ve
been to realise that the same phonetic values given the alphabetic
characters within the cartouches were often ascribed to them also when
used in the general text of an inscription; in other words, that the
use of an alphabet was not confined to proper names. This was the great
secret which Young missed, but which his French successor, Jean Francois
Champollion, working on the foundation that Young had laid, was enabled
to ferret out.

[Illustration: 296.jpg JEAN FRANCOIS CHAMPOLLION]

Young's initial studies of the Rosetta Stone were made in 1814; his
later publications bore date of 1819. Champollion's first announcement
of results came in 1822; his second and more important one in 1824. By
this time, through study of the cartouches of other inscriptions, he had
made out almost the complete alphabet, and the "Riddle of the Sphinx"
was practically solved. He proved that the Egyptians had developed a
relatively complete alphabet (mostly neglecting the vowels, as early
Semitic alphabets did also) centuries before the Phoenicians were heard
of in history.

Even this statement, however, must in a measure be modified. These
pictures are letters and something more. Some of them are purely
alphabetical in character, and some are symbolic in another way.
Some characters represent syllables. Others stand sometimes as mere
representatives of sounds, and again, in a more extended sense, as
representatives of things, such as all hieroglyphics doubtless were
in the beginning. In a word, this is an alphabet, but not a perfected
alphabet such as modern nations generally use.

The word "hieroglyphic" is applied, as we have seen, to various forms of
picture writing; but the original interpretation which the Greeks, who
invented it, put upon the word was the "holy writing" of the Egyptians.
The earliest Greek travellers who went to Egypt, when that country was
finally opened up to the outside world, must have noticed the strange
picture scrolls everywhere to be seen there on the temple walls, on
obelisks, on statues, and mummy-cases, as well as on papyrus rolls,
which were obviously intended to serve the purpose of handing down
records of events to future generations.

It is now known that this writing of the Egyptians was of a most
extraordinary compound character. Part of its pictures are used as
direct representations of the objects presented. Here are some examples:

[Illustration: 298.jpg PAGE IMAGE]

Again the picture o