Cracking the Code

Map

A detail of the hieroglyphs on the obelisk in Piazza del Popolo

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Two hundred years ago this month, the French philologist Jean-François Champollion (1790-1832) announced to the world that he had finally cracked the code of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

​On the morning of September 14th, Champollion had his 'Eureka' moment when he was able to decipher the name of the Pharaoh Ramesses II (r. 1279-1213 BCE). We can see the pharaoh's name on the obelisk in Piazza del Popolo; it is enclosed in a cartouche.