen marketplace with old city hall, Gänseliesel fountain and pedestrian zone Göttingen ( ) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Jean Antoine Letronne (25 January 1787 – 14 December 1848) was a French archaeologist. ... For the Champollion comet rendezvous spacecraft, see Champollion (spacecraft). ... Decipherment is the analysis of documents written in ancient languages, where the language is unknown, or knowledge of the language has been lost. ... Spoken in: Ancient Egypt Language extinction: evolved into Demotic by 600 BC, into Coptic by AD 200, and was extinct by the 17th century Language family: Afro-Asiatic  Egyptian  Writing system: hieroglyphs, cursive hieroglyphs, hieratic, and demotic (later, occasionally Arabic script in government translations) Language codes ISO 639-1: none... Lithography stone and mirror-image print of a map of Munich. ... Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ...

After the death of Champollion, Lepsius made a systematic study of the French scholar's Grammaire égyptienne, which had been published posthumously in 1836, but was yet to be widely accepted. In 1836, Lepsius travelled to Tuscany to meet with Ippolito Rosellini, who had lead a joint expedition to Egypt with Champollion in 1828–1829. In a series of letters to Rosellini, Lepsius expanded on Champollion's explanation of the use of alphabetic signs in hieroglyphic writing, emphasising (contra Champollion) that vowels were not written. Year 1836 (MDCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Tuscany (Italian: ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. ... Ippolito Rosellini (1800-1843), Italian Egyptologist, was born at Pisa. ... It has been suggested that Hieroglyph (French Wiki article) be merged into this article or section. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

In 1842 Lepsius was commissioned (at the recommendation of Alexander von Humboldt and Christian Charles Josias Bunsen) by King Frederich Wilhelm IV of Prussia to lead an expedition to Egypt and the Sudan to explore and record the remains of the ancient Egyptian civilization. The Prussian expedition was modeled after the earlier Napoléonic mission, and consisted of surveyors, draftsmen, and other specialists. The mission reached Giza in November 1842 and spent six months making some of the first scientific studies of the pyramids of Giza, Abusir, Saqqara, and Dahshur. They discovered over sixty-seven pyramids and more than 130 tombs of noblemen in the area. While at the Great Pyramid of Giza, Lepsius inscribed a graffito written in Egyptian hieroglyphs that honours Friedrich Wilhelm IV above the pyramid's original entrance; it is still visible (photos and translation). 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... An 1859 portrait of Alexander von Humboldt by the artist Julius Schrader, showing Mount Chimborazo in the background. ... Christian Charles Josias, Baron von Bunsen (August 25, 1791 - November 28, 1860), Prussian diplomatist and scholar, was born at Korbach, an old town in the little German principality of Waldeck. ... Photograph of Frederick King Frederick William IV of Prussia (October 15, 1795 - January 2, 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 1840 to 1861. ... Motto Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital Königsberg, later Berlin Government Duke1  - 1525–68 Albert I (first)  - 1688–1701 Frederick III (last) King1  - 1701–13 Frederick I (first)  - 1888–1918 William II (last) Prime Minister1,2... Ancient Egypt was a long-standing civilization in northeastern Africa. ... Napoléon I, Emperor of the French (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, changed his name to Napoléon Bonaparte)[1] (15 August 1769; Ajaccio, Corsica – 5 May 1821; Saint Helena) was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from... Pyramids of Giza in 1960s Egypt: Site of Giza or Al Jizah (top center). ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... All Giza Pyramids Map of Giza pyramid complex. ... The Pyramids of Nyuserre Ini and Neferirkare Kakai at Abusir, viewed from the south-east Abusir or Abu Sir is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality - specifically, an extensive necropolis of the Old Kingdom period, together with later additions - in the vicinity of the modern capital Cairo. ... Saqqara (Arabic: سقارة) is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, featuring the worlds oldest standing step pyramid. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt in Africa, and is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the World. ... Graffiti (strictly, as singular, graffito, from the Italian — graffiti being the plural) are images or letters applied without permission to publicly viewable surfaces such as walls or bridges. ...

Working south, stopping for extended periods at important Middle Egyptian sites, such as Beni Hasan and Dayr al-Barsha, Lepsius reached as far south as Khartoum, and then traveling up the Blue Nile to the region about Sennar. After exploring various sites in Upper and Lower Nubia, the expedition worked back north, reaching Thebes on 2 November 1844, where they spent four months studying the western bank of the Nile (such as the Ramesseum, Medinet Habu, the Valley of the Kings, etc.) and another three on the east bank at the temples of Karnak and Luxor, attempting to record as much as possible. Afterwards they stopped at Coptos, the Sinai, and sites in the Egyptian Delta, such as Tanis, before returning to Europe in 1846. Beni Hasan (or Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) is a village in Middle Egypt about 25 km south of al Minya, on the east bank of the Nile, with remarkable catacombs that have been excavated. ... Dayr al-Barsha is a Coptic village in middle Egypt. ... Nickname: Khartoums location in Sudan Coordinates: Government  - Governor Abdul Halim al Mutafi Population (2005)  - Urban Over 1 Million For other uses, see Khartoum (disambiguation). ... Map of the Blue Nile (in Spanish) The Blue Nile (Amharic: ዓባይ; transliterated: Ê¿Abbay, but pronounced Abbay; Arabic: النيل الأزرق; transliterated: an-NÄ«l al-Ä€zraq) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. ... Sennar is also an alternate spelling of Shinar, in a Biblical context. ... Nubia is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan. ... Thebes Thebes (, ThÄ“bai) is the Greek designation of the ancient Egyptian niwt (The) City and niwt-rst (The) Southern City. It is located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile (). Thebes was the capital of Waset, the fourth Upper Egyptian nome... is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Ramesseum from the air - showing pylons and secondary buildings The Ramesseum is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple) of Pharaoh Ramesses II (Ramesses the Great, also spelt Ramses and Rameses). It is located in the Theban necropolis in Upper Egypt, across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor. ... Medinet Habu from the air Medinet-Habu is the mortuary temple of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses III. It is located on the west bank of the River Nile at Thebes, Egypt, south of the morturary temple of Tutankhamun/Horemheb. ... Location of the valley in the Theban Hills, West of the Nile, October 1988 (red arrow shows location) The Valley of the Kings (Arabic: وادي الملوك Wadi Biban el-Muluk; Gates of the King)[1] is a valley in Egypt where for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to... Map of Karnak, showing major temple complexes Interior of Temple First pylon of precinct of Amun viewed from the west Al-Karnak (Arabic الكرنك, in Ancient Egypt was named Ipet Sut, the most venerated place) is a small village in Egypt, located on the banks of the River Nile some 2. ... Luxor on Nile, at Luxor Temple with mosque. ... Qift (قفط) is a small town in the Qina governorate of Egypt about 43 km north of Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile. ... Sinai Peninsula, Gulf of Suez (west), Gulf of Aqaba (east) from Space Shuttle STS-40 For other uses of the word Sinai, please see: Sinai (disambiguation). ... NASA satellite photograph of the Nile Delta (shown in false colour) The Nile Delta (Arabic:دلتا النيل) is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. ... Tanis or The ruins of Tanis in 2004 Tanis (Τάνις), the Greek name of ancient Djanet (modern صان الحجر Ṣān al-Ḥaǧar), is a city in the north-eastern Nile delta of Egypt. ...

The chief result of this expedition was the publication of the Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien (Monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia), a massive twelve volume compendia of nearly 900 plates of ancient Egyptian inscriptions, as well as accompanying commentary and descriptions. These plans, maps, and drawings of temple and tomb walls remained the chief source of information for Western scholars well into the 20th century, and are useful even today as they are often the sole record of monuments that have since been destroyed or reburied. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999...

Upon his return to Europe in 1845, he married Elisabeth Klein in 1846 and was appointed as a professor of Egyptology at Berlin University in the same year, and the co-director of the Ägyptisches Museum in 1855; after the death of Giuseppe Passalacqua in 1865, he was director of the museum. In 1866 Lepsius returned to Egypt, where he discovered the Canopus Decree at Tanis, an inscription closely related to the Rosetta Stone, which was likewise written in Egyptian, Demotic, and Greek. 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Bust of Nefertiti, Ägyptisches Museum The Egyptian Museum of Berlin (German: Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung) is home to one of the worlds most important collections of Ancient Egyptian artefacts. ... Year 1855 (MDCCCLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Tanis or The ruins of Tanis in 2004 Tanis (Τάνις), the Greek name of ancient Djanet (modern صان الحجر Ṣān al-Ḥaǧar), is a city in the north-eastern Nile delta of Egypt. ... The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum. ... Demotic script on a replica of the Rosetta stone. ...

Lepsius was president of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome from 1867–1880, and from 1873 until his death in 1884, the head of the Royal Library in Berlin. He was the editor of the Zeitschrift für ägyptisches Sprache und Altertumskunde, a fundamental scientific journal for the new field of Egyptology, which remains in print to this day. While at the editorial helm, Lepsius commissioned typographer Ferdinand Theinhardt (on behalf of the Königlich-Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin) to cut the first hieroglyphic typeface, the so-called Theinhardt font, which remains in use today. The Great Sphinx of Giza against Khafres Pyramid at the Giza pyramid complex. ... A typographer (from the Greek words typos = form and grapho = write) practices typography (the art and technique of selecting and arranging type styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing for typeset applications). ... For the origin and evolution of fonts, see History of western typography. ...

Lepsius published widely in the field of Egyptology, and in considered the father of modern scientific discipline of Egyptology, assuming a role that Champollion may have achieved had he not died so young. Much of his work is fundamental to the field. Indeed, Lepsius even coined the phrase Totenbuch ("Book of the Dead"). He was also a leader in the field of African linguistics, though his ideas are now mainly considered to be outdated. Based on his work in the ancient Egyptian language, and his field work in the Sudan, Lepsius developed a Standard Alphabet for transliterating African Languages; it was published 1855 and revised in 1863. His 1880 Nubische Grammatik mit einer Einleitung über die Völker und Sprachen Afrika's contains a sketch of African peoples and a classification of African languages, as well as a grammar of the Nubian languages. The Book of the Dead comd A Section of Plate 3 from the Papyrus of Ani. ... The Standard Alphabet by Lepsius is an alphabet developed by Carl Richard Lepsius to write African languages. ... Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system. ... Map showing the distribution of African language families and some major African languages. ... Year 1855 (MDCCCLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Nubian language group, according to the most recent research by Bechhaus-Gerst] comprises the following varieties: Nobiin (previously know by the geographic terms Mahas or Fadicca/Fiadicca). ...

See also: W. H. I. Bleek Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek (March 8, 1827 - August 17, 1875) was a German linguist. ...

Major Works by Karl Richard Lepsius

• 1842. Das Todtenbuch der Ägypten nach dem hieroglyphischen Papyrus in Turin mit einem Vorworte zum ersten Male Herausgegeben. Leipzig: G. Wigand. (Reprinted Osnabrück: Otto Zeller Verlag, 1969)
• 1849. Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien nach den Zeichnungen der von Seiner Majestät dem Koenige von Preussen, Friedrich Wilhelm IV., nach diesen Ländern gesendeten, und in den Jahren 1842–1845 ausgeführten wissenschaftlichen Expedition auf Befehl Seiner Majestät. 13 vols. Berlin: Nicolaische Buchhandlung. (Reprinted Genève: Éditions de Belles-Lettres, 1972)
• 1852. Briefe aus Aegypten, Aethiopien und der Halbinsel des Sinai: Geschrieben in den Jahren 1842–1845 während der auf Befehl Sr. Majestät des Königs Friedrich Wilhelm IV. von Preußen ausgeführten wissenschaftlichen Expedition. Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz
• 1855. Das allgemeine linguistische Alphabet: Grundsätze der Übertragung fremder Schriftsysteme und bisher noch ungeschriebener Sprachen in europäische Buchstaben. Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz
• 1880. Nubische Grammatik mit einer Einleitung über die Völker und Sprachen Afrika's. Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz

References

• Peck, William H. 2001. "Lepsius, Karl Richard". In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, edited by Donald Bruce Redford. Vol. 2 of 3 vols. Oxford, New York, and Cairo: Oxford University Press and The American University in Cairo Press. 289–290

External links

• Lepsius Archiv: archival material from Lepsius' 1842–1845 expedition to Egypt and Nubia
• Lepsius Project: Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien: Lepsius' 12 volume masterwork on the inscriptions of ancient Egypt and Nubia; still useful today