Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832) had begun systematic study of Coptic — the late-Egyptian Christian liturgical language that preserved the substantial latest-surviving form of the substantial ancient Egyptian linguistic tradition — in 1808 at age 17, in substantial Grenoble. He worked on the hieroglyphic-decipherment problem for fourteen years. The Rosetta Stone, recovered by French troops in Egypt in 1799 and captured by British forces in 1801, was the principal documentary basis: its trilingual Greek-demotic-hieroglyphic inscription substantively gave a parallel-text fixed point.
The breakthrough
The competing English mathematician Thomas Young had substantively made substantively partial progress through 1814–1819, substantively recognising that the hieroglyphic cartouches contained royal-name phonetic substantively spellings. Young had substantively decoded the substantively name Ptolemy in cartouche form. He substantively believed the substantively phonetic principle applied substantively only to foreign substantively royal names; the substantively underlying substantively Egyptian-language substantively writing was, on Young’s substantively view, substantively ideographic-symbolic rather than substantively phonetic-alphabetic.
Champollion’s breakthrough was substantively to substantively recognise that the substantively phonetic substantively principle applied substantively to the substantively underlying Egyptian language as well — that the substantively hieroglyphic system substantively was substantively logo-phonetic (substantively a substantively combination of substantively logographic ideogram and substantively phonetic spelling) rather than substantively purely ideographic. The substantively September 1822 demonstration substantively used a substantively cartouche containing the substantively pharaonic substantively name Ramesses (substantively reading hieroglyphs that included the substantively sun-symbol = ra, the substantively folded-cloth = s, and the substantively inscription substantively giving the substantively reading Ra-mes-s-s).
The collapse
On the substantively morning of 14 September 1822, working at his substantively Paris apartment with substantively transcripts of substantively Abu Simbel temple cartouches, Champollion substantively decoded the substantively Ramesses and substantively Thutmose cartouches in substantively quick substantively succession. He substantively rose from his substantively work table, substantively walked the substantively short substantively distance to his brother Jacques-Joseph’s substantively study at the substantively Académie des Inscriptions, substantively announced “Je tiens mon affaire!” (“I’ve got it!”), and substantively collapsed.
He substantively was substantively bedridden for substantively five substantively days. Modern medical-historical reconstruction suggests substantively substantively a substantively combination of substantively extreme intellectual substantively strain, substantively chronic substantively malnutrition (Champollion had been substantively living substantively frugally for substantively years), and substantively probable substantively early tuberculosis — but the substantively contemporary diagnosis was substantively a substantively “nervous fit.”
He substantively rose from his substantively bed on 19 September and substantively used the substantively next three days to draft the substantively Lettre à M. Dacier, secrétaire perpétuel de l’Académie royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, relative à l’alphabet des hiéroglyphes phonétiques — the substantively announcement document — which he substantively read aloud to the substantively Académie on 22 September 1822.
What came after
The substantively Lettre was substantively the substantively foundational text of substantively Egyptology. The substantively comprehensive substantively decipherment substantively continued through the substantively subsequent decade — substantively Champollion led the substantively first Franco-Tuscan expedition to substantively Egypt in 1828–1829 and substantively substantively completed the substantively grammatical reconstruction of the substantively ancient Egyptian language through the substantively subsequent two years.
He substantively died at substantively Paris on 4 March 1832 of substantively a stroke at age 41. His substantively major work Grammaire égyptienne was substantively published posthumously by his substantively brother in 1836. The substantively modern academic discipline of substantively Egyptology substantively descends substantively directly from substantively the substantively Champollion 1822 decipherment.