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Richard Lepsius
A BIOGRAPHY
BY
GEORG EBERS
TRANSLA TED FROM THE GERMAN
BY
ZOE DANA UNDERHILL
WITH FRONTISPIECE
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• •• . • • ••• • • •••••••••••••
NEW YORK
WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER, PUBLISHER
II MURRAY STREET
1887
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887
by William S. Gottsberger
in the Office' of the Librarian ot Congress, at Washington
• •••••• •
• • • % • • •
• • • •• •••
'• ••«•••
• • •• • .• •
TO DR. JOHANNES DUMICHEN,
REGULAR PROFESSOR OF THE EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE AND
ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF STRASBURG.
My dear Johannes!
To you shall this biography be dedicated. As the
eldest pupil of our master you have in a certain sense a
right to it. From many conversations with you, and
from your letters since his death, I have seen with
what cheerful alacrity you were always prepared to
recognize the great qualities of our Lepsius ; and how
often, behind your back, has the departed spoken
warmly to me of your enthusiastic and self-sacrificing
devotion to our science.
Accept this offering, then, as a slight countervailing
gift for the many donations which you have bestowed
upon me and every Egyptologist. Imitating the mas-
ter's example you have followed him to Egypt, and
there, like him, undertaken the task of disclosing to
your colleagues at home the wealth of unexplored in-
scriptions in which the temples and tombs of the Nile
valley are still so rich. From hundreds of walls you
have copied the pictorial and hieroglyphic decorations,
and made them accessible for investigation by collect-
ing them in convenient volumes. A stately row of
226499
folios, — yonder they stand and each contains cordial
words which assure me of your faithful remembrance,
— bears witness to your industry, the acuteness of
your eye and intellect, and the precision of your hand.
But few know what great sacrifices of comfort, sleep,
health, and your own property, lie hidden within these
volumes, for without assistance worth mentioning,
either from the government or its chiefs, you, relying
upon yourself alone, have achieved great results. You
were aided by no firmans to afford you protection, no
powerful patron to assume the cost of publication, no
helpful fellow-traveller, as for years you made your
way up the Nile far into the Sudan. Month after
month have you been a self-invited guest of the god to
whom the sanctuary of your choice was dedicated, you
have passed the nights on a hard couch in a chamber
of the temple which you desired to examine, and
shared their scanty meal with the Arabs. To me it
will ever be incomprehensible whence you derived the
endurance to copy, through weeks of labor, the inscrip-
tions on the walls of the tomb of Petuamenapt, the so-
called bat sepulchre, while those misshapen creatures
which dread the day extinguished your lights, flapped
about you in swarms, and entangled themselves in that
magnificent beard which procured for you among the
Arabs the name of Abu Dakn (Father of the Beard).
But your endurance has borne admirable fruits.
Through you and your works the inscriptions of the
time of Ptolemy, formerly neglected, have for the first
time received due honor. The keys to many mysteries
in
lie concealed within them, and with what sagacity
have you established the value of the enigmatical signs
with which the priests during the Lagid period knew
how to withdraw from the understanding of the multi-
tude the mysteries to which they gave freer expression
than their predecessors of earlier epochs. Golden
Hathor of the beautiful countenance, under whose pro-
tection you spent such long months of privation, has
endowed you with her dearest sanctuary, that of Den-
dera, entirely for your own, and Tehuti has aided you
to apprehend correctly the fractional reckoning of the
Egyptians, to determine many of their measures, and
to make clear the division of the Egyptian land in
ancient time.
It is a delight to offer a gift to such a giver, and
if mine, my dear Johannes, pleases you, I shall be
happy.
I have allowed neither diligence nor care to be
lacking in its preparation, but nevertheless I should not
have attained the goal which from the first I have had
in view, if the family of the deceased had not com-
mitted to my use, with such great kindness and noble
confidence, all the materials at their disposal. Of the
greatest service have been the diaries of Mrs. Lepsius,
her husband's letters to her, to his parents, to Bunsen
and many others, and the master's own memoranda in
the form of note-books and diaries, or on scraps of
paper and in little books of poetry, in which are also
included the poems of Abeken, the family friend.
The heads of the school, especially the principal,
IV —
Professor Volkmann, as well as Professor Buchbinder,
willingly furnished me with such information as I de-
sired ; memoirs and collections of letters already pub-
lished helped me to make good many deficiencies, and
where I wished to consult the records of public author-
ities I have everywhere met with a courtesy which
merits thanks. I owe special acknowledgment for the
many communications, both by letter and word of
mouth, which I have received from the eldest son of
the deceased, Professor R. Lepsius of Darmstadt.
As is natural, the principle materials have been
drawn from the works of the master, and my own
vivid memories of his character.
The index to his writings will, I think, be welcome
to you and to many colleagues. To bring it to the
perfection which he had desired was a task attended
with many difficulties.
You must yourself judge whether the old adage "a
pupil's praise is lame," is applicable to this biography.
I am conscious of having handled my brush with love
indeed, but also with all fidelity. On account of the
great abundance of material there was far less need of
original research than of sifting and selecting, and this
had to be done with special pains and prudence in re-
gard to the twenty-seven volumes of Mrs. Lepsius' in-
teresting diary.
I hope that you, the master's eldest pupil, will miss,
in this likeness painted by the hand of friendship, no
essential trait of the dead who was dear to us both,
and that you will find that the artist has introduced
into it no more of his own personality than may be
permitted to an historian. He tenders you this book
with affection, and knows that you will receive it in the
same spirit from
Your very faithful,
Georg Ebers,
Leipsic, Easter, 1885.
CONTENTS,
PAGE.
Preface, - i
Boyhood and Apprenticeship, - 3
The School, -------- 5
Leipsic, 9
GOTTINGEN, l8
Berlln, ^o
The Journeyman, Paris, --__._ ^
Egyptological Studies, as Lepsius found them in
1834, 69
Lepsius in Paris as an Egyptologist, - , 79
lTAI - Y > 93
Holland, England, and the Season of Waiting, in
Germany, 123
The Prussian Expedition to Egypt, under the di-
rection of Lepsius, ------ '140
The Master Workman, 167
The Home of Lepsius, -.._.. 2 i8
Richard Lepsius as a Man, 282
Appendix: I. The Gottingen Insurrection, - - 301
44 II. Lepsius' Report to the Berlin Royal
Academy of Sciences on the com-
mencement of his Egyptological
Studies, 308
44 III. Extract from the Report addressed
to the Ministry, on the Acquisi-
tions and Results of the Expedi-
tion to Egypt under R. Lepsius, 314
Index to the works of R. Lepsius, - - - 325
RICHARD LEPSIUS,
the head master of Egyptology, closed his eyes dur-
ing the past summer, and his departure has been deeply
lamented, not only in our own country, but among
scholars of all lands. The task of portraying his life
has fallen to me, and this task I have willingly assumed,
for I am — with the exception of my dear and excel-
lent friend and colleague, Diimichen of Strasburg — the
oldest of his pupils. Till his latter end an intimate
untroubled friendship united me to the beloved master,
the benevolent promoter of my studies, the colleague,
the man who followed with sympathy my poetical as
well as my scientific productions. His family have
assisted me in the kindest manner by placing at my
disposal everything left by the deceased which could
possibly aid my purpose. Diaries, memorandum books,
letters of great interest, were submitted to my inspec-
tion, and these abundant materials confirmed my con-
viction that the personality of a German scholar has
seldom presented so rounded and happily balanced a
whole as that of the man whose life it has devolved
upon me to describe. In him are united all things
which can be required of a scholar in the highest sense
of the word, and hence his biographer, while depicting
the development, the individuality, and the vast activity
2 RKFARI) LKPSIUS.
of the man, can at the same time present to his nation
such a model, such a beautiful type, of the German
master of science, as is worthy of imitation.
In that great community which we call " the culti-
vated world," and which has its home in every civilized
land, the name of Richard Lepsius stands among
those which are well known. Everyone within this circle
knows, too, that he was a great Egyptologist. As one
holds the diamonds in a king's crown for genuine, even
if he sees them only from afar, so one believes in the value
and importance of the works of the celebrated scholar,
although one may not even so much as know their
titles, and although it is scarcely granted to one amongst
ten thousand to comprehend them, or even to study
them deeply.
The brief obituaries and biographical sketches pub-
lished in the papers and periodicals shortly after the
death of the great master, could give but a general idea
of his labors, and yet these extended over many impor-
tant domains of science, and his strong and firm hand
laid the foundations upon which a long and varied
series of future researches can and must be based.
It will be ours to show, in a way accessible and
intelligible to every educated person, of what nature
were the scientific achievements to which Lepsius owed
his high and well-deserved honor and renown, and
what a man the nation lost in him.
Georc. Ebers.
BOYHOOD AND APPRENTICESHIP.
Richard Charles Lepsius was born on the 23d of
December, 18 10, at Naumburg on the Saal, a pretty
town which rises pleasantly from the grape-grown foot-
hills of the Thuringian forest. Here he passed his
childhood among circumstances than which none more
favorable could have been imagined for the future
scholar and antiquarian.
His father, afterwards President of the provincial
court of justice and Privy Counsellor, was at that time
Saxon Finance Procurator for the whole Thuringian
district, and as such one of the leading men of the
place and region. Naumburg is rich in fine buildings
of the middle ages, and Charles Peter Lepsius, the
father of young Richard, applied such leisure as his
exacting occupations afforded him to searching out the
history of these venerable monuments. It was he who
founded the Thuringian-Saxon Archaeological Society,
the seat of which was subsequently removed to Halle,
and the three volumes of his short papers testify to his
zeal and ability as an investigator. He is represented
as a strict and methodical official, of distinguished bear-
ing, as well as an indefatigable worker ; and precisely
these qualities fell as a paternal inheritance to his son,
and afterwards constituted the conditions of his great-
ness.
4 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Among those remarkable men who have compassed
high aims by means of marked qualities of tempera-
ment or of the imaginative faculty, the maternal influ-
ence has usually predominated, while in those cases
where strength and acuteness of intellect have made a
man great, the paternal character has commonly had
most weight. A poet like Goethe, a man of faith like
Augustine, a Napoleon Bonaparte, whose imagination
transgressed all limits, owed what was best in them to
their mothers; the mind of a Lepsius, severe, never
seeking after uncertainties, but always inclined to pro-
found research, must be an inheritance from the
father.
Throughout Thuringia and Saxony all who were
interested in antiquities were connected with the archae-
ologists and founders of the society at Naumburg, the
air of the house in which the boy grew up was per-
meated with historical and antiquarian interests, and its
master early permitted his son to take part in those oc-
cupations which he himself could only pursue as an
amateur, and yet to which his tastes so entirely inclined.
Thus it is easy to understand how the Minister of
Finance, as soon as he recognized the scientific bent of
his son, did everything to further it and to make of his
child what he himself, under more favorable circum-
stances; might have become: a great investigator to
whom science should be all and everything, the end
and aim of existence, in short, the vocation of life.
THE SCHOOL.
Circumstances facilitated the attainment of this pur-
pose, for in the immediate vicinity of Naumburg was
situated an excellent educational institution which, at
the time when young Lepsius was received among its
pupils, had already long attained that flourishing con-
dition in which it still rejoices.
Private teachers had given him his first instruction
under the direction of his father, and at Easter, 1823,
he was already, as a boy of twelve, qualified for admis-
sion to the school, which begins with the third class of
the Prussian gymnasiums. At that time Ilgen was
principal of the school, but Professor Lange, his tutor,
seems to have exerted a stronger influence than he over
the pupils. The latter became principal after the
departure of Lepsius in 1831, but unfortunately died a
few months after assuming office. He is the only one
of all his teachers whom Lepsius especially mentions
in the biography attached to his " dissertation " and it
is true that this man exercised a marked influence over
his gifted pupil by his moral fervor, his great learning
and spirited interpretations of the old classic writers.
Professor Koberstein had come to the school three
years before Lepsius, and had introduced new life into
the teaching of German. He understood how to
interest the pupils in ancient and mediaeval high Ger-
man, and after the fashion of Tieck he read German
6 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
and Shakespearian dramas at his own house in the
evenings to a select circle. How greatly Lepsius was
affected by the instruction of this able pedagogue and
scholar may be seen from the so-called valedictory
theme which he was obliged to compose and hand in
before his departure, according to the custom in the
school at that time. This painstaking essay, unusually
mature for a lad of eighteen, handles the following sub-
ject, selected by himself: "On the Influence which
must be Exerted on the Tendency of Philology in
General, and Especially of Classic Philology, by the
Most Recent Methods of Treating German Grammar,
and the Universal Comparison of Languages Arising
from this and the Wider Knowledge of Sanscrit." It
appears from the little sketch of his life appended to this
essay that Koberstein had also given Lepsius special in-
struction in ancient German and Italian. " The time
which I spent with you will ever appear to me the
bright spot of my life here," writes the pupil, on his de-
parture from the excellent institution which he long
remembered with affection and gratitude.
And he had reason to be grateful to Koberstein, for
in the valedictory theme mentioned above and com-
posed under his auspices we see indicated, as it were,
the path which, after much groping and many essays,
the studies of Lepsius were finally to follow.
With him, as with so many others, a vigorous indi-
viduality had, even in his school-days, exerted a de-
cisive .influence upon his subsequent intellectual ten-
dencies. The elder Lepsius, the antiquarian, and
THE SCHOOL. 7
Koberstein the accomplished linguist, indicated to their
son and pupil from afar the goal for which he after-
wards strove, it was reserved for others to be the guides
who should determine and direct him thither.
At Easter, 1829, Lepsius, then seventeen years old,
passed the final examination with the general certificate
I., and left the school with a body invigorated by the
merry games of boyhood on the gymnastic-ground and
skating-pond and in the swimming-school, with a mind
well prepared for every study, and a thorough mastery
of the old classical languages.
How dear the school had been to him is shown by
the following verses, taken from the farewell poem
which he dedicated to it :
" A thousand times I've wandered
High on the mount above,
And gazed with quiet rapture
On the valley that I love.
" Beyond, the silver river!
And above, the shining skies !
While, beneath the mountain's shadow,
What a happy dwelling lies !
" The gray walls seem to beckon,
They summon me to go,
And join the throng that gathers
In the garden there below.
" There many a youthful figure
Weaves the merry game, I wis,
But whence, ah whence, arises
In my heart, this pensive bliss ?"
8 RICHARD LEPS1US.
His father who, as president of the provincial
court and commissioner for the examinations previous
to matriculation, was a person of influence with the
directors of the school, had desired that in the final
scrutiny the performances of his son should be no more
indulgently judged than those of every other alumnus.
After Richard had been honored with the I., Ilgen
wrote to his father in the following reassuring manner,
having first announced the results of the examination :
u You must on no account imagine that you are under
obligations to any one. I assure you for my part that
I would have done as I have, even if you were my worst
enemy, and that I have only acted according to my
conscience, as you may hear from Neue and
Jacobi."
It need not be said that young Lepsius was among
the most prominent pupils of the institution. On the
king's birthday, on the third of August, 1826, the task
of composing and delivering a poem in honor of the
festival was imposed upon him. He chose for his sub-
ject " Albert of Babenberge," and handled it, skilfully
enough, in the Nibelungen stanza.
He derived great pleasure, in after days, from poeti-
cal composition, and although he ardently devoted him-
self to science from the very first, yet among the poems
lying before us many a gay song bears witness to the
vivacity of his youthful spirit
LEIPSIC.
The elder Lepsius kept most of the letters which his
son wrote him from Leipsic, where he began his studies.
They show how earnestly he took hold of the matter
from the start, and how attentively the president of the
court at Naumburg watched not only the practical
daily life, but also the scientific activity of his son. The
methodical official wished to be informed as to the ex-
penditure of every groschen which he allowed his
son, and the accounts accompanying the student's
letters show us how cheaply it was possible to
live in Leipsic some fifty years ago. A good din-
ner, with soup, roast, and salad or compote, cost
three groschen, Richard thought the morning coffee
too dear at a groschen, the beer at dinner for fourteen
days came to seven groschen, a room at the inn for
one night was three groschen, a pat (half-pound) of
butter was two groschen, three pfennigs. However,
the hard-working student seems to have been absolved
from this exact rendering of accounts in the third term,
but it had been of great advantage to him, for it would
have been impossible for him to bring the greatest of
his subsequent works to such a successful issue, or in-
deed to produce them at all, without the strict sense of
order which he had acquired both by inheritance and
training. For example, after his return from Egypt he
was able without the slightest error to join and fit into
IO RICHARD LEPSIUS.
their- proper places the thousands of sheets of paper
with which he had taken impressions of the inscriptions.
This shows a painstaking exactness in the marking and
numbering of each leaf such as had been practised by
no previous traveller, not even by Champollion and
Rosellini, in whose works errors are by no means rare.
From the first, it was clear to him that he wished
to study philology, but he hesitated for some time as to
what course he should pursue afterwards. He had
presented himself at the proper time, but in those days
the professors took things easily. Godfrey Hermann,
of whom he had the highest expectations, only began
to lecture after Whitsuntide, " most of the others, such
as Beck, Rost, Nobbe, Weiske, only at the beginning
of June." The first course of lectures which he at-
tended was Wachsmuth's " Universal History." " I
was much pleased," he writes to his father, " with his
introduction, in which he expressed his views on the
exposition of the general conception, on the division
and proper treatment of history. He has besides an
agreeable fluent delivery, and a very pleasant voice.
Yet his public lectures on Roman History, which fol-
lowed immediately, were almost more interesting to
me. Here his discourse is perfectly unfettered, be-
cause he has already laid his foundations in the pre-
ceding lectures on Universal History. Roman History
is a department to which he has given special atten-
tion, and in the treatment of which he repeatedly
differs from those views of Niebuhr's which have intro-
duced a new epoch. On this account it is very inter-
LEIPSIC. II
esting to hear him criticise Niebuhr, of whom, however,
he speaks with the greatest respect."
The philosopher Krug he had imagined as quite a
different person and much younger. He writes to his
father of him : " He has the face of an old philosopher,
and it is so beset with solemn wrinkles that at first I
could not reconcile it with the biting satirical wit
which one finds in his writings. His eyes, however,
are very brilliant, and they wander perpetually over
the ceiling as if he were unaware of the presence of
auditors, during the quiet almost monotonous, but
pointed discourse, in which he never blunders or hesi-
tates for a syllable."
From what might be called the more fortuitous
selection of the other courses of lectures which he
attended, it is apparent with how little consciousness
of his ultimate goal he began his studies, and he makes
his father the confidant of his indecision. , The inter-
esting letter of the seventh of August, 1829, which we
give herewith, shows the young aspirant for the right
path in the best light, and proves that he had just dis-
cerned in the great philologist, Godfrey Hermann, the
man in Leipsic from whom he had most to gain.
Before the end of his first term he writes to his
father in this letter :
" It will naturally be far more difficult for me to
give you a satisfactory explanation of my position re-
garding science, than regarding practical affairs, since
I will not even boast of having come to fixed views on
12 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the subject myself. Indeed I consider it a main point
during the first part of my stay at the University, and
one by no means easily or quickly settled, to come to
an understanding with myself about this, and to take a
steady survey of my whole course in life, but particu-
larly of my studies. For I feel more and more this
important distinction between the school and the uni-
versity, that here one is suddenly deprived of all guid-
ance and special instruction as to the direction which
one should pursue. The many beginnings made at
school, without any definite aim in view, must be either
continued or abandoned, either pursued more zealously
or regarded as a side issue, according to one's own
choice and judgment. On this account, too, I do not
reproach myself that as yet I have no unalterable plan
nor perfect system in my studies, since scarcely anyone
could have made such a decision so quickly, or, were
such a hastily formed scheme adopted, it might lead
to a one-sided development which should be most
foreign to philology especially. Altogether, there is no
science in which this question can be more important
and at the same time more difficult, than in ours, since
we have no positive series of lectures to observe, like
the lawyers, doctors, and theologians, but each must
choose and trace out his own road over the boundless
field of philology, according to his own powers and in-
dividual character. Now, so far as my purely scientific
education is concerned, from the very beginning two
main paths present themselves, between which most stu-
dents make a voluntary or involuntary choice ; namely,
LEIPSIC. 13
philology proper and archaeology. Naturally, they are
so closely connected that one can never be entirely di-
vorced from the other, but nevertheless every one de-
votes himself more to one than the other. Indeed
either of the two departments alone is sufficiently exten-
sive to demand all the powers of one person. This
distinction between, and this independence of, the two
branches have been most fully illustrated in our two
greatest philologists, Hermann and Bockh, each of
whom has formed his own school, entirely distinct from
the other. I would think it rash and foolish at present
to wish to decide in favor of either, since I know too
little of either to make such a decision from my own con-
viction and independent judgment. In any case it is
well for me at first, as far as possible, to attach myself to
the school of Hermann, and apply myself entirely to
languages, for an accurate knowledge of languages is
an indispensable foundation in every other branch, and
certainly there can nowhere be found a more accom-
plished teacher than Hermann, even if there actually are
more learned men, which I will not dispute. I learn
daily to admire more his incomparable clearness and
acuteness in the exercise of the soundest criticism. I lis-
ten attentively and with pleasure to his lectures, and per-
haps in time will try to become a member of his Greek
club, which has already trained eminent philologists
and given the first impulse to many learned works
" Some time ago Graser * was in Leipsic, only in
* F. W. Graser, born at Luckau, 1801, studied in Leipsic, 1819-
23, 1823 Head Master at the Royal Grammar School at Halle, 1827
Sub-Principal in Naumburg, 1831 Deputy Principal and 1846 Princi-
14 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
passing through, but he let himself be persuaded to re-
main here several days in order to have the pleasure of
seeing Hermann. He went to Hermann's lectures
regularly, and was quite enthusiastic about him. At
six o'clock he went as a guest to the Greek club, of
which he had previously been an honored member. I
too went as a guest. There was a discussion concerning
a paper on several passages from Plato De legibus, and
it was not long before Graser broke in, with a prodi-
gious flood of compliments by way of preface, but with
much learning and great acuteness, and gave his opinion
on several of the passages. Hermann received it very
well. Then they fell to making panegyrics upon each
other, and Graser was so inspired by Hermann's re-
joinders that time after time he exclaimed, with every
gesture of admiration : Admiro?-, admiror in genii tui
acumen praestiuitissimum, vir i//us/ris y venerande, and
so on, so that the members were all in a great state of
amazement over it. But he spoke good, fluent Latin,
and what he said was very scholarly and clever. Fi-
nally, Hermann made another little eulogium upon him.
These two hours gave me far more pleasure than if I
had spent an evening at the theatre, for it is not every
day that one can see such enthusiasm as was expressed
pal at Guben, 1854 Principal at Torgau, 1863 Deputy Principal at the
Abbey of Our Blessed Lady in Magdeburg, until 1869. Now lives as
a private gentleman in Potsdam. In the Renunciation programme
of thirty-seven doctors of philosophy on the 4th of March, 1824, (De
epitritris Doriis dissertatio). G. Hermann says of him : A Beckio in
Seminarium Regium, a me in Societatem Graecam receptus, utrigue
nostrum et propter studiorum diligentiam, et propter praeclarum in-
genium insignemque morum humanitatem et suavitatem valde pro-
batus est.
LEIPSIC. "15
here for Hermann ; it was so genuine, and yet in its
whole essence so intelligent and clear."
This letter, certainly unusually mature and thought-
ful for a lad of eighteen, is followed by many others,
from which we may see how judiciously Lepsius knew
how to divide his time, with what diligence he not only
attended lectures, but also twice a day read Greek and
Roman classics with his friend Schweckendieck for
hours, and still found time to practise music, play chess
and visit socially, a welcome guest, among families of
good standing in Leipsic. Shortly before the outbreak
of the revolution of July, there was a significant fermen-
tation among the German students. After the momen-
tous Carlsbad Decrees, and in consequence of the
" Executive Order " carried through by Metternich, the
University was placed under political supervision " for.
the security of public order." Thus it became not only
dangerous to take an active share in the movement for
liberty, but even to have any close intercourse with a
fellow-student who was suspected of having taken part
in " seditious intrigues," and what were not so styled by
the wretched oppressors of political liberty during the
supremacy of Metternich's influence ?
How anxious must the Naumburg Landrath have
felt when he learned that an older fellow-student of his
son's, of whom the latter wrote to him with great
warmth, was involved in demagogic alliances in his na-
tive city of Brunswick, at that time a centre of the
political dissatisfaction which was soon to lead -to the
l6 RICHARD LEPS1US.
expulsion of Duke Charles. This singularly talent-
ed man, named Silberschmidt, was ten years older than
young Richard, and had interested him greatly. He
had an eventful life behind him, and was so thoroughly
at home in the most diverse departments of science, that
Lepsius described him to his father as a " universal
genius." In his nine-and-twentieth year he began to
study law, had essayed all possible branches of litera-
ture, had been page to the King of Westphalia in Cas-
sel, huntsman and fencing-master, said he had studied
in Giessen, written a dissertation " On the Immortality
of the Soul," a book on the art of fencing, many
dramas, reviews, etc., and called himself also the au-
thor of a work on chess. Lepsius who, even as a student,
was already an able chess-player, recognized in his fel-
low-lodger one of the greatest masters of this noble
game, and when he visited Silberschmidt in his apart-
ment the latter showed him a very remarkable testi-
monial. It contained a certificate from the parish of
Strobeck, in Halberstadt, that it had been beaten at
chess by Silberschmidt. This was subscribed by the
local town magistrate, and stamped with the seal
of the parish. The parish in question enjoyed a wide
celebrity on account of its chess playing, in which
every peasant was a master, and in which even the boys
had to pass an examination. Old electoral foundations
had endowed the people of Strobeck with great privi-
leges and possessions on account of their skill in this
game. They had never been beaten until Silberschmidt
had appeared to concjuer them. A Jew from Bruns-
LEIPSIC. 17
wick had also told Richard's landlord that his re-
markable new friend was the most famous of all living
chess-players. As he also proved to be " pleasant, and
anything but conceited," and showed himself " an in-
dustrious man of excellent moral principles, and at the
same time always cheerful and interesting in his con-
versation," Richard supposed he could derive nothing
but benefit from intercourse with him. All that he
writes to his father of the Brunswicker proves the bril-
liant talents of the latter, but also shows that he tried
to win his younger fellow-student by boasting. Silber-
schmidt had spoken to Lepsius about his demagogic asso-
ciations, and as soon as the father had warned his son
against this dangerous man, Richard knew how to with-
draw from the connection with tact and address.
Here, as in every similar case, the youth, scarcely past
his boyhood, shows himself entirely submissive to the
superior wisdom of his father, and at the same time he
already evinces the discretion which he afterwards ex-
hibited in every position in which he was placed during
a long life in the midst of the world, where there could
not fail to be conflicts and collisions of every kind.
At the end of the second term at Leipsic he debated
with his father whether he should not exchange the
Leipsic University for another, and in this consultation
also we see him weigh the pros and cons with a clear
head and great circumspection. To Leipsic he was at-
tached by many a good comrade and many a pleasant
family, from whom he had received kindness, and^ be-
neath whose roof he had sung and danced and been
1 8 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
treated like a son of the house. Of the academic in-
structors, Hermann alone detained him on the Pleisse,
and as the latter intended to travel during the coming
summer term, he decided on a change of University.
At first his father had some objection, we can no longer
fathom what, to Gottingen, whither Richard most de-
sired to go. He therefore weighed Berlin, to which he
was particularly attracted by Boeckh, Lachmann, C.
Ritter and Bopp, against Bonn, where he had the high-
est expectations of Welcker and Niebuhr. In his last
letter from Leipsic the son decides for the Rhenish
University, but during the vacation, which brought him
and his father once more together, he seems to have
succeeded in inducing the latter to accede to his desire
to enter the Georgia Augusta, and so we see him, in the
spring of 1830, proceed to Gottingen by way of Eisen-
ach and Cassel, where he saw Spohr conduct a per-
formance of " The White Lady."
GOTTINGEN.
On the eight of May Lepsius arrived in Gottingen,
and found good lodgings with the tailor, Volkmann,
129 Kurze Street. For fellow-lodger he had again his
friend Schweckendieck of Leipsic, with whom he con-
tinued to work and to read Greek and Latin classics.
He took with him excellent letters of introduction to
those professors of whom he expected most, Otfried
M tiller, Dissen, and the Grimms, and was thus received
GOTTINGEN. 1 9
by them in the kindest manner. During the first term
he attended the lectures of Dissen, on Universal Sci-
ence ; of Miiller, on Archaeology and Thucydides j of
J. Grimm, on Ancient Law, and of Beneke, on the
Poems of Walter von der Vogelweide.
All that he writes to his father concerning the more
illustrious of his teachers, is interesting enough. It
shows us how here in Gottingen, and especially through
listening to and associating with Otfried Miiller, Dissen,
and the Grimms, science was revealed to him in a
new and clearer light. We observe, too, how his mind
became accustomed to take cognizance of a subject as a
whole, and to its fullest extent, and yet preserve due re-
gard to details; how he acquired his esthetic ideals,
and how he laid the foundation for those works which
were afterwards to make him famous, not only in phil-
ology, but also in history, the history of art, and myth-
ology.
His first visit was paid to the excellent scholar and
sufferer, G. L. Dissen, the illustrious editor of Pindar,
Tibullus and Demosthenes.
" I can give you briefly," he tells his father, " what
I noted down of Dissen's views on my return from him.
' Above all else,' he said, ' the time has come to elevate
hermenentics, the advanced science of exegesis, for the
old poets as well as prose writers, to a higher standard.
Up to this time scholars have usually been content to
expound the words in their grammatical connection,
and according to their significance in the dictionary or
by the rules of syntax. They have sought to discover
20 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the meaning of detached passages, or perhaps the ?iexus
senteiitiarum. But they have neither recognized nor ex-
pressed in a sufficient manner the inestimable superior-
ity of the Greek language especially, in the per-
fect correspondence between thought and form, — in
the possibility of easily reproducing the least modula-
tion of thought by an appropriate adaptation of the ex-
pression. Nor have they known how to detect the
deep technical design, the economy of words, of poems,
of choral songs, which can be shown everywhere, and
which is executed with admirable poetical perfec-
tion, as well as with severe logical art. Yet the superi-
ority of the ancients consists precisely in this, that in
their works they develop in admirable harmony these
two powers, lofty poetic inspiration in the conception,
and clear, penetrating judgment in the execution. It is
just this that separates them from the poesy of to-day,
in which one side is almost always cultivated at the ex-
pense of the other. Classic poetry and the whole of
classic literature is not yet, by any means, valued as it
should be, and it is now incumbent upon hermenentics
to instruct us therein, and to exhibit in detail all the
treasures of classical literature to their profoundest
depths. Such commentaries as are at present written
upon the ancients usually contain explanations of iso-
lated words, and matters which often have but a very
slight connection with the text. They consist for the
most part of general remarks on grammar, and are
compiled from collectanea. Such dull and lifeless
handiwork should at least be abandoned to those who
GOTTINGEN. 21
can attain no higher standpoint of science ; but the
higher hermenentics must proceed from the basis of
grammatical knowledge, which is requisite in every
case, to point out in their works the genius and art of
the ancients. A correct understanding of the separate
parts can only be attained by steadily keeping in view
the essential order, the fundamental idea, and it can
be proved repeatedly with regard to Hermann that he
has neglected this in his writings and commentaries, or
he would have perceived that often, in a chorus, the
notes to strophe and anti-strophe contradict each other.
Pindar especially must be treated in this way." Lepsi-
us then describes the law which Dissen thinks he has
found to be observed, in an analogous manner, through
all the poems of Pindar.
" I was also received very cordially," writes Rich-
ard to his father, "by O. M tiller. He is just such a
man as I had expected, and that is saying a great deal ;
his whole external appearance, even, corresponded
amazingly to the idea which I had formed of him.
This morning he depicted himself most aptly in de-
scribing the Greek character. He is at the same time
earnest and vivacious, enthusiastic and calm, imagina-
tive and lucid. This is, of course, most applicable to
the manner in which he expresses himself in his lec-
tures, yet his whole character is so transparently manifest-
ed in them, especially in the first lectures on the archae-
ology of art, that it is safe to draw conclusions thence
as to all other relations. He has besides an almost
ideally fine figure, an expressive countenance which ex-
22 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
hibits real humanity, and a distinct, sonorous voice.
His lectures are almost entirely extemporaneous, as far
as the subject permits, enthusiastic, yet calm too, clear
and convincing."
Jacob Grimm he calls a " very kind-hearted, unaf-
fected man. This is apparent in everything. He is
also prodigiously learned in every possible direction,
but yet, it seems, very easily embarrassed in expressing
himself, perhaps because he does not yet feel at home
among the affectations of Gottingen life." Later he
learned to esteem the brothers Grimm more and more
highly, and met with the most cordial reception in their
house. " Eight days ago," he writes to his father, " I
dined with the Grimms, and I cannot praise the family
enough to you. The whole family are simplicity and
affection personified, and it is especially funny to see
these two men forget all their immense learning, and
play with their little Hermann, until the mother really
becomes quite troubled lest he should be spoiled.
William, the husband, is still more agreeable and easy
in conversation," (than Jacob).
In Otfried M tiller's Seminary, to which he, as well as
his friends Schweckendieck and Gravenhorst, was ad-
mitted, he reaped an abundant intellectual harvest, and
the Gottingen Philological Society, into which he had
been received as a member, was also of great benefit to
him. This consisted of seven or eight of the best young
philologists, elected by vote, who met once every week
(on Tuesdays, at half past seven o'clock). They be-
gan by discussing some critical paper presented by a
GOTTINGEN. 23
member, often in the presence of O. M tiller. This was
submitted for inspection to each member, who was free
to make remarks upon it, and defend his own views.
The business of the society was then transacted, and
finally they all sat sociably together, engaged in pleas-
ant and serious conversation, and cosily enjoyed their
beer and tobacco, both of which the society was bound
to furnish. Lepsius informs his father that he, who
always before expected to play five persona muta, to his
astonishment here became a homo disputax, which he
did not indeed, in its full sense, exactly desire, but
which still appeared to him a much more interesting
role than that of the persona muta.
Upon the whole, Miiller, in Gottingen, exerted the
deepest and most lasting influence over him. Thus
while, in Leipsic, he had still hesitated whether he
should devote himself to the grammatical or the arch-
aeological division of philology, he here decided in
favor of the latter, although without entirely losing
sight of the former. No other scholar of that time had
such a lofty and far-reaching apprehension of archaeol-
ogy as Otfried Miiller, and hence we see Lepsius allow
himself to be locked in daily for hours, in order to trace
on transparent paper the copper-plates from all the
works which had at that time appeared on the archi-
tecture and plastic art of the ancients. He wished to
make their forms his own, and to retain them in his
possession, even if in the unsatisfactory shape of copies.
The architectural pictures thus traced he afterwards
copied at home.
24 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
All that M tiller had to offer the students, whether in
the lecture-room, in the seminary, or by personal inter-
course, was received by Lepsius with enthusiasm, and
at the close of the term, he wrote to his father : " To-
morrow Mtiller will finish the historical portion of his
archaeology, and thus once more lies fully extended be-
fore my vision a new branch of science, which, if any
so deserves, should be called the very flower of science.
It is fostered, too, with such unusual care as none
other receives, and rejoices in such noble foundations
as the Institute for Archaeological Correspondence,
which, for two years, has been under the patronage of
our Crown Prince (afterwards Frederick William IV.).
The Central Board of Directors are in Rome, and
thence it extends over the whole of northern Europe,
with the co-operation of almost all eminent scholars
and experts. Its results in the various departments of
science are recorded in several languages, and within a
few weeks are spread abroad from Syracuse to Belt,
from Paris to Petersburg. So that any one should in-
deed be accounted fortunate who is in a position to
obtain even a superficial comprehension of the whole
of this immeasurable field, whose boundaries cannot
even be discerned, if we have regard only to the
material yet to be obtained. For even such compre-
hension will furnish the means for a more thorough
understanding and farther progress."
To secure these very means, he continued to work
hard under O. M tiller's direction. Yet he could not, at
that time, foresee that he himself was destined, first to
GOTTINGEN. 25
enter into close connection with that Archaeological In-
stitute at Rome of which he writes to his father, and
finally to be chosen one of its directors.
In Gottingen also he was a welcome guest in some
of the best professors' families, and his refined and re-
ticent nature led him, as he wrote to his father, to pre-
fer social intercourse in pleasant families, and profitable
communion with one or two friends, even to the assem-
blies of the Philological Society, where he took little
pleasure in the rough comradeship and the enforced in-
timacy with many a young fellow with whom he had
really little in common.
Whenever a superior artistic performance was pro-
duced, he know how to profit by it here, as he had
• done before during his stay in Berlin. When Paganini
came to Gottingen, he and Schweckendieck took a seat
together (it cost a thaler and a half), and he went to
the second half of the concert after his friend had en-
joyed the first. " It would be useless," he writes, " to
try to describe in any way Paganini's playing. One can
only comprehend the nature and method of such play-
ing while he is actually playing ; afterwards one loses
sight of nearly every measuring scale that could
be applied to it, in order to retain it in the imagi-
nation."
His interest in politics had also been excited by the
revolution of July, and in order to follow political
events and changes, he subscribed, at that time, to the
Hamburg Correspondent. He prudently keeps out of
the way of the Brunswicker Silberschmidt, who was in-
26 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
volved in "seditious intrigues," when he meets him
again in Gottingen, and mentions that by his fellow-
students, who almost universally called themselves
" Republicans," he was accounted a Conservative and
aristocrat, on account of his well-known monarchial
tendencies.
During a pedestrian tour in the long vacation of
1830, which took him into the Hartz, to Hanover, etc.,
he was to become witness of an historical incident, and
soon afterwards, at Gottingen, to be an onlooker at a
revolution.
Unfortunately, the limits of this biography forbid
our giving in full the letters addressed to his father by
the active young wanderer through the Hartz, so sus-
ceptible to all that was beautiful or remarkable. We can
only mention here his experiences in and around Bruns-
wick. He had been invited thither by Gravenhorst,
his fellow-student at Gottingen, whose parents were to
be his hosts. His travelling-companions separated
from him at Blankenburg, and he had still nine post-
miles to travel alone. "As I walked on the 'Faust'
which I had brought with me luckily occurred to me,
and for the rest of the way I occupied myself with
learning some of the scenes by heart, which shortened
the road wonderfully. Meanwhile the Brocken was
brewing behind me, soon the whole range was envel-
oped in thick mist, and thick rain clouds gathered,
which were driven towards me by a violent wind. It
was indeed a splendid sight as the storm came on, but
it inspired me with no very pleasant anticipations of the
GOTTINGEN. 27
time when it should reach me, and now I regularly be-
gan to run a race with the rain, which came more from
one side; twice it actually caught me, another time I
could only escape it by hard running. So it happened
that I got over four post-miles in four hours without
once stopping, and I should soon have finished the fifth
when a postilion called to me to ask whether I would
not like to ride back with him to Brunswick in an
hour." The young traveller accepted the offer, and sat
down in the inn to wait. for the conveyance. "While
I," he writes, " sat with a glass of beer at the big oaken
table, knapsack and stick beside me, reading this poem
of all poems (Faust), this poem which unites the heights
and depths of human life, conceived and represented by
such a genius, one by one there assembled at this and
a neighboring table some wagoners, a tipsy shopkeeper,
and some mechanics, who entertained themselves after
their own fashion, talked politics, railed, and so formed
an incomparable foreground to sonie of the scenes in
Faust. The events at Brunswick particularly were
represented and criticized in the most glaring and origi-
nal colors ; in short, my Faust played upon a stage such
as could scarcely be found again."
After this prelude, he was himself to take part, at
Brunswick, in the conclusion of the tragic-comic rev-
olutionary drama which occurred there. The father of
his friend, Gravenhorst, was chief of police, and in the
hospitable house of this man, who had been concerned
as an active participant in all the phases of the expul-
sion and reinstatement of the Duke, Lepsius had a good
^8 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
opportunity to obtain an authentic account of all that
had happened.
" Naturally," writes the young traveller, " the con-
versation fell chiefly on present events, which, however,
interested me none the less, because I had long been
well acquainted with them, and was now here on the
very spot, besides being in the house of the chief of po-
lice, where we received each of the fresh reports, which
crowded in every hour, at first hand and in the most
trustworthy manner. No excess had occurred beyond
the burning of the castle (at the expulsion of the Duke
Charles in 1830), .... but all the lamps had been
smashed and several of the windows. I will copy for
you some of the lampoons, of which Gravenhorst has
fifty or sixty, as they all have to be handed in here.
You may see from them the universal feeling against
' Charley,' as he is called, the former Duke. The rage
against him was, and still is, indescribable, but it is com-
pletely justified against such a scum of all humanity.
Fortunately (and a sign, too, that the burning of the
castle did not proceed from the mob, which is notori-
ous here), there was rescued from the fire one chest
alone, with private papers and books, amongst which
the black and the blue book are especially noticeable.
In one are recorded all the officials, and beside the
names are remarks by the Duke in his own handwrit-
ing, such as ' dog,' ' blockhead,' « must be worried to
death,' * he shall be invited, allow to stand for three
hours in the ante-chamber, and then told it was a mis-
take,' ' he is to be provoked to a duel until he sends a
GOTTINGEN. 2£
challenge, then dismissed,* etc' Beside all the police
officials stood three crosses, beside Gravenhorst and his
brother-in-law, Langerfeldt, four. Gravenhorst's succes-
sor had also already been decided on. In the other
book was the record of the secret police, and an auto-
graph essay on the best mode of tyrannizing, in which
there are the most abominable things, such as one would
not credit if the majority of the maxims had not been
already carried out in detail. I could repeat a hun-
dred anecdotes of him which are all notorious here, but
are not known abroad ; they all show that the Duke, in
his miserable, tyrannical life, was not only a man devoid
of all heart, but also actually without common-sense.
By this you may measure the fury with which all the
inhabitants of Brunswick were filled when it came at
last to acts of violence, and the rejoicing with which
William,** the brother of the banished Charles, and the
last scion of the house, is received here."
The reception which was prepared for the new
Duke seems indeed to have been especially cordial.
While the deputies delivered the address to the new
prince, Lepsius saw the populace rejoicing and singing
the LaFayette hymn, and G6tte,t " with all his coarse-
ness, a very droll man," quietly submit to the honors
which were heaped upon him. " They wanted to go
* In this way the official class, the "chickens." as the Duke
called them, and the nobility, were driven to revolt. It was these
two classes, and not the populace, who expelled the Duke.
** Duke William, of Brunswick, recently deceased.
t The following fragment of a popular song gives some informa-
tion in regard to this citizen, Gotte. It was discovered by my friend.
30 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
back to Richmond in crowds, and Gotte gave out
songs which were to be sung there. The Duke's an-
swer to the address was read amid great rejoicings.
Every one was carried away by the happiest hopes of
the future. Then they flocked to Richmond. The
Duke was still at dinner. Permission was requested to
sing the song : " Hail to Thee, William." The Duke
came out with General Hertzberg and several others,
and remained standing during the whole song, which
was sung by the crowd to a musical accompaniment.
He then caused several citizens of consideration, who
stood near, to be summoned, conversed graciously with
them, etc. The rejoicing is indescribable, and the
Brunswick ladies especially take the most active part
in it all."
An illumination was announced for the evening, and
as Lepsius' friends, who were members of the city
militia, had to patrol, he also, to his delight, took a gun
Professor H. Guthe, who aided me in obtaining farther particulars
about Gotte :
POEM ON CITIZEN G6TTE IN BRUNSWICK.
Hurrah for citizen Gotte,
The man of the August gate ;
He's half a Lafayette,
The " Lafa " we abate.
It was he that didn't tremble,
To the Duke he pushed his way,
And without asking questions,
Told him the truth that day
The continuation of this folk-song is unknown. " Yette " is sup-
posed to be equivalent to " Gotte," and it was certainly intended by
the ingenious poet that our " Laffe " (dandy) should be recognized in
" Lafa."
GOTTINGEN. 3 1
over his shoulder, and as an impromptu soldier, accom-
panied them through the brightly-lighted streets, unob-
served and unmolested. The main guard, where the
patrol finally came to anchor, was stationed on the old
market-place, just opposite to the very beautifully-illu-
minated town-hall. Here he first listened to several re-
markable narratives, and then heard them sing the so-
called " ballad," a satirical poem on the banished Duke
Charles. The author himself, a goldsmith, sang the
verses, and the whole chorus joined in the refrain, " Go
ahead slowly !" It sounded very well. The first verse
of this song, which in every respect was very moderate,
ran thus :
" For a little while things went ill that day,
For they taught him manners, they taught him right ;
They hunted him shamefully far away,
And his flaming castle they gave him for light.
But go ahead slowly, go ahead slowly,
So that we may all hear it well."
The last stanza greets the new Duke thus :
' ' And not long after another man came,
That can rule the land far better than he ;
So hurrah with me for that man's name,
That frees us from the yoke of tyranny.
But go ahead slowly, go ahead slowly,
So that we may all hear it well."
Richard copied off this song of nine stanzas, as
well as all the documents relating to the Duke's expul-
sion which he could get possession of, and sent the
copies to his father. He was in the habit of thus col-
32 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
lecting and writing out in his letters all that he thought
could possibly give pleasure to his family in Naumburg.
He maintained throughout his whole life this affection-
ate endeavor to show his gratitude to his father and to
requite his love with deeds. He wished him not only
to sympathize with his serious labors, but also to par-
ticipate in everything amusing which he encountered,
and to this category belonged the following verse,
which he found on a sandstone pillar in the mill-stone
quarry at Mansfield :
"If any man doth damage to
This quarry or its products, do,
He shall be punished according to law
And the state of the circumstances."
During his fourth term (the second at Gottingen),
Lepsius attended the lectures of O. M tiller on Grecian
Antiquities, Persius and Juvenal; of Dissen, on the
oratio pro corona of Demosthenes ; of Heeren, on the
History of the European States, and of Ewald, on the
Elements of Sanscrit. This language, indispensable for
the linguist, and whose importance for the philologist
also he had recognized even when at school, he had
wished to study in Leipzig, but had not before been
able to find time for it. He became one of H. Ewald's
most industrious pupils, though at first only with a view
to general comparative philology, to which he now
intended to devote himself with special zeal, in ad-
dition to his archaeological and historical studies.
" Ewald," he writes, «■ reads his Sanscrit Grammar in
GOTTINGEN. $$
his room before five or six hearers, a great advantage
for us, for he has an extremely low voice, though at the
same time he speaks with extraordinary clearness and
correctness. As I have always taken special interest
in general comparative philology, I am so much the
more delighted that Ewald enters into this largely,
and does not always confine himself to Sanscrit. He
by no means adheres strictly to Bopp's Grammar. A
great deal he gives in a more general way, and many
things more briefly, and, as is always the case in oral
teaching, everything more plainly : in Bopp, too, one
finds nothing of comparison with other languages.'*
When Lepsius wrote these words, and even after his
first meeting with Bopp in Berlin, he did not foresee
that this was the scholar to whom he should afterwards
be indebted for his own method in this very science of
comparative philology.
The winter term, begun with great enthusiasm, was
to meet with an unexpected interruption, for in Decem-
ber, 1830, the noted Gottingen revolution broke out.
Richard, indeed only witnessed it as an impartial
spectator, but it was followed by the closing of the
lecture-rooms and the expulsion of many students.
Even Lepsius could only escape this order with
difficulty, under many conditions, and after his patrons
and instructors had interceded for him. He naturally
describes the " Gottingen Revolution " most minutely
to his father, and his first letter on this subject we annex
as an appendix to these pages.*
* See appendix I.
3
34 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
During the time that the government prohibited the
professors from lecturing, Lepsius pursued the studies
which he had commenced with undiminished assiduity,
and he says in his letters that the closer personal inter-
course with the instructors amply compensated him for
the suspended lectures.
In the following summer term of 1831, his fifth, he
attended, and always with the same enthusiasm, O.
M tiller's lectures on Archaeology, on Grecian Antiqui-
ties, and on Tragic Art among the Greeks and its
interpretation of the Homeric Hymns. He continued
to follow Mitscherlich's exposition of the Pharsalia of
Lucan, and pursued Sanscrit with Ewald. He
advanced the study of this important language so far
into the foreground of his scientific labors that he
placed himself in open opposition to the old philologi-
cal school. This he did in conjunction with the two
friends who, with himself, composed the clover leaf of
Ewald's auditory. In the spirit of F. A. Wolf, and
encouraged by O. M tiller, he wished to become ac-
quainted with ancient humanity, not only in its entity
but also in its development. He was no longer con-
tented with learning Greek and Latin, and although
his admiration was still excited by Hermann's rational
presentation of the grammar according to the princi-
ples of Kant, the elegance and acuteness of his criti-
cism, and his original investigations in the domain of
metric art, yet he nevertheless desired to follow his lead
no longer, but had turned his attention to antiquity in
its universal and interdependent evolution. His object
GOTTINGEN. 35
was to trace out the origin of the ancient languages
and their relation to each other, and the growth and
blossoming of the art and intellectual life of the
ancients. Therefore, under Ewald's tuition, he became
a Sanscrit scholar and a comparative linguist, under the
guidance of O. M tiller, an archaeologist who was also
interested in comparative mythology, and, powerfully
influenced by Heeren and Dahlmann, a historian. If
we picture to ourselves the nature of the scientific
aspirations of our friend, and the advances which he
had made, we can only wonder that even at Gottingen
he had not already turned his eyes towards Egypt,
where many a branch of the art and learning of the
ancients has its root.
Nevertheless, as we shall see, he was to be led
thither by external circumstances, which at the time,
however, coincided with his own inclinations.
He attended Dahlmann's course on " Ancient
History," and wrote of him to his father : " He pleases
me extremely; he is just as far from giving a dry
skeleton of the chief events, without grasping history
in its higher significance, as he is from serving up gen-
eralities and conclusions based upon theories instead of
facts. An upright mind, and an earnest nature which
must inspire respect, are united in him to the clear
penetrating sagacity which sifts a subject and seizes its
essential points. This makes him as skillful and pre-
eminent in scientific research in the domain of ancient
history as he is in the study of the politics of the most
recent times, with which he principally and most sue-
36 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
cessfully occupies his remaining time. His mode of
presenting his theme is especially distinguished by a
perfect command and critical examination of the very
extensive subject-matter, whose most important periods
he understands how to characterize and place in the
proper light in brief yet apposite phrases. His discourse
is distinguished by quiet, clear, singularly fine, indeed
classical language, not a word too much or too little."
We know no more happy sketch of the excellent
Dahlmann as an academical teacher.
Dissen, whose influence had especially attached
Lepsius to classical philology at Gottingen, had become
so ill that he could offer him but little more. Besides,
the pupil had been more and more alienated from the
excellent, but irritable and feeble scholar, by his doc-
trinary and over-subtle mode of systematizing. " Un-
fortunately," he writes, " Dissen is not yet at all
restored to health ; he suffers from excessive weakness
and sleeplessness. As he often feels very lonely and
depressed through the night, he frequently has some of
the students with whom he is more intimately ac-
quainted to sit up with him. He lies on the sofa with
his clothes on and has something read aloud to him,
or converses with them, till now and then he catches a
little nap. I shall go there to-day or to-morrow, and
Kreiss, who has offered to do the same, is in great dis-
tress about it, because he inevitably falls asleep about
ten o'clock, even when he is reading aloud. Dissen
considers himself sicker now than he really is, by
which he only makes his sickness worse."
GOTTINGEN. 37
This opinion was mistaken, and was proved to be
so by the painful end of the distinguished scholar.*
In the autumn of 1831, at the conclusion of this
fruitful summer term, Lepsius begged his father for per-
mission to follow his best friend, Kreiss, to his home at
Strasburg, in Alsace, and to pass the holidays there in
the house of Kreiss's parents. Just at this time the
court president had incurred great expenses, yet he was
willing to comply with his son's wish, if the latter could
assure him that he expected to derive substantial scien-
tific advantages from the proposed journey.
" As I am well acquainted," runs the answer, " with
your present circumstances of which you write, and
how all your expenses accumulate just at this time, it
would be foolish and very wrong of me to expect from
you any considerable sum for a pure pleasure trip.
You yourself make your permission dependent upon
your firm conviction that I shall derive from this trip
great, and not trifling, gains for my scientific as well as
for my general education, and indeed on a moderate
sum. Of the former I cannot say so much, since the
literary advantages will be confined to the diligent, and
let us hope, more intelligent and judicious considera-
tion of the treasures of art on the way, and whatever
chance may possibly throw into my hands at the
library in Strasburg. But I cannot overlook the in-
direct benefit, dependent upon forming the acquaint-
ance of so many learned men, which must conduce to
* Dissen died in 1837, after a long and severe illness, at the age
of fifty-three.
$8 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
advancement in my general culture. For I may well
say that this lies no less near to my heart, and has
always done so, than purely philological progress ; in-
deed, I have always regarded them as quite inseparable,
one completing and sustaining the other. But if I can
say of none of my former excursions that they were
mere pleasure trips, from which I derived no substan-
tial benefit, still less would it be true of this next one,
to which I should address myself with better prepara-
tion and more knowledge than to any previous jour-
ney. Besides, I could neither make up for it in the
future, during my final years of study, when my time
will be still more limited, nor could I ever again ex-
pect to meet so good an opportunity."
Lepsius remained faithful to this desire for general
culture throughout his later years, and it preserved the
indefatigable investigator, who was often obliged to
devote the best part of his time and energy to ap-
parently trivial scientific problems, from becoming, even
in the remotest degree, what is called a closet scholar.
Unfortunately we have before us only the lesser
half of the account which he sent his father of this
autumn journey to Strasburg and his sojourn there.
This, however, is sufficient to show with what vigilance
he seized on everything that was noteworthy, what a
keen appreciation he had acquired, under the tuition of
O. Miiller, for art and .all that is classed under the
head of relics of antiquity, and how indefatigably he
searched the libraries for their stores of knowledge.
Wherever he went, too, he considered it especially
GOTTINGEN.
39
desirable to make the acquaintance of eminent men,
and to establish relations with them. Of books,
characteristically enough, he took none with him but
Muller's Handbook of Archaeology and Ewald's work
on Sanscrit. He was an active pedestrian, but the
hard work of the last term was visible on his originally
robust physique, for after he had claimed at Mainz
the hospitality of a cousin of his father's the latter
wrote to the president of the court at Naumburg :
" Moreover, I cannot conceal from you that friend
Richard looks thinner now than he did three
years ago.* His pedestrian tour from Gottingen here
cannot be to blame, therefore I have made inquiries of
H. Kreiss as to the cause of it,' and learned from him
that he (Richard) is in the habit of studying far into
the night. This never answers, and undermines the
best constitution ; so warn him against it, for it would
be a great pity if with all his talents and the learning
which he has already acquired, he should carry away
an infirm body."
Lepsius fortunately escaped this danger, in spite
of rather increased than diminished application during
the final terms, which were devoted to the completion
of his studies.
The journey to Strasburg also took him through
Heidelberg. Here he sought out those scholars who
* When a pupil in the highest class, Richard had travelled on
the Rhine with his father during the vacation, and visited Mainz at
the same time. The charming description of this journey, which in
print would fill quite a little volume, has been preserved in manu-
script.
40 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
had inspired him with interest, and described them
to his father in concise and pointed language. Ex-
cellent is the likeness which he sketched of Creuzer,
the author of the " Symbolism and Mythology of
Ancient Nations." This work was at that time highly
esteemed, but was really inaccurate and worthless, in
spite of the pains spent upon it, and an imaginative
faculty which was unfortunately too easily excited.
Not in vain had Lepsius enjoyed the teaching of the
author of the " Prologomena to a Scientific Mythology "
(O. Miiller). " Dr. Hitzig/' he writes, " we did not
find at home. We found Creuzer, though, whom I had
fancied quite a different sort of person ; he left an un-
pleasant impression upon me, with his peruke and
snuff-box. I could not discover a single intellectual
trait in the expression of his countenance, nothing in
his eye, which could have helped me to excuse his
well-known presumptuous and mystifying treatment of
mythology. I found in his character a certain frivolous
pedantry, and far too much self-confidence. We talked
of archaeology ; he put on great airs, without mani-
festing much wisdom ; he found fault with O. Miiller's
hand-book for having too much in it !"
BERLIN.
After his return from Strasburg, Lepsius went back
to Gottingen, and in the spring of 1832 he removed
thence to Berlin, there to conclude his studies. The
BERLIN. 41
testimonials which he received at his departure did him
the highest honor. Otfned Miiller said, that he had
attended his lectures with remarkable diligence, and an
unmistakable love for the subject ; that he had partici-
pated with " philological intelligence and talent " in the
exercises of the school of philology, and had, in gen-
eral, given to that subject " arduous study, guided by
scientific ideas." Jacob Grimm commended him as
having gained a comprehensive survey of philology,
and already acquired much well-grounded knowledge
of that science. Ewald said he had followed his
lectures with praiseworthy diligence and zeal, and had
made great progress in the study of Sanscrit. Dahl-
mann praised his industry warmly, and added that
Lepsius had also become known to him as making most
laudable progress on the path of scientific and moral
culture.
With such testimonials, and thus excellently equip-
ped, he came to Berlin in the beginning of May, 1832.
Here he had the pleasure of again meeting his friends
and fellow-students of Gottingen — Kreiss and Ehr-
hardt. The three now clubbed together to keep house.
At first he gave but qualified approval to the leaders
of philological life in Berlin, Boeckh and Lachmann,
and even to Bopp. With the latter, however, in the
course of time he entered into closer relations, and
afterwards, in our own presence, called him the founder
of his linguistic method. He had been spoiled at
Gottingen by Miiller, Dahlmann and Heeren, who
united the most brilliant eloquence to profound and
42 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
far-seeing intellects. His reverence for the immortal
achievements of Boeckh had been shaken, first in
Leipsic by Hermann, who was always glad to give a
cut at his Berlin colleagues in his lectures,* and after-
wards by Dissen. Later, he entirely regained his
respect for the great erudition, the sound criticism, the
statesmanlike views, the excellent method, and the
noble character of this rare scholar and man. Even
Schleiermacher did not fully answer his expectations.
He only attended the lectures on the History of Ger-
man Literature because Lachman was dreaded as an
examiner in this branch of study, and it was said that
he was accustomed to " chaff" those students who
were not well prepared. " He reads very disagreeably,
but he gives good things, and fortunately I had pre-
viously formed a still worse idea of him — from the
description of others." He attended the lectures on
the History of Greek Literature by Boeckh, " and
because one really misses the best less among bad
than among good, I miss our Otfried M tiller especially
in this course. For I am firmly convinced that Boeckh,
although his teacher, does not by any means approach
him. Yet they are, as they are reputed to be, good
lectures. In the afternoons from four to five I hear
Comparative Grammar by Bopp, a lifeless, dull dis-
* In a letter of Samuel Hirzel's to Horner, the former gives
most lively expression to his delight in the lectures of G. Hermann,
and afterwards says : "Then he Degan inveighing against Buttmann
without ceremony.'' A. Springer, The Young Hirztl, Leipzig, 1883.
It is well known what a harsh attack Hermann Boeckh could make in
the presence of his class.
BERLIN. 43
course, in which the arrangement of the material is
never clear and workmanlike. In many fundamental
views however, on the formation of the main stem, I
have always been much more of his than of Grimm's
or Miiller's opinion, and on this account he interests
me greatly, although Miiller's lectures on the History
of the Greek and Latin languages were infinitely more
copious and satisfactory than these can ever be. But
in his own house Bopp is an agreeable man, by whose
vast and profound learning I hope to benefit farther."
This Lepsius did, and to his great advantage, for
at that time Bopp, whose lectures were indeed lifeless
and tiresome (we too were among his pupils), was at
the acme of his great activity, and had raised compara-
tive philology to the rank of a science. We should
rather call him the promoter than, as is commonly done,
the father of this branch of study, which had indeed
an existence, although an irregular one, before his time.
His method, which was determinative for subsequent
works in the same field, set aside, as idle pastime, the
attractive search for and comparison of accidental
resemblances between the sounds in different languages,
and taught that the common origin of allied idioms
should be sought for in a radical manner by examina-
tion of their grammatical construction.
When Lepsius came to Berlin, Bopp was working
with his whole energy on his imperishable colossal
work, the " Comparative Grammar," and exercised
far greater influence over such well-equipped young
scholars as sought personal acquaintance with him,
44 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
than through his stiff academic discourses. Lepsius
first learned to thoroughly appreciate him and to
benefit by his exuberant learning after he had entered
into intimate private relations with the master, to whom,
as far as comparative philology is concerned, young
Lepsius' teacher at Gottingen was also greatly indebted.
From his letters to his father it appears that it was
chiefly the lack of that method of exposition to which
he had become accustomed in (jrottingen, and which
was in every respect consummate, that led Richard
more than once to undervalue the Berlin professors,
and even the excellent Boeckh. He attended Schleier-
macher's lectures on the " Life of Jesus," in order to
have heard at least one theological course, and to learn
to know the man. But these lectures too, although
for other reasons, found little favor with him. " Schlei-
ermacher," he writes, " gives in his Life of Jesus noth-
ing but negative dialectics, and to me he is a living
contradiction from beginning to end."
He speaks most unfavorably of the school of phil-
ology as it existed at that time in Berlin, under the
management of Boeckh and Lachmann. " A frightful
confusion is the order of the day here, and it is scarcely
to be compared with that at Gottingen. So that it
would not have occurred to me to enter, if in spite of
all this they did not think so highly of it here. They
translate Herodotus (in my opinion a very unsuitable
choice for such a school), and the odes of Horace, and
hold discussions over papers which are handed in, and
difficult passages which are propounded."
BERLIN. 45
In truth the lectures had little more to offer him, for
he already stood firmly upon his own feet, and had
learned both how to avail himself of the works of his
instructors and to labor independently in an assured
and methodic manner. Besides, his time was much
taken up with his dissertation for the doctor's degree.
He had found for this a theme as interesting as it was
difficult, and we may be permitted to point out how he
came to select it, and to whom he was indebted for
special assistance in the execution of his task.
First let it be noted that the famous Eugubian
Tablets are seven plates of copper, which were found
in 1444 in a subterranean vault {concameratio sub-
terranea), and are now preserved in the town hall of
Gubbio (the Eugnbium or jguvium of the ancients).
The inscriptions with which the tablets are covered are
partly based upon the Umbrian and partly On the Latin
language. Where the latter is employed as the lan-
guage of the text Latin letters are used, but otherwise
the letters of a peculiar alphabet. These inscriptions
are the oldest of all ancient Italian monuments of lan-
guage, and with their help it has become possible to
reproduce a good part of the old Umbrian language.
Their contents furnish important disclosures as to the
forms of worship and the sacrificial customs of the
heathen Umbrians. The liturgical fragments make us
acquainted with the hymns and liturgies which were to
be recited or sung by the priests. The Saturnian metre
and many alliterations have been found again in them.
The old dialect which forms the basis of the Umbrian
46 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
inscriptions seems to belong to the fourth century
before Christ.
Bonarota and Lanzi (1789) had given their atten-
tion to these tablets, and they were afterwards treated
by O. Miiller in his " Etruscans," and there for the first
time handled in a critical though by no means exhaust-
ive manner. On the 30th of December, 1831, Lepsius,
while yet at Gottingen, writes to his father : " I have
found an excellent subject for investigation. Miiller
first drew my attention to it, and if I can make any-
thing out of it I will perhaps choose it for my doctor's
dissertation. It is the seven Eugubian Tablets, the
sole but important relic of the Umbrian language. So
far, no one understands them, but they would be of the
greatest consequence for the old Italian forms of wor-
ship and sacrificial customs, since it is easy to conject-
ure that the inscriptions upon them are sacrificial
formulas. Miiller has already attempted to determine
the terminations of some of the declensions in his
" Etruscans ;" a considerable resemblance to the Latin
and also to the Greek, is unmistakable, and I am con-
vinced that a great deal can yet be made out, though
it would cost much time and labor. With regard to
this, it is of great moment that five of the tablets are
in Etruscan characters, and two in Latin, which gives a
clue to the relations of many of the sounds in Umbrian,
especially since there are an extraordinary number of
repititions, and both the Latin tablets, as I have already
discovered, are only the farther continuation of an
Etruscan, so that I have already made out almost all
BERLIN.
47
the words of this Etruscan tablet on those in Latin,
and written them over the Latin words. I have also
already discovered two new alphabetical characters
which were known neither to Miiller nor the earlier
commentators on the " Eugubian Tablets." Thereupon
he gives his father a specimen, in which he writes the
Latin text in black ink and the Etruscan above it in
red.
While in Berlin he became more and more deeply
absorbed in the Eugubian Tablets, and from the letters
at our disposal it appears that even before going there
he had decided positively to discuss these remarkable
monuments of language in his doctor's dissertation. A
few days after his arrival on the Spree he appeals to
the legal knowledge of his father and his familiarity
with the form of mediaeval contracts, to decide a ques-
tion which seems to him of importance for the work on
which he is engaged. In the town hall at Gubbio
there was preserved a contract of sale of the year 1456
which set forth that the city had acquired seven tablets
from the owner, at a high price. Since the contract
was concluded only twelve years after the discovery, it
seemed to follow that no more than seven tablets had
been discovered; and as Lepsius now believed that
more than seven tablets had been originally found, he
took the contract for one of those counterfeits which
were not uncommon in Italy. He now wished to
know whether any marks of a counterfeit could be
detected in the form, and on this account sent a copy
of the contract to his father.
48 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Amongst the professors of his faculty there was
none whose advice Lepsius wished to ask in this mat-
ter, but he received welcome assistance from a lawyer.
This was C. A. K. Klenze, an unusually talented
scholar and noble philanthropist who, besides import-
ant works on law, had also written those excellent phil-
ological " Dissertations," which were afterwards pub-
lished by Lachmann. Lepsius had already made the
acquaintance of Klenze in Gottingen, he sought him
out in Berlin, and could soon write to his father: " He
handles Oscan subjects as I do Umbrian. The two are
nearly related, and he has had the courtesy to let me
see in manuscript a treatise which is shortly to appear
in print, and to allow me to make use of as much of it
as I think best. In return I am to give him my
opinion of his work, which is very flattering for me."
The arrival in Berlin of the distinguished archaeolo-
gist, Gerhard, at that time Secretary of the great
Archaeological Institute at Rome, was of great advan-
tage to Lepsius, not only with regard to the progress of
his dissertation, but also in many other respects. He
met Richard's friend, Kreiss, at Professor Steffens', and
told him that on his (Gerhard's) way through Gottin-
gen, Otfried Miiller had spoken to him of the Eugubian
work of a very promising young scholar, to whom he
would gladly be of service. In consequence of this
Lepsius called on him, " and he," so Richard writes to
Naumburg, " kindly gave me much interesting informa-
tion, showed me his drawings, and promised to attend
to any inquiries that I might wish to have made in
BERLIN. 49
Gubbio. Of these there were of course plenty. I wrote
them all out in Latin on a sheet of paper, and as soon
as I brought it to him he sent it to Vermiglioli in Peru-
gia, which is only a few hours distant from Gubbio. I
may have an answer in six weeks. But if they take an
entire new transcript of the tables, which I asked for
afterwards, it cannot be so soon."
The further intercourse which he at this time en-
joyed with Gerhard was afterwards to prove most use-
ful to him. But he could not yet know how favorable
it was also to be for his material prosperity, when he
wrote after a three hours visit to the celebrated archae-
ologist, just before the examination, " Truly very
precious time just now, and yet well spent." In the
middle of January, 1833, Gerhard invited him to assist
him in the publication and exposition of his copious
collections for the Archaeological Institute. He also
engaged him as assistant on a review concerning the
history of art which he intended to publish in Germany.
Lepsius' work was to consist mainly in reading over the
epigraphic department of archaeology, and selecting
what was noteworthy, which he would have done at any
rate on his own account. He was to put it in readable
shape, and let himself be paid. This prospect of lucra-
tive literary employment after the close of the examin-
ation delighted Lepsius as much as did the invitation to
write short papers for the Bidletino of the Institute,
chiefly on Umbrian coins and mythological subjects,
which he could consider as a side-work to the more
important work on the Eugubian Tablets.
4
50 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
What Lepsius showed Gerhard of his dissertation *
pleased the latter exceedingly, and after it was finally
completed and handed in to the Faculty it was received
by that body also with such commendation and unquali-
fied approval that it won for the candidate the highest
testimonial. This work, as solid as it is ingenious, is
dedicated to his father, and it soon contributed, more
than anything else, to attract the attention of eminent
men to the son, and prove him qualified to continue the
labors of the great decipherer of hieroglyphics, Cham-
pollion.
In the prescribed disputation his opponents were the
dr. jur. Goeschen, the dr. phil. Kaempf, and the
cand. phil. Gottheiner. In his eleventh thesis, he
honored Godfrey Hermann, his old teacher at Leipsic,
by maintaining that his was the only correct interpreta-
tion of the three hundred and fifty-seventh verse of the
Agamemnon of Aeschylus.**
On the twenty-third of April his uncle Glaeser
wrote to his father, " To make up for these cares (con-
cerning the practical matters of the graduation) I have
had the greatest pleasure, one of the most delightful
moments of my life, when, after two o'clock, my
Richard came home accompanied by one of his friends
and opponents, and I could greet him as Doctor, and
embrace him with the happiest emotions. We sat
* De Tabulis Eugubinis. Dissert. Berolini. 1833. (Index to
Works. No. 1.)
** Aeschyl. Agam. VS. 357: noWuv >ap «<rtfA<uf rt\v 6»'»j<rii' eiA6M>J»"
Hermanni interpretationem unam esse rectam. etiamsi librorum
lectio retineatur.
THE JOURNEYxMAN. 5 I
down together and drank a bottle of the very best.
Yesterday evening I gave him his doctor's banquet,
and we were all as merry as possible together till two
o'clock. Believe me truly, my dearest brother, if
Richard, in addition to his scientific training, had not
this practical savoir /aire, he would never have made
his way so easily and quickly through this wilderness of
cares of all sorts."
Lepsius had now completed his life as a student,
and with the highest honors which the greatest of the
German universities could bestow. He was a sound
philologist, archaeologist, Sanscrit scholar and linguist,
but at no time had he given any thorough study to the
Oriental-Semitic languages, and he had paid no atten-
tion whatever to the Hamitic (ancient Egyptian, Cop-
tic, etc). His neglect of the former was often after-
wards an embarrassment and matter of regret to him ;
of the latter he became an expert master after the formal
completion of his studies, in consequence of notable
circumstances with which we are about to become ac-
quainted.
THE JOURNEYMAN.
PARIS.
Before the close of the examination Richard had
already written admirable letters to his father, in which
he consulted with him, as one friend would with an-
other, as to what he should do after graduating. Paris
52 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
was at that time still esteemed the centre of learning,
and to work for a time in Paris was to give one's
studies the final polish and to place the crown upon
them. Even Lepsius had yet much to gain there, and
therefore we see the father grant his consent that the
young doctor should bring his apprenticeship to a final
close upon the Seine.
He arrived in Paris on the fourteenth of July, 1833,
a year after the death of Champollion, the first de-
cipherer of hieroglyphics. The diary which he kept
during his residence there, (in after years he only made
occasional short notes in memorandum books arranged
as calendars), as well as the letters to Bunsen which
were kept to the very last fragment, and the less per-
fectly preserved letters to his father, all testify to the
zeal, the discretion, the cheerful courage, and the alert
attention with which he made use of his long sojourn in
what was then the " focus of the intellectual life of the
world."
The period spent in Paris had a still more decisive
influence upon him than that at Gottingen. During
this time the youth matured into a settled man; his
scientific inclination received a new bias, and its ob-
jects became plainly defined.
Champollion had said, in his introductory lecture,
that the science of archaeology was a beautiful maiden
without a dower. This aphorism was at that time en-
tirely appropriate, yet not only the young scholar him-
self, but his father also, knew the wonderful charms of
the bride, and every possible exertion was made by
THE JOURNEYMAN. 53
both, to win her for the ardent wooer. The " court
president " in Naumburg was an official of the higher
class, in good standing, with moderate property, and
many children, nevertheless he allowed his highly
gifted son the necessary means with which to remain
for a time in Paris and devote himself, free from
care, to his scientific education. But the young in-
vestigator felt that he would not have attained his
purpose at the end of the "several months" which
his father had originally contemplated. He did
not wish to leave France or its capital, until he had
gained all that was there to be won, and especially
(this he insists upon repeatedly), not until he had ac-
quired perfect command of the French language. In
order to earn the necessary means for a longer stay he
at first thought of translating into French his vademe-
cum, Otfried M tiller's Handbook of Archaeology,
which, to him, was such a dear and familiar friend. But
this undertaking was not carried out, and he began by
giving German lessons to two renowned scholars. From
one of them, Dureau de la Malle, membre de V 'Institute,
whom he calls a specimen of a dissipated, frivolous
Frenchman, he received five francs an hour, from the
excellent De Witte only four. " He learns more for his
four francs than the other for his five." Meanwhile the
desired opportunity soon presented itself for earning in
a suitable manner the necessary addition to the yearly
allowance from his father. The learned Due de Luynes,
"such a duke as is seldom seen, a avr, P kuAo? *iyat>b?
in the fullest sense, who is also well-versed in the classi-
54 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
cal languages," commissioned Lepsius to collect for him
from the Greek and Latin authors the material which
he needed for his archaeological-philological work.
" On the Weapons of the Ancients." Lepsius received
a handsome monthly salary for this work, which he
could easily manage in addition to his other studies,
and he executed it so entirely to the satisfaction of the
duke that the latter afterwards awarded him special re-
muneration.
Lepsius was now in such a position that he could
conveniently, and without material anxieties, profit by
all that Paris offered in the way of instruction, and at
the same time participate in all the intellectual pleasures
of life in the capital. We see him working indefatiga-
bly in his pleasant apartment, and in his leisure hours
enjoying the society of his friends and playing on his
own good piano. He was very musical and sang well
and correctly. The public libraries and museums are
at his disposal, and he makes diligent use of them ;
private collections are also opened to him, and he at-
tends the lectures of the most eminent professors at the
university. Those of the great philologist and archae-
ologist, Letronne, appear to him particularly attractive,
and among them one especially " On the Ancient His-
tory of Egypt." He praises these lectures for their
great critical acumen and clearness, and declares that
Letronne takes pleasure in contradicting everything not
capable of proof, and in denying all earlier influence of
Egypt upon Greece, (before Psammetik. Twenty-Sixth
Dynasty.) Letronne only accepted what was indisputa-
THE JOURNEYMAN. 55
ble of Champollion's discoveries, and it was he who
especially roused and fostered in Lepsius the distrust
which he too bore towards the great investigator, and
which caused him to hesitate about entertaining Bun-
sen's proposition that he should devote himself to
Egyptology.
Alexander von Humboldt, with whom he had be-
come acquainted in Berlin, had commended him
warmly to the celebrated philologist, Hase, and from
him and others he had received excellent introductions.
He was highly esteemed also by the members of the
Institute, on account of his admirable first work. Thus
he was enabled to make the acquaintance of the great-
est Orientalists, philologists and archaeologists of
France, and was most cordially received by Silvestre de
Sacy, Quatre-Mere de Quincy, Raynouard, Raoul-
Rochette, the Due de Luynes, etc. He became inti-
mate with Panofka, and the learned Stahl, secretary of
the Asiatic Society, invited him to drink German beer
in his apartment. This man he calls " a paragon of the
learning of the whole world." " He may be called
greedy in regard to time and knowledge. He sleeps
seven hours, cooks his dinner, — a little rice, —
himself, spends almost no time at all on all the
externals of life, such as eating, dressing, shav-
ing, visiting, etc., and all the moments thus
gained he spends in study. He knows a host of
Asiatic languages, Chinese among others, and almost
all the European, is incredibly conversant with the his-
tory and geography of all countries and times, as well
56 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
as with all literatures, swims and fences very well, is a
sturdy pedestrian, conducts the whole Asiatic corres-
pondence, etc." Yet, " this phenomenon of learning "
had been in nowise distinguished at school, and had
usually occupied the lowest places there. A genius he
cannot call him, for his power of original production
has suffered from his erudition, and with all his attain-
ments he has never written any complete work. But
Lepsius understood how to learn from him, and ob-
tained through him an insight into the construction of
Chinese. Stahl's opinion, that among the Chinese as
also among several uncivilized nations, intellectual con-
ceptions were developed before sensuous, seems to
Lepsius entirely contrary to reason ; and he only ap-
prehends from this that we have become acquainted
with the intellectual culture of the Chinese at a very
late, and consequently intellectually abstract, period.
He seeks to profit by the learning of other Parisian
scholars, as well as by Stahl's surpassing erudition.
Amongst the noted Germans with whom he associated
on the Seine, he names Wagen, the historian of art
from Berlin, Miintz, Himly, Urlichs, the painter Bon-
terweck, Tix, Diibner, Stickel, Spach, the Alsatian
Lobstein, and the historian Zinkeisen.
He also devoted many precious hours to learning
engraving on copper and lithography. He used his
first independent attempt in the art of engraving on
copper, (the central portion of the plan of Paris), to
adorn the sheets of letter paper on which he wrote
home to his family, and on this neat engraving he
THE JOURNEYMAN. 57
marked in fine writing the houses which he most fre-
quented, the museum of the Louvre, the Library, the
Institute, the two restaurants where he usually took his
meals, and even the dwellings of Panofka, Miintz, and
Count de Bouge, between whose wife and himself a
charming friendship existed, and whose salon he often
visited on Sunday.
As if he already foresaw at that time to what an ex-
tent he would afterwards have to call upon these repro-
ductive arts for his scientific work, he wrote, after
taking home with him the first lithographic stone for
the purpose of drawing upon it : " There are many ad-
vantages in investigating the technique of every promi-
nent branch of art and science, even if I do not need
to make use of lithography later for my own inscrip-
tions."
But this he did, and if the publications which were
prepared for him by this method of reduplication sur-
pass all others in neatness and beauty, it should be
credited to the score of the technical knowledge which
he acquired in Paris.
There, also, he committed to paper his first musical
compositions. A song, written by himself, which he
set to music with an accompaniment, was followed by
others, for at that time he everywhere kept up his pro-
ficiency in this art, and particularly while in Paris. Not
only the antiquarian collections, but also the exhibitions
of new paintings and statuary were constantly visited,
and, no less frequently, the theatre. His diary shows
with what quick sympathy and keen judgment he lis-
58 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
tened to tragedies, comedies, and opera. The repre-
sentation of French tragedy is most severely censured.
" The performance of Corneille's Cid was bad beyond
measure, and fearfully French. . . . The players of
to-day, who act Corneille and Racine, have preserved
nothing of the tragic art but the tragic mask, and this
they fasten on behind instead of in front, so as not to
hide their lovely French faces." The only one who
compelled his unlimited admiration was Mars, who, as
an old woman of sixty-eight, at that time filled the
most youthful roles with admirable sweetness and
naivete. Montrose and Mademoiselle Dupont he also
rates very highly. He bestows the warmest enco-
miums on the Cirque Olyi7ipique, conducted by Loiset.
" Here is actual art, not only feats of skill. Painters
and sculptors should come here to study, as Phidias
and the Grecian sculptors did in their gymnasiums.
Superb figures are displayed here, and strength, dex-
terity, freedom and ease are combined with real beauty
of form, such as one vainly seeks in the ballet. Our
ballet has almost lost rank as an art ; the sole laudable
exception is Taglioni, whom I have seen here in the
Sylphide, and admired, as I did in Berlin. If any one
wished to fashion a worthy statue of Terpsichore it
might perhaps be possible from Noblet, Foncisy and
all the rest of them, to construct a passable pair of
legs : it would only be necessary to take a cast of Tag-
lioni, and there you would have it in perfection."
All that is beautiful and remarkable in Paris passes
under the vigilant eye of this indefatigable scholar. He
THE JOURNEYMAN. 59
is active as collector, student and investigator, and dur-
ing the latter part of the time in a department of
science which had till then been as good as unknown
to him. But he is also busy with both hands and
brain in earning meat to go with his bread, and in pro-
ducing a new and difficult original work. We see him
attend public festivals, ride out into the country, exam-
ine every corner of the city, give his attention to the
industries of the Parisians, go to parties and salons as
a welcome guest, sing and play with friends, and
through all this we can trace the progress of an essay
on Sanscrit palaeography from which was afterwards
developed the excellent treatise on " Palaeography as a
Means of Etymological Research.* For this, — an al-
most unheard-of honor, — the youth of three and
twenty receives the Volney prize.
He says, at a later period, that Paris was always to
him a city rich in interest, instruction and manifold
benefits. During his first sojourn there it appeared to
him " in one respect " (undoubtedly in respect to the
animation and refinement of social life,) " the capital of
the world." But in spite of his youth Lepsius in no
wise allowed himself to be dazzled by the glittering as-
pects of French life. It was in the public libraries that
he first became sensible of the drawbacks in the con-
ditions of the Parisians. " The management of the
libraries is abominable," he writes, " no zeal, no knowl-
edge, not even good-will. Miserable officials, lack of
* Berlin 1834. Second Edition. Leipsic 1842. (Index to Works.
No. III.)
6o RICHARD LEPSIUS.
everything that is not French. It is true that I am
spoiled by the Gottingen and Berlin libraries, etc."
Since that time many improvements have been
made in these institutions. The special attention given
to them by Lepsius was of use to him as " Chief Li-
brarian," in the evening of his life.
From the first he had devoted himself with great
ardor to the study of the French language. But, al-
though he was pleased with his progress, he did not
allow himself to be blinded in this regard either, and,
after he had spent four months in the cultivation of his
French style, he wrote, " A Frenchman only needs to
think correctly and truly, and he is sure to write
properly and well ; in German a good style is far more
difficult, for there one must know all the deeps and
shallows not to steer crookedly or clumsily, or even run
aground. The French language is a level surface, and
one slips along as if skating on ice ; the German lan-
guage has depths over which it is more dangerous and
requires more skill to steer, but one can go farther on it.
When water is deep and moves rapidly it never freezes,
and neither does the boundless sea. So the German
with his language can make the whole world his own ;
the Frenchman is restricted to his mirror-like surface.
One must cherish one's hatred against everything
French not to lose one's own depth. As soon as one
takes pleasure in French things one's spirit rests on
enervating down feathers. Yet one should always
learn, even from one's enemies.
Lepsius took the most lively interest in every event
THE JOURNEYMAN. 6 1
of importance that occurred during the time of his so-
journ in Paris. He devotes a large space in his diary
to the great popular festival, celebrated on the anniver-
sary of the Revolution, from the twenty-seventh to the
twenty-ninth of July, 1843, and to the unveiling of the
statue of Napoleon on the Vendome column. This
took place on the second day of the grand festival.
The statue was enveloped in a green cloth, besprinkled
with stars. " The impression made by the unveiling,"
he writes, (and we gladly make room here for the ac-
count, both for its own sake and as a specimen of the
German style of young Lepsius,) " the impression, es-
pecially amidst these surroundings, was very striking.
Above this seething mass, these convulsions of a strug-
gling mob y this shouting and quarrelling, this motley
throng, this glittering of military display, there suddenly
appeared, not like a rock in the sea, (to which possibly
the column might have been compared,) but like a
supernatural power, the calm, majestic presence of
Napoleon. What can produce a greater impression
than the power of a mind which manifests itself in a
composed bearing and a commanding expression, face
to face with the unruly passions of similar human
spirits ?"
In these words he presents to us the ideal, of his life,
and we shall see how well he himself ever succeeded in
preserving such a commanding attitude towards unruly
passions. " This expression of command," he con-
tinues, "is still grander than the great yet inanimate
nature, which is sometimes admired in contrast with
62 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
nature, or even humanity, in a state of excitement. A
like impression, too, was unconsciously depicted on
every face, and a general shout, ' Vie l'Empereur! Vive
Napoleon !' burst from the innumerable throng, which
really seemed for a moment entirely to forget the op-
pressive present. For one moment every lineament
expressed admiration, pleasure, satisfaction." Then he
describes how Louis Philippe conducted the review,
and continues, " However, not the least enthusiasm
was manifested for him, which, in my opinion, is mainly
owing to his personality. His external appearance
presents nothing that is at all imposing, nothing attrac-
tive; no intellectual power of any sort is expressed in
his figure or his face; he impresses you as a stout
citizen, returning thanks for the great honor which is
done him. And yet here in France, if anywhere, at
least a semblance of intrinsic greatness is needed for
the eyes of the people, since the mystic vail of royal
greatness has so entirely fallen from the head of the
citizen king. As the king rode past one only heard a
clamor, such as springs from gratified curiosity."
From this festival, as Lepsius describes it, can be infer-
red the historical events which must of necessity occur
later : the expulsion of Louis Philippe and the acclama-
tion of a Napoleon to the French throne.
With the appearance of the citizen king Lepsius'
exalted frame of mind is dissipated, and he tries to fix
the note which he can designate as prevalent in the
general din. With the aid of the interval between the
lowest note of his own voice and the sound which
THE JOURNEYMAN. 6$
formed the key-note of the clamor, he found it to be
the treble e. Thus does the spirit of research ever
demand her due of him. The linguist everywhere
scrutinizes the value and significance of sounds and
tones. He does not disdain to amuse himself with
them occasionally, and to determine the relation be-
tween them and other perceptions of the senses. " O,"
he writes at one time in his diary, " seems to me brown,
a, light blue, e, colorless, a clear faint color, i, bright
yellow." At that time, while writing his essay on
Sanscrit palaeography, he thought he discerned that in
all languages the vowels had formed themselves by
degrees, like colors, from the a, but that originally there
had been no distinction between vowels and conso-
nants. The words, he thought, had been divided ac-
cording to their sounds, in such a way that each conso-
nant with the vowel which followed it constituted an
inseparable whole. Hence in Sanscrit a originally was
even considered as a consonant, or rather as a combi-
nation of the Greek Spiritus lenis and the a which
necessarily followed it.
In Paris Lepsius is at first a linguist solely, and does
not concern himself with Egyptological studies. But
by the end of October, through Panofka, he is first
invited to come to Italy in the name of Gerhard, who
had kept him in mind since their meeting in Berlin, and
then he receives a letter from the Alsatian Lobstein,
who had met him in Paris, and who has been author-
ized by Bunsen and also by Kellermann to make him a
serious proposition to come to Rome. There he is first
64 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
to busy himself with a collection of Umbrian, Oscan,
and Etruscan inscriptions, for which his dissertation
would seem especially to qualify him, and secondly to de-
vote himself seriously to the study of the writing and
language of the ancient Egyptians. The first proposal is
entirely acceptable to him from the beginning, although
it is only for the sake of completeness that he will in-
clude in his corpus inscriptionem the Etruscan inscrip-
tions, on the deciphering of which " many a man may
yet wear out his teeth." The second proposition, on
the contrary, causes him the most serious deliberation.
It is true that Gerhard, through whom he had been
most warmly commended to Bunsen, had already in
Berlin urged him to the study of hieroglyphics, and had
assured him that he should himself undertake it if he
were but younger. It is also true that he felt his own
powers had now become fit to cope with the greatest
difficulties, but yet it seemed to him advisable to await
the appearance of Champollion's grammar, in order to
learn how the matter actually stood. He could thence
gather and decide whether the foundations had been so
well laid that by rational and scientific investigation he
should really be able to accomplish something substan-
tial on a field which, with the exception of Champollion
himself, had up to that time been almost exclusively
occupied by bunglers and incompetent dilettanti.
The prudence with which the youth of three and
twenty proceeded in this important question of his life,
is most remarkable. In the letters which he addressed
to his father, in order to obtain his advice, he sefs forth
THE JOURNEYMAN. 65
clearly and exhaustively all the reasons on both sides.
Bunsen, from whom these proposals emanate, is a per-
son of great influence, and if he, Lepsius, finds Cham-
pollion's preparatory work satisfactory, and it is possible
to realize his patron's plan of finally entrusting him with
the direction of the fine Egyptian collection at Berlin,
there then opens before him the prospect of an assured
future, as far as the material circumstances of life are
concerned. This it is usually far more difficult for an
archaeologist and philologist to secure than for a gram-
marian and teacher. He would not be content, he
writes, to gain his livelihood by book-writing. He had
already written to his father from Berlin, March thir-
teenth, 1833, " I do not know whether I should have any
special talent for the profession of teaching, since I have
never yet tried it, and even if I should adopt it, from
inclination, and with the expectation of finding content-
ment in it, yet, in truth, it is not a great career." If he
can hope, (thus he continues to write to his father, after
Bunsens invitation,) to find in Egyptology a satisfac-
tory field for research, and if Bunsen can give him in
advance the most positive prospect of the patronage of
the Prussian government, and the hope of afterwards
obtaining an appointment in the fine Egyptian collec-
tion at Berlin, then he will decide to go to Rome, and
to turn his studies in the new direction which Bunsen
desires ; but otherwise not.
His father could only assent to his doubts and de-
liberations, and so, on December twelfth, 1833, the son
wrote to Bunsen the following letter, which was to give
5
66 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
both to his studies and his life a tendency so peculiarly
propitious for his character and talents.
" The kind confidence which, judging by an invita-
tion lately sent me through H. Lobstein, you appear to
feel in my abilities, has aroused in me no less pleasure
than serious doubts as to how far I may myself confide
in my own powers. I in no wise mistake the import-
ance of these doubts, especially at my age and in my
circumstances. How I shall solve the problem of life
depends chiefly on their right or wrong solution, and
therefore, as long as they are still unsettled, every im-
pulse from without is of infinite moment to the whole
inner life and aspiration. You could neither be aware
of the soil on which your words, perhaps but carelessly
meant, had fallen, nor still less of the connection in
which they stand with my bwn inclinations and mental
tendency. It is not as if I had previously entertained
the idea of attempting the deciphering of hieroglyphics ;
rather, till now, I have been chiefly attracted towards
archaeology and general comparative philology, upon
the broader field of that science to which, in any case
I had resolved to devote myself. Although these did not
give me much prospect of an assured livelihood for the
future, yet I wished to prosecute the two studies together
in Paris, because they have so many points in com-
mon, and indeed seem to me in their essential substance
to form a more perfect whole. Then latterly I was led
by chance to a subject which attracted me more the
farther I pursued it, and at last prompted me to collect
the results in a short treatise which I am about to have
THE JOURNEYMAN. 67
published in Berlin. This treatise is immediately con-
cerned with palaeographic researches into Sanscrit
writing, but I was soon led from the peculiarities of this
writing, which in many respects is wonderfully conson-
ant with nature, to more universal palaeographic laws.
I found myself forced at last, by the subject itself, to
express my views on the organic and essentially neces-
sary connection between writing and language con-
sidered in their broadest relation, and on the value of a
scientific palaeography in the investigation of language.
Indeed, I could not refrain, at the close, from referring
to Egypt itself, where there seems to open such a splen-
did and fertile field for this new science as never before
in Europe, or even in Asia. Thus, on one hand, I am at-
tracted by the idea of an Egyptian palaeography which
cannot possibly be sought for except in accordance
with the universal laws of writing and language, and
therefore must be capable of rational scientific treat-
ment. Yet, on the other hand, I cannot avoid noticing
the special obstacles, of other than a scientific kind,
which present themselves, and particularly the precari-
ous direction which might be permanently given to my
studies by an over-hasty decision. It is true that on
this path also archaeology and comparative philology
would be the guides and companions whom I should
most desire. But in their Egyptian costume they would
probably be still less able to secure me a settled posi-
tion in life, than in their Greek and Roman dress, un-
less, in that case, I might consider myself assured of
substantial assistance from the government, and of a
68 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
situation in the public service in case I succeeded in
fulfilling all reasonable expectations. But if this were
possible, and, above all, if I had become convinced by
examination of the authorities hitherto accessible, and
especially of Champollion's grammar, that the founda-
tions had been so laid as to give hope of greater results
to be attained by conscientious and scientific treatment,
then I would gladly devote all my ability, time and
energy to a subject, the advancement of which may
rightly lay claim to the most universal interest, although
the handling of it at present can only fall to the lot of a
favored few."
Bunsen sent an encouraging answer to this letter,
which, like the diary and the letters to Father Lepsius,
did not deviate by one hair's breadth from the true
circumstances and inclination of the writer. After the
young philologist and archaeologist had satisfied him-
self that new researches might indeed be profitably
based upon the preparatory work of Champollion, and
that great results could perhaps be attained in the field
of science thrown open by him, he decided thenceforth
to devote himself with all his energy to the study of
Egyptology.
It is now time for us to cast a glance at this new
science, and to point out how far it had progressed, at
the time when Lepsius first commenced to devote him-
self to it and to continue the labors of Champollion,
who had died shortly before his arrival in Paris.
EGYPTOLOGICAL STUDIES. 69
EGYPTOLOGICAL STUDIES,
AS LEPSIUS FOUND THEM IN 1834.
For nearly fifteen hundred years all direct knowl-
edge of the hieroglyphic writing of the ancient
Egyptians had been lost, and nothing more was known
of the monuments of the time of the Pharaohs than was
incidentally mentioned by classic authors, or travellers
who had visited the Orient. It is true that in Rome
and Constantinople stood obelisks which had been
transported to the imperial residences from the temples
of the Nile, while mummies and smaller Egyptian relics
were preserved as curiosities in the libraries and mu-
seums of Europe. But the interest in the life of the
ancient Egyptians, as well as in their art and science,
which had enjoyed such a high degree of esteem
amongst the Greeks, had been lost. And although,
after the prime of the humanities had faded, an Athan-
asius Kircher,* and after him other scholars such as the
Dane Zoega or Barthelemy, ventured to attempt the
deciphering of the inscriptions with which the Roman
obelisks were covered, yet they were soon forced to de-
sist from their fruitless endeavors, for want of any fixed
basis from which they might have prosecuted their
difficult operations with success. Then the First Con-
* Died in 1680.
70 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
sul of the French Republic, General Napoleon Bona-
parte, undertook that adventurous march into Egypt
by which he hoped to break up English influence on
African soil, to cut off the nearest route to India from
the British armies, and -also to gather laurels for him-
self. " For," he had said, " the greatest glory in the
world is only to be won in the Orient."
Every one knows the course of this campaign,
which indeed ended in favor of England, but brought
far greater fame to France than to her opponent.
History does not forget such battles as that beneath the
pyramids, and in the annals of science a place of honor
will ever be accorded to the intellectual achievements
of the French scholars who, during the end of the pre-
vious and the beginning of our own century, followed
the French armies amidst a thousand hardships, dan-
gers, and adverse circumstances. It was by means of
this expedition that the life of the old Egyptians was to
celebrate its resurrection. No one in Europe had sus-
pected what a wealth of monuments of the time of the
Pharaohs had been preserved upon the Nile. People
watched with astonishment the arrival in Paris of great
folios full of superb drawings in which these were de-
picted, and numerous volumes containing the descrip-
tions of them. Excellent reproductions of both after-
wards found their way all over the world.
In 1799, m tne cou rse of excavations at the fort of
St. Julienne at Rosetta, in the northern Delta, the
French officer of engineers, Boussard, had found the
remarkable tablet which was to become so famous
EGYPTOLOGICAL STUDIES. 7 1
under the name of the Rosetta stone. The fortunes of
war carried this one monument alone, not to Paris, but
to London, where it is worthily conserved in the British
Museum. It contains a sacerdotal decree, which awards
high honors to the fifth Ptolemy, Epiphanes, for his
great worth, and the benefits which he conferred on the
country. It is written in three different characters and
languages.
Let us imagine, instead of the Egypt of that period,
an Italian province of the Austrian monarchy, and let
us suppose that the clergy of the place had drawn up a
decree in honor of the imperial house ; this might per-
haps be published in the old ecclesiastical language,
Latin, in Italian, and in the German language of the
ruling house and its officials. Precisely thus was the
decree of Rosetta written ; first in the sacred language
of the church, habitually rendered in the ancient hiero-
glyphic character, and only employed in ecclesiastical
writings, next in the dialect current among the people,
the demotic, which was recorded in a special abbre-
viated character in which the original form of the hiero-
glyphics is no longer to be recognized, and finally in
the Greek language and character of the Lagid ruling
house and its functionaries. Thus the Rosetta stone
offered for investigation three tolerably long texts, the
first two of which had for foundation a dialect of the
ancient Egyptian language. These were in the two
kinds of writing, the distinction between which had al-
ready been noted by the Greeks, (Herodotus, Diodorus,
Clemens of Alexandria, etc.) and beneath them stood.
72 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the Greek translation. In a special treatise,* to which
the reader is referred, we have endeavored to show
how two scholars, working independently, arrived
simultaneously at the same result of correctly decipher-
ing the principal hieroglyphic groups by a comparison
of the names of the Ptolemy, of Cleopatra and of Alex-
ander,** which were distinguished by being enclosed
within elliptical ovals (cartouches), and appeared on
the bi-lingual tablet in both hieroglyphic and Greek
text. These two scholars were the gifted Frenchman,
Champollion, and the Englishman, Thomas Young, an
investigator of the first rank, whom difficulties served
only to allure, and whose labors in the domain of
physiology and optics would have assured him an im-
mortal name. But Young arrived at results which
were inaccurate in detail, chiefly by means of mechani-
cal and arithmetical comparison, and then pursued his
acquisitions no further, while Champollion applied all
the energies of his lifetime to the prosecution and de-
velopment of his epoch-making discovery. For this
reason we ascribe it to him more willingly and with
greater justice than to Thomas Young, who, however,
undoubtedly presented his conclusions a little in ad-
vance of Champollion. Each had arrived at his results
quite independently of the other, but, from the first,
Champollion's were the more correct, and what with
* G. Ebers. On the Hieroglyphic System of Writing. Virchow
und V. Holtzendorff sche Samm'lung von wissenschaftlichen Vor-
tragen. 2. Aufl. Serievi., No. 131.
** The names of both of these sovereigns were found upon a
second bi-lingual tablet, discovered on the island of Philae.
EGYPTOLOGICAL STUDIES. 73
Young remained a splendid but incomplete exploit of
the most magnificent sagacity, was by the Frenchman
prosecuted in the most brilliant manner, and reduced
to a correct system which, taken as a whole, is still
valid at the present day. The great master-pieces of
Champollion, the Grammaire e'gyptie?ine, (1836-41),
and the Diction?iaire egyptien en ecriture hieroglyphique,
(1842-44), were first published after his death (1832),
and subsequently to Lepsius' sojourn in Paris. They
give an idea of the profound insight into the ancient
Egyptian language which had been attained by this
scholar who died so young. Had Fate granted him a
longer life his great works would have gained im-
mensely in value, for his brother, Champollion-
Figeac, who had undertaken to edit a portion of the
manuscripts* of the deceased, which filled two thou-
sand pages, although he fulfilled the task conscien-
tiously and gladly, was yet obliged to take in hand
much that was only half completed, and did not prove
entirely equal to the undertaking.
It is true that Francois Champollion, in his Precis
du systeme hieroglyphique des anciens Egyptietis, (Paris,
1824), had presented a scheme of the hieroglyphic
system of writing which, in its general features, was
correct. But this work, though extraordinary for that
time, was somewhat of the nature of a sketch, and
criticism could find in it sufficient grounds for enter-
taining sundry doubts and scruples. Other scholars
* They were bought by the Paris library for fifty thousand francs.
74 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
especially, who likewise styled themselves Egyptolo-
gists, attacked the system of Champollion, and brought
forward other systems of their own in opposition to it.
Amongst these guides to the labyrinth, whose errors
have long since been refuted and lapsed into utter for-
getfulness, Seyffarth of Leipsic lifted his voice most
loudly. Sickler, also, wished to explain the hiero-
glyphics by paranomasia. He maintained that each
one was intended to represent a whole series of words
of similar sound. Klaproth adhered firmly to his acro-
logical system, according to which each hieroglyphic
could express all those Coptic words that begin with
the same sound with which the name of the hiero-
glyphic begins.
What was a critically trained linguist to think of a
science which had not yet positively decided how to
read or explain the characters of that writing, which it
was incumbent upon it to interpret, and which could
not even declare, with the concurrence of all its colla-
borators, what language was the basis of the text which
it nevertheless sought to translate and expound ?
It is difficult to understand how, after the appear-
ance of the Precis du systcme hieroglyphique, these card-
houses could have stood their ground for a single
month beside the well-founded edifice of Champollion.
But the more dubious the condition of affairs was with
the authors of these false systems, the louder did they
raise their voices, while Champollion, without regarding
them, worked on with admirable tranquillity, and added
stone after stone to his great construction. The prin-
EGYPTOLOGICAL STUDIES. 75
cipal parts of this he completed, but he was destined to
bequeath it to posterity without roof or ornaments.
At the time when Lepsius was invited to make the
investigation of the ancient Egyptian the occupation of
his life, he had heard as much in favor of SeyrTarth,
Klaproth and Sickler as of Champollion. From the
beginning he placed greater confidence in the latter.
Yet he did well to inform himself exactly as to the true
state of Egyptology at that time before placing at its
disposal his energy, his ability, and his time. He was
of too prudent a disposition to embark for the journey
through life on a paper boat.
A deeper insight into the system of Champollion re-
assured him, and soon led him to a decision. He
might undertake the work with favorable expectations,
for Lepsius could feel himself far superior in thorough-
ness of preparation and synthetic acumen to those in-
tellectual imitators of the giant Champollion, who, even
during his lifetime, had ventured forth with their own
works. We shall have to tell with what blunt sickles
they destroyed the grain which they thought to reap.
Destiny had forbidden the master to train up worthy
disciples, for after the first professorship of Egyptology
in the University of Paris had been conferred upon
him, and when he had scarcely entered on his office as
a teacher, the fine vigorous man of forty-one was over-
taken by death.
Prior to this, however, he had already found dis-
ciples in Salvolini and Rosellini. The latter had fol-
lowed him to Rome, Turin and Naples, after having
76 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
taught at Pisa as Professor of Oriental Languages. The
extraordinary talent of E. de Rouge was developed
later. Birch in London and Leemans in Leyden were
indeed his contemporaries, but should be called his suc-
cessors, not his pupils, and published their first Egyp-
tological works after his death, and after Lepsius had
decided in favor of this science.
When our friend entered the arena of Egyptological
research the nature of the demotic writing was as yet
entirely undetermined, for although the greatest Orien-
talist of this century, Silvestre de Sacy, had addressed
his attention to the demotic portion of the Rosetta
stone, and it had been examined not only by Thomas
Young, but also by the sagacious Swede, Akerblad,
neither they nor Champollion had been able to come to
any satisfactory understanding of it. Lepsius, also did
little towards a more thorough comprehension of the
nature of the demotic dialect and writing. It was H.
Brugsch and E. Revillout who first discovered the sig-
nificance of the demotic, and proved the importance of
this " writing and language of the people " as a middle
term between ancient Egyptian and Coptic.
As far as this, (the Coptic), is concerned, it was the
language used by the Egyptians in speaking and writ-
ing, after the introduction of Christianity into Egypt.
It was written in Greek letters, with some additional
alphabetical characters for sounds which the Hellenic
alphabet would not reproduce. It represents the most
recent dialect of the Egyptians, replete with many bor-
rowed and alien words from the Greek, and it succeeded
EGYPTOLOGICAL STUDIES. 77
the demotic as this sprang from the ancient Egyptian
language which was written in hieroglyphics. As we
possess many of the Scriptural books in Coptic transla-
tions, and more recent Coptic manuscripts with an
Arabic version in the margin, it is scarcely less intelli-
gible for us than Greek and Arabic themselves. The
church of the monophysitic Coptic Christians on the
Nile employs it to-day in the liturgies according to
which divine worship is conducted. The founder of a
scientific knowledge of the Coptic language in Europe
was the same Athanasius Kircher who attempted the
deciphering of hieroglyphics without success. To him
we are, however, indebted for the first Coptic vocabu-
laries and essays at grammar, (these were taken from
the Arabic, and written in Latin.)
A succession of European scholars afterwards ex-
tended and perfected his work, which, although funda-
mental, was full of defects and errors. When Lepsius
began the study of Coptic it had already been treated
by Lacroze, Wilkins, Scholz, Woide, Tuki, Quatremere,
and Zoega, in part grammatically, and in part lexico-
graphically. Peyron's lexicon was also approaching
completion.
No one had yet ventured to assign this language its
proper scientific philological rank. Its three dialects
had long been known, and not only Champollion, but
Seyffarth also, had made use of them in the interpreta-
tion of the most ancient hieroglyphic words.
There was no lack of Coptic manuscripts and
78 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
books * in Paris, but there was a very obvious want of
old Egyptian hieroglyphic writings, well published. The
inscriptions** reproduced in the great Description de
r£gypte, had been copied previous to the deciphering
of hieroglyphics. They had been transcribed at ran-
dom, without accuracy or intelligence, and were useless
for the philologist. Rosellini's work on monuments t
was prepared as the combined result of the expedition
sent to Egypt by France, under Champolliori, and that
sent by Tuscany under Rosellini. The publication of it
had scarcely been commenced when Lepsius obeyed
the summons of Bunsen. The same is true of Cham-
pollion's Monuments de r£gypte, etc.
In the following pages we shall have to show all
that had been achieved by Egyptological research in
the provinces of history and mythology, and what
Lepsius found there, both to clear away, and to build
up.
* Lepsius used the Pentateuch, edited by Wilkins, for his first
exercise book.
** Published in the first edition, under the supervision of Jomard,
1809-28. The second edition was edited by Pankouke, 1821-29.
t In Rosellini's / Monumenti dell' Egitto e delta Nubia. Eight
volumes, with the addition of two folio volumes of colored plates,
published at Pisa in 1832-44. The third folio volume was published
after his death. (1843) in 1844 ; Champollion's Monuments de I ' £gypte
et de la Nubie, four folio volumes, with four hundred and forty plates,
was published in Paris, 1835-47, and Lepsius thus had the use of the
first numbers. Rosellini's work on monuments, mentioned above, is
divided into historical and private monuments, and those pertaining to
religious worship. Champollion had originally wished to treat of the
former, but, in consequence of his early death, the publication of them
fell to Rosellini. Champollion also saw only the first proofs of his
own work on monuments.
LEPSIUS IN PARIS AS AN EGYPTOLOGIST. 79
LEPSIUS IN PARIS AS AN EGYPTOLOGIST.
From the very first Lepsius devoted himself with
ardent zeal and indefatigable industry to Egyptological
studies. Before us lie the letters which he addressed at
that time to his new patron and subsequent friend,
Bunsen. They show with what benevolent, indeed
fatherly, sympathy, the famous scholar and statesman
watched the progress of his protege in the field to
which he had invited and introduced him ; what pains
he took to smooth the way for him both by word and
deed, and how perfect was the understanding with
which he followed the scientific efforts and achieve-
ments of the new Egyptologist. Bunsen also exerted
himself to assure the pecuniary position of the young
scholar ; but as the emperor above the senate, so did
Alexander von Humboldt stand above Bunsen. Where
the influence of the latter proved insufficient, and his
good wishes could not be carried into effect, it became
necessary to appeal to the power and benevolence of
the man of world-wide fame, who was always ready for
vigorous action when it was a question of furthering im-
portant scientific endeavors, or helping promising and
able young scholars. As Lepsius in the first place was in-
finitely indebted to Bunsen, so was he in the second
instance to A. von Humboldt. It is singular how many
of the later German masters of science, besides our
friend, were aided by this great and truly humane man
80 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
as by a Providence. He removed obstacles from their
path, built bridges for them, and opened to them por-
tals which no other hand than his was in a position to
unfold.
From the letters to Bunsen we learn that Lepsius at
first was absorbed in Coptic, and, as might have been
expected, as a comparative philologist. At the begin-
ning he was discouraged by the entire linguistic isola-
tion in which this interesting idiom stood, but he soon
thought to detect a certain fundamental relationship
between it and the Indo-Germanic and Semitic families
of languages. On the twentieth of January, 1835, he
already invited Bunsen to consider with him, in a quite
superficial and cursory manner, the affixes of the pro-
nomen personale, in Coptic and Hebrew, and the rela-
tionship of the two formations.*
He next exerted himself to place before the public
a specimen of Coptic grammar. He wished to begin
by publishing a comparative division, which should be
chiefly based upon the pronominal stems, and should
establish the basis upon which the Coptic language had
developed. It was further intended to show what posi-
tion this should hold among the better known tongues.
He had taken the bull by the horns, and was soon to
find that little could be accomplished by giving promi-
nence to such similarity in the terminal suffixes as struck
the eye, or by the comparison of Indo-Germanic and
* As an example he adduces the scheme :
Hebrew, jam — m — i jam — nu jam — ka
Coptic, jom— i jom— n join — k
my sea our sea M. thy sea, etc.
LEPSIUS IN PARIS AS AN EGYPTOLOGIST.
8l
Semitic numeral words with the Egyptian, between
which also many confonnities existed.
As the first results of these new studies there ap-
peared two papers on the alphabet and numerical
words, which were submitted to the Berlin Academy in
1835, and were printed at the press of that learned in-
stitution. The apothegm, that even the loftiest specu-
lation only teaches us to comprehend what is already
in existence, occurs in the first of these papers.*
By means of this treatise the knowledge of the true
principles of the most ancient alphabetical order was
advanced by a long step, and what was new therein
was combined with the most thorough regard for all
that had been previously attained.
In the second treatise** he considerably extended
* On the Order and Relationship of the Semitic, Indian, Ancient
Greek, Ancient Egyptian and Ethiopian Alphabets. Index of Works
No. V. The history of the origin of this treatise is peculiar. At that
time the Leipsic Egyptologist, Seyffarth, who, as we know, had ad-
vanced a system of his own in opposition to that of Champollion, had
brought out a publication which bore the strange title: "Our
Alphabet a Representation of the Zodiac, with the Constellation of
the Seven Planets, etc., etc. Probably according to the Observations
of Noah himself. First Foundation of a True Chronology and His-
tory of the Civilization of All Nations." Leipsic, 1834. — As this
work appeared to emanate from some other than the critical world in
which Lepsius had become eminent, and as, strange to say, it had
found advocates of repute, the young doctor felt himself bound to
refute it duly. So he wrote a critique of it for the " Berliner Jahr-
bticher, — partly also with a view to "presenting himself gradually
before the public in his Coptic costume." "I do not expect," he
writes, "to demolish the work — by which no honor could be won, —
but to give a true explanation of our alphabetical system." As the
" Jahrbucher" had meantime made use of another review, he struck
out the portion of the dissertation which was directed against Seyf-
farth, from that in which he "built up," submitted this latter to the
Berlin Academy, and had it printed in their Transactions.
** On the origin and relationship of the numerical words in the
Coptic, Semitic, and Indo-Germanic Languages. Berlin, 1836.
Index of Works, No. VI.
82 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
previous investigations, and at the same time imposed
upon himself voluntary restrictions which offer the
most favorable testimony to his early acquired method
and critical rigor. He would have been able to arrive
at still more important results with the present knowl-
edge of ancient Egyptian numerical words, and the
numerical signs in hieratic and demotic.
He never followed up " the manifest connection
between the Semitic and the Egyptian-demotic alpha-
bet " which he then thought to have discovered. We
entertain no doubt that during his apprenticeship he
took certain Parisian hieratic texts for demotic, and if
this was the case, then at that time, with the intuition
peculiar to him, he had already hit upon the truth
which was established many decades later by de
Rouge, Lenormant, and ourselves; namely, that the
Semitic, and indeed, primarily, the Phoenician alphabet,
must be traced back to the Egyptian hieratic. He
also worked enthusiastically over the principles of
sound in the Coptic. This language, which at first
seemed to him quite " chaotic " on account of the
" cumulative vowels " which it presents, became
more attractive to him after he had learned, by com-
parison of the manuscripts written in the different
dialects to distinguish between them, and to penetrate
more deeply into their wonderfully subtle syntactical
construction. It was of great advantage to him in
these studies that Peyron's Coptic Lexicon was pub-
lished just at this time, and that he was able to procure
each proof-sheet as it left the press. After he had
LEPSIUS IN PARIS AS AN EGYPTOLOGIST. 83
obtained a good insight into the Coptic he ventured to
attack the demotic and ancient Egyptian written in
hieroglyphics. As, in the works then published on the
ancient Egyptian language, deduction and hypothesis
appeared far too much alike, he was extremely glad to
receive the ready assistance of Salvolini, the disciple of
Champollion mentioned above. This, very talented
Italian, under the direction of the master, Champollion,
had occupied himself with Egyptology exclusively for
ten years, and Lepsius was able to inspire him with
such interest that he wrote to Bunsen of the young
scholar in the warmest terms. But after Lepsius was
permitted to examine the literary legacy of Champol-
lion he perceived that Salvolini had secretly made
reckless use of another's labors, and that precisely
those things which the younger Egyptologist had
considered the most important discoveries of Salvolini,
had been made, not by him, but by the master, Cham-
pollion.
Biot's book* on the vague year of the Egyptians,
which had been published shortly before, led Lepsius
also to the study of the calendar and chronology of
the Egyptians, and prompted him to make Bunsen
fully acquainted with his views on the year of Sirius
and the Sothiac cycle. He sent the work mentioned
to his patron, and in consequence of a request made
by him, furnished him with everything that appeared
in Paris in the way of new literary productions.
Bunsen meanwhile was solicitous for the material
* Biot, Rechcrches sur I' annee vague des Egyptiens, Paris, 1831.
84 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
welfare of his protege^ and it is not a little to be
ascribed to his and Gerhard's influence, — Boeckh too
was a zealous advocate, — that the Academy of Sciences
at Berlin awarded Lepsius five hundred thalers for his
farther improvement in Egyptology, and that Gerhard,
— although not officially, — could offer him the pros-
pect of the same amount for a second year.
Before this assistance had been promised him he
had written to Bunsen : " It is easy to understand that
there may be much opposition to furnishing aid for
such a special object, as every one will not regard the
importance of it in the same way but I am
especially anxious because I have not yet been able to
present to the Academy anything which could give me
an ostensible claim to the assistance which I desire.
On this account I have thought that it might be of
advantage to my affairs if I should put in order and
send to the Academy my treatise on numerical words
and arithmetical figures. It seems to me that I have
indisputably found the key to this interesting subject in
the Egyptian figures and Coptic numeral words. If
all this meets with your approval, I would first send
this treatise to William von Humboldt, who is most
interested in special investigations of this subject, and
probably, also, in the method of treating it. The
extremely friendly letter, and the favorable opinion
(far beyond my expectations), which he sent me, when
I forwarded to him my little pamphlet on Sanscrit
paleography, have given me hopes of a kind reception
from him."
LEPSIUS IN PARIS AS AN EGYPTOLOGIST. 85
In fact, the treatise was despatched to Berlin, but
when it arrived there William von Humboldt was no
longer among the living, and it was with great difficulty
that Lepsius was able to recover his manuscript. The
Berlin Academy awarded him the sum mentioned with-
out it, for they knew that the recipient was worthy, and
that it would produce good fruit to science.
" The death of William von Humboldt," Lepsius
wrote to Bunsen on the thirtieth of April, 1835, "has
greatly grieved me, as well on account of the personal
kindness which he repeatedly manifested towards me,
as on account of the irreparable loss which the science
of language has suffered thereby. It was he especially
by whom I most hoped to be understood in my philo-
logical aims, and whose verdict I had always in mind
throughout this last work. You must be aware that
he leaves two works in manuscript, one on the Sanscrit
languages of the Indian Islands, another on languages
in general."
The handsome stipend of the Berlin Academy
smoothed Lepsius' way to Italy, whither Bunsen sum-
moned him with ever increasing urgency.
Up to that time, Panofka and de Witte, out of
scientific enthusiasm, had taken charge of the editorial
work for the Institute in Paris. W T hen they retired,
Bunsen appointed Lepsius in the place of de Witte,
who initiated him into the business. After his prede-
cessor had left Paris, Lepsius took charge, in his
absence, of the printing of the annals of the Institute
and of the correspondence. These affairs claimed a
86 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
large portion of his time, and he would have gone
immediately to Rome, the headquarters of the Institute,
had he not felt that his work in Paris was not com-
pleted as far as Coptic was concerned. He also
devoted himself with special ardor to ancient Egyptian
and hieroglyphics. In these he continued to profit by
the assistance of Salvolini, whose rapidly progressing
interpretation of the Rosetta stone interested him
greatly. Yet Lepsius already began to feel a slight
mistrust of him, especially on account of the unfavor-
able manner in which he expressed himself regarding
the industrious Egyptologist Rosellini, whom Cham-
pollion had esteemed highly. From Bunsen, too,
Lepsius had heard nothing but praise of the latter,
and moreover, Rosellini's historical works served him
as a starting point for his own chronological investiga-
tions, which began to interest him the more, the better
he succeeded in deciphering for himself the names of
kings and little historical hieroglyphic texts. For the
great rapidity and certainty of his progress he was
indebted to the excellent linguistic training which he
had enjoyed. He had already exercised his talent for
deciphering in handling the Eugubian Tables. The
critical method of his philological guides had so
become a part of his flesh and blood, that Bunsen could
justly describe him as safe against the danger of pub-
lishing anything uncertain or untenable, or of announ-
cing good results prematurely.
Before Rosellini had become personally acquainted
with Lepsius he magnanimously confided to the prom.-
LEPSIUS IN PARIS AS AN EGYPTOLOGIST. 87
ising new disciple of his science all of his notes that
the latter desired to see, and gave him by letter what-
ever explanations he wished. This he did in such an
amiable manner that Lepsius wrote to Bunsen: "I
have taken extraordinary pleasure in the inestimable
liberality and courtesy of Rosellini. One meets with
the contrary among the French scholars here. If the
French were better etymologists they would perceive
that in science as in life liberie and liberalite come from
the same root."
The letter which our friend sent to Bunsen on the
twenty-fourth of June, 1835, as a draught of a paper
to be addressed to the Berlin Academy of Sciences,*
contains more detailed information as to the history of
his first attempts in Egyptology while at Paris. With
this communication he also submitted to the Academy
the treatises mentioned above on numerical words and
the oldest alphabetical systems (see page 81). The
allowance of five hundred thalers which we mentioned
was only granted for one year, but Boeckh had kindly
prevented a motion that the stipend should be granted
only once, from coming to a resolution. Thus Lepsius,
who knew the state of affairs, wrote confidently to
Bunsen : " I cannot think that the Academy will leave
me in the lurch later, if, with God's help, I have made
some progress in this fruitful science, and shown them
that I am as good a husbandman as another with
my plow and ox. Therefore I will henceforth specially
aim to deserve the confidence of the Academy, and I
* See appendix II.
88 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
believe that I shall best compass this by keeping them
informed of my operations on the field upon which I
have entered."
At that time there were, as we have already
observed (See page 78), very few good inscriptions
published, and in August he had already advanced so
far in hieroglyphics that he was constantly looking
about for new texts, in order to copy and afterwards
study them. To attain the highest ends he felt that it
was necessary to know and own all the inscriptions
that had been preserved from the time of the Pharaohs.
In Gottingen he had endeavored to obtain both
material and intellectual possession of all the treasures
of the plastic art of the ancients by making copies of
them. Thus also in Paris he wished to acquaint him-
self with all the monuments of the time of the Pharaohs
which had reached that city, and either to transcribe
the inscriptions upon them, to copy them by tracing, or
to obtain them in the form of impressions taken on
paper. Copies of such as were accessible had long
lain in his portfolio, but he had heard that there was a
magazine in which was stored, in utter confusion, a
great abundance of Egyptian monuments, especially
the larger ones. Yet it seemed impossible to obtain
admission to these hidden treasures. " It is the
universal complaint," writes Lepsius, " that Louis
Philippe does nothing in any way for the monuments
of antiquity, his taste is all for modern works of art,
and he now employs all the artists and officers of the
Museum on the historical picture gallery in Versailles.
LEPSIUS IN PARIS AS AN EGYPTOLOGIST. 89
Just now, also, several guardians of the Louvre are
occupied there, and therefore they represent that it is
impossible to detail a guardian for me in the magazine."
He impatiently awaited the decision from day to day,
but it did not come ; indeed it was still withheld even
after Herr von Werther, the Prussian Ambassador, had
interposed on behalf of Lepsius, and had procured
him permission to copy the Egyptian collection in the
Musee Charles X. But this was of far less importance
to Lepsius than what was hidden in the magazine, for
there were all the sarcophagi and statues, and an
exceedingly rich collection of stelae, besides a hundred
and fourteen tablets of plaster casts from the walls of
Karnak, and a great number of other matters. The
time of his departure from Paris drew near, and it
would have seemed almost intolerable to the ardent
young investigator to leave France without having
seen these extremely important monuments. Just then
Alexander von Humboldt came to Paris, Lepsius com-
plained to him of the difficulty, the most influential of
all men of that time interceded for him, and he was
immediately allowed access to the storehouse, at first
with a guardian, but afterwards without one.
Lepsius now spent the last weeks of his sojourn in
Paris in taking the most careful paper impressions from
all the monuments there. About fifty quires of blot-
ting paper were soon consumed, and many a night of
vigil did he spend in making fair copies of the descrip-
tions of the monuments from which the impressions
were taken, and of the results of his own measurements.
90 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
These treasures, so laboriously acquired, were of great
service to him later, and accompanied him from Rome
to Berlin, where they now are.
Furthermore, through Humboldt's mediation, he
had an opportunity to inspect all the drawings and
manuscripts of Champollion, and he found them " sur-
prisingly copious and interesting." He was able to take
the first of the forty numbers of Champollion's great
work on monuments, ready printed, to Italy with him.
Champollion's grammar was also soon to be published.
Something had been neglected in regard to Lepsius*
military obligations, which might have been momentous
to the farther progress of the ardent investigator, but
this oversight did him no injury either, in consequence
of the warm commendation which Alexander von
Humboldt had given him to the Governor of Mentz,
General v. Muffling. It cannot now be ascertained on
what grounds the robust and well developed young
doctor was released from military service, but before us
lies a letter written immediately after he had presented
himself, which says, in reference to his military duties :
" And now in Mentz I have been relieved of all farther
anxiety in this respect."
"In the latter part of my stay in Paris," he writes
to Bunsen in ' the same letter, " I have learned to
regard Barucchi, the director of the Turin Museum, as
a very excellent and courteous man. He has promised
me every possible facility and convenience in the Turin
Museum for study, so that now I can go there with
great confidence of good results."
LEPSIUS IN PARIS AS AN EGYPTOLOGIST. 91
Gladly and hopefully he crossed Mont Cenis to
Turin; and yet the parting from Paris had become
hard for him. He had gained much there, and
acquired a fixed aim in life; there he had come to
mature manhood, and his whole personality, as well as
his scientific activity and solid abilities, had awakened
the same good will on the Seine as previously in Ger-
many, at Leipsic, Gottingen, and Berlin. And no
wonder! For nature had endowed the youth, intel-
lectually so highly gifted, with a tall and imposing
figure, and crowned it with a head whose beauty was
to outlast the years. The noble and sharply cut linea-
ments of his countenance reflected the earnestness, the
force, and the acuteness of his mind, and wherever he
showed himself in the circle of the leading literati of
Berlin, where there was no lack of impressive heads,
all eyes were drawn to him, and even strangers were
attracted to inquire about him. When his abundant
hair had become snow-white he was one of the hand-
somest of old men. He told us, in an hour of social
relaxation, that he was once climbing one of the Swiss
mountains in very hot weather — I believe it was the
Faulhorn, — and had sat down near the' summit, with
dripping brow. A strange gentleman, who had joined
him, had sunk down beside him, and had responded to
his observation that it was frightfully hot : " You ought
to be accustomed to that, Professor. When one has
climbed the pyramids and made excavations in Ethiopia,
as you have — ." Lepsius asked the stranger how he
came to know him, and received from the other — as
92 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
it turned out afterwards, a medical colleague from
Heidelberg, — the answer, " How can one forget your
medallion-countenance after once seeing it ?"
His profile was, in truth, singularly fine. I, myself,
first met Lepsius in his forty-ninth year, 1859, as
his pupil, but the impression which he made on me at
that time was such that I willingly credited the assur-
ance of a Leipsic friend, whose parents' house Lepsius
had frequented as a student, that he had been one of
the handsomest young men of his day. The same
bearing which he retained throughout his life, and
which entirely corresponded to his essential nature,
must also have been peculiar to him as a student. It
was quiet, yet not stiff, well-bred, and equally appro-
priate in all circumstances of life. Moreover, with all
his industry and earnestness, he was at that time
always glad to go into society, and he long preserved
and cherished his musical gifts and pleasure in singing,
as well as his fondness for chess.
ITALY. 93
ITALY.
The route which Lepsius took to Rome was entirely
determined by the Egyptological studies to which he
had devoted himself with such great zeal and success
during the latter part of the time in Paris. It led him
first to Turin.
There he might hope to find all that was best and
of most importance, for the Egyptian museum at
Turin is now, and was at that time, one of the largest
and richest in the world, and so far exceeded Lepsius*
expectations that instead of several weeks he allowed
himself to be detained there for more than three
months.
On the twenty-fourth of February he wrote to
Bunsen : " I have not thought it necessary to hurry,
as Turin is without doubt the most important point of
my journey as far as the collection of materials is con-
cerned. One realizes this thrice as strongly when one
has staid here awhile and become familiar with the situa-
tion. I leave this excellent museum very unwillingly,
but one would have to stay for years to exhaust it, and I
do not think that I have employed my time ill. You will
enjoy the rich harvest which I bring you from here. I
have taken paper impressions of all the inscriptions
engraved on hard stone; part of them with starch,
which makes them indestructible. Unfortunately, I
could not continue my Parisian collection of a hundred
94 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
and twenty stelae in the same way, for they were
unnecessarily afraid here of injury to the limestone from
the damp paper, so that the most important stelae and
many other objects in limestone I have partly counter-
drawn with pith paper and partly copied, and have
done this to some extent in the colors, the 'value of
which I first learned to appreciate properly here. The
greater part of the time, though, I have spent upon the
rich stores of papyrus, almost the whole of which, with
all the important fragments of every kind, I have
counterdrawn or copied. I have taken special pains
with the large perfect ritual, which can be found here
and nowhere else." He had not yet seen the stores of
papyrus in London and Leyden. " It was a matter of
special importance to me to possess some common
basis for all the other fragments of the ritual (which
are to be found everywhere; a portion of them are
at Rome), for the special purpose of beginning an
extensive collection of the different readings; very-
necessary for the study of hieroglyphics. Therefore, I
have spared no pains to compare the whole Parisian
papyrus, a copy of which I have, with that here. I
have noted all the different readings, in the text as
well as in the vignettes, and counterdrawn all that is
lacking, which amounts to about twice as much as the
Parisian copy. So that I now possess the most per-
fect ritual, in a volume of more than sixty sheets of
paper, of half-folio size, stitched together, besides the
collation of the Parisian ritual, a preparatoty work
which will be very valuable for future studies."
ITALY.
95
In fact all the material that he so laboriously
acquired at Turin formed the foundation for his cele-
brated edition of the Book of the Dead, of which we
shall have to speak hereafter. Many historical dates,
which are contained in the monuments preserved at
Turin and the famous papyrus of the kings were also
collected by him in 1836; yet he found, on his second
journey to Turin in 1841, that in his first visit to the
museum many of the treasures preserved there had
been purposely withheld from him.
From Turin he went to Pisa, partly to make the
acquaintance of Rosellini, with whom he had long been
in scientific correspondence, partly to study the monu-
ments which the latter had brought with him, and the
papyrus and other written records which were intrusted
to the care of the Italian Egyptologist.
" Rosellini," he writes on the twentieth of March,
1836, "received me very cordially, and I find myself
well off in this excellent family, where I spend the
whole day; from nine o'clock in the morning till nine
at night." The monuments here had less to offer him,
" but so much the more do I learn," he writes, " from
Rosellini's Lexicon of Hieroglyphics. This also con-
tains the accumulations of Champollion, and I shall
copy it out in full. Besides this, I derive great benefit
from the oral instruction and communications, which
Rosellini gives me on all possible subjects without the
least reservation. I quickly perceived, that I should
not be able to leave this place as soon as I had
expected." The following verses, with which he took
g6 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
leave of the Rosellinis, may show how intimate the
relation had become between the young German and
the family of the Italian scholar :
From the South to the South
I am driven away ;
From the North to the South —
Yet fain would I stay.
From country to country,
From dome unto dome
From Strasburg to Pisa,
From Pisa to Rome.
Wert thou in the South land,
Thou home ot my heart,
No farther I'd wander,
I'd never depart.
Vet linger I may not,
And so I prepare
In my heart a warm shelter,
And cherish thee there.
Then when farther I'm roaming
I'll hear thee with me,
And Heaven, protecting,
Will guard me with thee.
Pisa, April 19, 1836.
After Pisa he visited Leghorn, where was lodged
the Drovetti collection, which was afterwards purchased
ITALY.
97
for the Berlin Museum, by the special advice of Lepsius.
The owner had asked sixty thousand francs, and got
thirty thousand. Amongst the monuments was the
Colossus of Rameses II, and the valuable fragment of
the statue of Usurtasen I. (throne and legs). This is
now restored and is the great ornament of the Egyptian
collection in the capital city of the empire. It may be
seen, from a letter which Lepsius wrote to Bunsen
about the collection, that the fragment of the statue of
Usurtasen I. had only been brought to Europe by
Drovetti in order to restore with it the slightly injured
colossus of the same king. The fragment consisted of
the same " black granite " (properly graywacke) as the
better preserved statue of Rameses II.
In May, 1836, Lepsius at last arrived in Rome,
richly laden with treasures. There, for the first time,
he met Charles J. Bunsen, who had directed his atten-
tion towards Egyptian antiquity, and had assisted him
with fatherly kindness during his residence in Paris.
Bunsen was at that time living on the Tiber as Prussian
Ambassador, under the title of Minister Resident. He
presided as chief secretary over the Archaeological
Institute, which had been founded by Gerhard, with
his assistance, in 1829. Ten years before the arrival
of Lepsius, Champollion had visited Rome, and found
there an enthusiastic admirer and disciple in Bunsen.
Absorbed in numerous affairs, and in other branches of
research,* the latter could devote but a small portion
* The three volumes of his " Description of the City of Rome"
were published from 1830-43; his " Basilicas of Christian Rome" in
1843.
98 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
of his time to Egyptological studies. In Lepsius he
believed that he had found the right man to continue
the work of Champollion with greater success, and in
a more profound and independent spirit, than the Mas-
ter's two disciples, Salvolini and Rosellini. He also
hoped that Lepsius would be specially fitted to take
charge of the business of recording secretary of the
Institute in conjunction with Braun. For this he had
already proved his ability in Paris.
The affairs of this learned society were at that time
in a very bad condition. The most necessary pecuniary
means were wanting, differences of opinion, which
seemed entirely irreconcilable, divided the Parisian and
the Roman- Prussian sections, and indeed there was
serious question as to the continued existence of this
beneficient Institute. But, as Michaelis, its historiogra-
pher, expresses himself, " Danger stimulated Bunsen's
elastic spirit," and at the right moment Lepsius, to-
gether with Braun, " who was delighted with his expert
colleague," stepped into the breach. We will not say
that it was Lepsius alone who averted the threatened
danger, but it is certainly to be partly ascribed to his
warm personal relations with Panofka, de Witte, and
the noble Due de Luynes, who was so influential in
France, that the relations of the society to Paris, and
its affairs in general, improved soon after his partici-
pation in the management. What impression he made
on his appearance in Rome may be shown by the fol-
lowing passage from a letter which Bunsen's wife wrote
to her mother on the twelfth of May, 1856 : " Lepsius,"
ITALY. 99
says this estimable lady, " has been here since Monday.
He makes a very pleasant impression in regard to
character as well as talents; in short, he fulfills the
expectations roused by his letters, which were clear,
upright, intelligent, copious, but not excessive. He
has naturally refined manners, but no stiffness, and is
neither presuming nor shy. It is incredible, what
material he has collected for his study of Egyptian
antiquities, and his drawings are wonderfully executed.
You can fancy that Charles (Bunsen) is delighted to
talk of hieroglyphics with him ; yet it does not make
him idle, — he is busily occupied the whole day, and
only at meal times and in the evenings does he enjoy
such a great pleasure."
At that time Bunsen was already contemplating the
execution of his great work " The Place of Egypt in
the History of the World," and from the first was dis-
posed to confide many of the special researches for it
to Lepsius. Soon, however, (indeed long before his
recall from Rome), he felt inclined to offer him the
honor of being his collaborator. " Bunsen and Lepsius "
were to appear upon the title-page as the authors ; and
if the elder scholar and statesmen furnished the great
leading ideas, the young doctor, with bee-like industry,
collected everything in Rome that might prove useful
for the details of the work.
Bunsen knew how to value the labors of the new
member of the board of directors and editing secretary
of the Institute, and Lepsius soon felt at home in the
inspiring atmosphere of his house.
IOO RICHARD LEPSIUS.
The Ambassador and Gerhard both successfully-
exerted their influence in Berlin to induce the Academy,
which was already well disposed towards the first
critically trained German Egyptologist, to grant him
additional assistance. It would be impossible to imagine
help more energetic, more disinterested, or more
efficacious, than that which Lepsius thus received from
Bunsen. The hundreds of letters before us, addressed
by the former to his patron, show how the relation
between them became continually more intimate and
cordial. The superscription changes by degress from
" Highly Honored Herr Minister," to " Dearest Hen-
Privy Counselor," " My Dear, Fatherly Friend," and
finally, " Most Highly Esteemed Friend." When the
young scholar writes to his beloved patron on special
occasions, his letters, usually calm and confined to the
matter in hand, acquire a heartiness and warmth other-
wise alien to them. He once wrote to Bunsen on his
birthday (1839) : " My heartiest thanks for your splen-
did letter of August twenty-second, and for the delight-
ful lines which I received yesterday. May the Lord
grant you his most abundant blessing in the new year
of your life just beginning, as in all that follow, and
preserve to me your fatherly affection, which has already
so often strengthened, encouraged, and refreshed me. I
have far greater need of you, and am more dependent
on you than it may appear to you. I feel it with every
sheet that I receive from your hand, and that surprises
me unawares in my disposition to triviality, timidity,
and every sort of narrow-mindedness. Your words,
ITALY.
even the most unimportant, fall like pearls upon my
poverty, and I feed upon them from one letter to
another."
With what sincerity these ardent phrases were meant
is evident from Lepsius' letters to his father and
mother, in which he always speaks of Bunsen with
enthusiasm and child-like affection.
Even in after years Lepsius' eye would still kindle,
his measured speech grow fervent, when he recalled
Charles Bunsen, the inexhaustible wealth of his ideas,
the depth of his knowledge, the purity of his character,
and the friendship which united the statesman and
investigator, though twenty years the older, with the
aspiring scholar ; which only gained in strength from
year to year, survived the death of the one, and was
borne to the grave with the other.
Bunsen had the advantage of Lepsius in a rich,
poetic, soaring imagination, otherwise they had many
great qualities in common.
Frederick William IV. had honored Bunsen with
the title of baron. Apart from this, however, he, like
Lepsius, deserves to be designated as a genuine noble
German freeman ; that is, a man of unalterable intrinsic
superiority, who derives the right to carry his head
loftily, not from external circumstances, but from
honest, indefatigable, difficult, and conscientious work.
To such labor they both remained faithful through
all the circumstances of life, and when we see the
leaders of a turbulent party claiming the name of
" workman " exclusively for the man with horny hands,
102 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
and exerting themselves to restrict within the narrowest
limits the hours of employment for the day laborer,
we would point to these two men, who free from every
material solicitude of life, turned their nights into day,
bade defiance to bodily fatigue, and only sought
refreshment in change of occupation, in order to fit
themselves for the exalted enterprise which they had
imposed upon themselves.
His first purely Egyptological paper presents the
most brilliant evidence of the zeal and sagacity with
which Lepsius, from the beginning, devoted himself to
the study of the Egyptian writing and language. It
appeared in the annals of the Roman Archaeological
Institute, in the shape of a letter to his Pisan friend,
Rosellini,* and ranks among model works of this kind
on account of its wonderful succinctness, clearness and
comprehensiveness. Lepsius gives in it a complete
summary of the whole system of writing of the ancient
Egyptians. He distinguishes, with clearness and
acuteness, the elements of which this is composed, and
from the Master's list of sound symbols, which was
much too large, he singles out those elements which
do not properly belong there, and fortunately rejects
one of the fundamental errors of Champollion's system.
As we now know, the phonetic part of hieroglyphics,
that is the part relating to sounds, consists simply of
letters which were sounded, — our matres Irctionis, —
and syllabic signs. These by themselves alone can
* Lettre <i M. le Professeur Hippolyte Rosellini sur V alphabet
ht/roglyphique. Rome, 1837. Index of "Works. No. XIII.
ITALY.
103
represent a syllable. Thus, the mere picture of a
mirror is to be read ' anch] but to this picture may also
pertain all the sounds of the syllable which it repre-
sents : thus, in our case, an ' a, n, and ch. 1 Cham-
pollion, on the contrary, had known nothing of syllabic
symbols, and thus regarded the mirror as a mere
abbreviation of the word ' anch] which he had also met
with written out in full.
This error was done away with by Lepsius,* and
through him that immensely important element of
writing, the syllabic symbol, received its due. The
observations contained in this treatise on the relation
of Coptic (See page 76) to ancient Egyptian, are also
of fundamental value.
Lepsius' letter to Rosellini gives a critical recapitu-
lation of the discoveries of the Master. It is the first
really methodical and scientific work of an adherent of
the Champollionic system, and although after this
Lepsius only returned incidentally to the linguistic and
grammatical side of Egyptology,** yet in this work, as
everywhere where he planted the lever, he has pointed
out the right way and method. In the Nubian Gram-
mar, which was one of the chief works of his life, and
If the Egyptologist Seyffarth, mentioned on page 74, claims
the merit of having first recognized the syllabic symbols as such, in
order afterwards to construct in their favor a perverted system, in
which they play a far more prominent part than belongs to them, it
is true that priority of discovery cannot be denied to him. But
Lepsius immediately accorded to the syllabic symbols their proper
place and (as the whole construction of his system proves), quite
independently of others.
** On some Syntactical Points of the Hieroglyphic Language.
1846. Index of Works, No. XLII a.
104 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
which was completed at a late date, he . showed how
firmly he stood upon the grammatical foundation so
early won, and how faithful he remained thenceforth to
grammatical studies. He did not cease, too, to work
at those studies, regarding the sounds of languages and
the alphabet, to which he had early devoted himself.
His " Standard Alphabet,"* which originated long
afterwards and amidst great opposition, was intended
chiefly to enable missionaries and travellers to repro-
duce correctly in our own language the sounds of the
foreign tongues examined by them. This was to be
done by means of letters, easily and conveniently
modified by dashes and dots. It became of great
practical importance, as it was adopted by the English
"Church Missionary Society" as the most available
universal alphabet to be employed, according to their
directions, by their emissaries. No one can deny that
it is also of scientific value. Its applicability has been
specially proved with the African languages, and in
this department it has been most successfully employed
in a great number of grammatical and lexicographical
works, as well as biblical translations and the repro-
duction of narrations, legends, and proverbs in the
various idioms. Of the Hamitic branch of the African
languages, which is distinguished by grammatical
genders, there are seven side-branches, from the ancient
Egyptian to the Hausa-and Nama-(Namaqua-) lan-
* London and Berlin. 1863. Index of Works. No. LXXIV.,
and also Nos. LIX.. LXXV., LXX., LXXI.. LXXIa, LXX1I1..
LXXII., XCI.. XCVIII., which all contain dissertations on lan-
guage, and chiefly on the alphabet.
ITALY. 105
guages, which have been thus examined. Of the more
remote native African idioms there are not less than
twenty-two. In 1874, during the Congress of Oriental-
ists at London, we ourselves were permitted to hold
council with him and other leaders of science, concern-
ing an acceptable universal method of transcription for
hieroglyphic writing. Many of his propositions were
adopted at that time, but the method of transcription
agreed on in the British Museum did not become
current, and it is undoubtedly in need of much improve-
ment.
Lepsius had already given particular attention to
the two special departments in which he was to achieve
the greatest and most fruitful results ; first at Gottingen,
under the superintendence of O. Miiller, then in Paris
after the publication of Biot's work, and finally at
Rome, in the company of Bunsen. These departments
were first, history, with its numerical groundwork of
chronology, and in the second place, mythology.
Here, everything was still to be achieved, for before
the hieroglyphics had been deciphered, scholars had
been obliged to depend solely upon Grecian accounts
of the Egyptian kings and gods, especially upon those
given by Herodotus, and therefore had often relied on
reports which were most inadequate, and which in
many cases were misunderstood. The ' power recently
acquired of reading the writing of the Egyptians dis-
closed a wealth of original material, which was unex-
pected, new, and authentic. The incontrovertible im-
portance of this was self-evident, and even during
106 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Champollion's lifetime many rushed upon the freshly-
discovered mines, and sought to rifle them for historical
and mythological purposes. But, although at the out-
set many mistakes and uncertainties were rectified, and
much that was incontestably new was established, yet
on the other hand, error after error was introduced into
the science by the rash course of the immediate suc-
cessors of Champollion. They received on faith that
which they only half comprehended, and applied it
without care or criticism. They instituted comparisons
upon bases either false or insufficiently established, and
by means of them arrived at conclusions that we can
now only regard with scorn and dismay. In place of the
imperfect knowledge of former time, there appeared as
its evil successor a disorder without parallel. The
grateful, but difficult task undertaken by Lepsius, was
to clear this away, and compel Egyptological research
to conform to the same critical method which has
become obligatory for other branches of study, and
without which there can be no soundness in science.
Out of vague and unregulated fancies concerning
Egyptian history and mythology, he formed a true
Egyptian history and science of Egyptian divinities.
By his strong hand were restrained the more or less
ingenious and active divagations of Champollion's suc-
cessors, and he pointed out the path by which alone
Egyptology could succeed in winning the name of a
science.
His course was at the same time bold, prudent, and
dexterous. He considered the whole extent of the
ITALY. IO7
monumental material collected by himself, or otherwise
attainable, separated it into groups, sifted these, and
treated the essential constituents which he thus
extracted according to the same critical method to
which he had become accustomed in other departments
of science, under the tutelage of Hermann, Dissen,
Miiller, Bopp, Lachmann, and Boeckh.
After his journey to England and Holland, of
which we shall soon have to speak, he possessed a sov-
ereign comprehensive view of all of the written relics
of the Egyptians to be found in Europe. But he
carefully guarded himself against drawing conclusions
from them which had not been thoroughly worked out,
or from using them, like many other followers of
Champollion, in the building of card houses.
In the historical group of his collectanea, which
were arranged with the orderliness peculiar to himself,
he brought together all the kings' names which it was
possible to obtain, and all texts provided with dates, as
well as all writings on stone or papyrus which con-
cerned the genealogical relations of the Pharaonic
families. Thus, too, during his sojourn at Rome we
see him chiefly occupied in collecting the building
stones only for that chronological-historical edifice to
be reared in more tranquil days, and which he expected
to erect in common with Bunsen.
This self-control was to be well rewarded, for on
his first and most important expedition to Egypt there
flowed in upon him an affluence of new material,
especially regarding the earliest epoch of Pharaonic
108 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
history, which supplemented and in many ways modi-
fied that previously obtained. We can now take a
comprehensive view of all the acquisitions of that time,
and if we compare them with the two folio volumes of
his Book of Kings,* or rather with the first draught of
the same as he completed it in 1842, we must be
astonished at the wealth of material which he had col-
lected by the close of his sojourn upon the Tiber.
The work mentioned contains in its present form all
the names of the Pharaohs which have been preserved
on monuments or papyrus, and is an indispensable
handbook to anyone occupied in the study of Egyptian
history. Its accuracy is equal to its copiousness, in
which it had of course gained immensely, compared to
the first sketch, which he willingly and frequently
showed us.
The production of a new book of this kind could
only mean the giving of a new title to Lepsius' Book
of Kings, for the arrangement of this great work is so
fine and faultless that a change could but injure it. If
we regard the first draft of the Book of Kings, which
was completed before the Egyptian journey (it was
never printed), as the foundation of Lepsius' later
chronological labors, we must acknowledge that at that
time it would have been entirely impossible to add any-
anything new to what was there collected.
It is with such weapons as these that victories are
won, but he who had forged them imposed upon him-
* The Book of Kings of the Ancient Egyptians. Index of
Works. No. LXVI.
ITALY. IO9
self one preparatory labor after another before he
entered upon the combat, and used them for the great
historical purposes which he had in view.
In. Turin he had also laid the foundations for his
later researches in mythology, especially that of the
ancient Egyptians, and in this group of studies we see
him proceed with exactly the same method and circum-
spection as in his chronological works. His prede-
cessors had found the innumerable and motley figures
of the Egyptian Pantheon, often accompanied by their
names, portrayed upon monuments of stone and
papyrus, and had compared them with those divine
beings of the Egyptians mentioned by the classic
writers. They had attempted to explain the signifi-
cance of these figures, and in so doing, where the
sources of information at their command would not
serve them, they had given free play to their imagina-
tions, — it is only necessary to remember the ingenious
phantasies of Creuzer, Roth, etc. The gods throng
through their writings in a wild confusion, and it had
occurred to no one, not even to Champollion (whose
Pantheon egyptien* must nevertheless always be char-
acterized as a valuable preparatory work), to proceed
to an organization of the great crowd of gods, and to
point out the historical principle by which they were
to be classified.
This task Lepsius imposed upon himself, but here
too, during his stay in Italy, he contented himself with
* F. Champollion. Pantheon £gyptien. Collection des personnages
mythologiques de I'ancienne Egypte. Paris, 1826.
IIO RICHARD LEPSIUS.
sifting and studying all the materials at hand, and we
are enabled to take a survey of his introductory labors
in this province also. During his first sojourn in
Turin he had already discerned that innumerable
religious texts, existing in all the museums, on papy-
rus rolls, sarcophagi, mummy cloths, amulets, etc.,
belonged collectively to a larger work, to which he
gave the name of " Book of the Dead." This
work, composed from many fragments, never reached a
canonical conclusion, but the larger specimens of it
included all the chapters which occurred alone, or in
lesser number, on smaller papyri or monuments.
Lepsius recognized the true significance of this book,
which Champollion erroneously considered a book of
ritual {rituel funeraire), that is, a book which comprised
the prayers and formulas to be repeated and the hymns
to be sung at the burial of the dead. It was usually
found on the body of the deceased, under the mummy
cloths, or in the coffin, and its contents only referred
incidentally, and to a certain extent in a recapitulatory
manner to transactions which were to take place on
earth. The destiny of the soul which sprang from
Osiris resembled the destiny of the god himself, and it
is with this destiny that the " Book of the Dead " is
occupied. It was given to the departed to carry with
him into the grave as a passport and aid to memory.
For in the other world it was necessary to sing hymns
of praise, and with the help of the "right word,"
which they imagined as endowed with magic power, to
ward off demons and hostile beasts, to open gates, to
ITALY. 1 1 1
procure food and drink, to justify oneself before Osiris
and the forty-two judges, and finally to secure for the
deceased all his claims as a god. Everything depended
on being acquainted with the magical " right word,"
and in order that it should always be at the command
of the traveller through the next world, it was first
written on the sarcophagus and then on the grave-
clothes. From the collection of these formulas, then,
arose the " Book of the Dead," the vade mecum, the
cicerone, for the pilgrim through the mysteries of the
other life.
After the dead had received back all the faculties
of the body which he possessed on earth, and when,
after the justification in the hall of judgment, he had
also received his heart, he advanced from portal to
portal, and from degree to degre, until he had attained
his final goal, apotheosis. In this last stage the pure
spirit of light was freed from all the dust of this life;
and then, being one with the sun-god Ra, as a shining
day-star, he crossed the heavens in a golden bark, and
received, himself a god, the attributes and the reverence
of gods and the homage of men. Endowed with the
power of clothing himself at will in any form he
desired, he was permitted by day or night to sail
through the firmament as sun or star in divine light, to
mix with mortals upon earth, to soar through the air as
a bird, or as a lotos flower, blooming beautifully, to
repose in serene blessedness and breathe forth perfume.
As might be expected from what has already been
said, in this book are to be found the elements of the
112 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Egyptian religious belief amd doctrine of immortality.
Although these are difficult to understand on account
of the inflated mode of expression, as well as the con-
fused superabundance of symbols, allegories, metaphors,
and illustrations (unfortunately, these obscure the sense
far more frequently than they elucidate it), and
although much of it must have been misunderstood by
Lepsius at the age of thirty, yet it could not escape
him that a searching study of this fundamental book
must precede any critical treatment of Egyptian mythol-
ogy. On this account, as we know, in 1836 he made a
copy of the large and very perfect hieroglyphic speci-
men of the " Book of the Dead," and amended it during
a second sojourn in Turin in 184 1. In the year 1842,
as we shall see, he published* the great roll of papyrus,
fifty-seven feet and three inches long. The seventy-
nine tablets contained in this fine publication were
transferred to the stone by the careful and skillful
designer and lithographer, Max Weidenbach, a Naum-
burg fellow-countryman of Lepsius. This man, as well
as his no less skillful brother, certainly deserves mention
here, for under the direction of Lepsius they both suc-
ceeded in mastering Egyptian writing so thoroughly
that their hieroglyphic manuscript was in no respect
inferior to that of the best hierogrammatists of the time
of the Pharaohs. It is to them that the publications
of Lepsius owe the rare purity of style which dis-
tinguishes them, and we are indebted above all to the
delicate apprehension and the skillful hand of the
* Index of Works. No. XXXI.
ITALY. 113
brothers Weidenbach that the hieroglyphic types which
were restored for the Berlin Academy under the super-
intendence of Lepsius, turned out to be such models
of beauty and style, that they are at present universally
employed. Even in Paris the types produced in the
French government printing office were set aside in
their favor.
If at the present day we critically consider Lepsius'
edition of the " Book of the Dead," we must certainly
regret that it had for a basis the Turin copy, which is
replete with errors of writing and defects arising from
hasty work, and which dates from a comparatively* late
period. But, on the other hand, we must praise the
industry, care and ability with which its editor studied
the text before the excellent " preface " was written and
the distribution of the whole into chapters was accom-
plished. This distribution has stood till the present
day, and when we now speak of the first, seventeenth
and hundred and twenty-fifth chapters as the most
important sections of the " Book of the Dead,"- in so
doing we follow the construction given by Lepsius. In
a few months there will be published a collection of
the finest texts of the " Book of the Dead" from the best
period, prepared by the excellent Genoese Egyptolo-
gist, E. Naville, under the auspices of the Berlin
Academy. It was Lepsius, again, who gave the im-
pulse to this great and useful undertaking at the
Oriental Congress in London, 1874; and even in this
most recent edition of the " Book of the Dead " * the
* Index of Works. Nos. CXII and CXXXII.
8
114 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
classification given by him will be preserved. It is
precisely this which is wonderful and unique in his
works ; that they are of lasting stability, and that their
substructure remains permanently fixed no matter what
alterations may be made in details by more recent
acquisitions. There is almost no edifice in the whole
domain of Egyptology where the foundation stone
does not bear the name of " Lepsius."
Let us here anticipate by mentioning that through-
out his life Lepsius did not cease to busy himself with
the " Book of the Dead," and that even in 1867, in a
large and excellent work,* he made an effort to trace
out the origin of the whole work collectively, and of
its principal parts. The sarcophagi of the ancient
kingdom and the funereal texts which cover them, con-
stitute the foundation of this important publication,
which once more points out the path for research, and
upon which many special investigations have already
been, and in the future must be, based.
After his sojourn in Egypt, Lepsius was able for the
first time to bring to a positive conclusion the studies
on Egyptian mythology, which he had begun in Italy.
Yet he wrote to Bunsen from Thebes that he had
almost despaired of any real progress in the field of
mythology, and had only collected the materials in
obedience to a blind instinct. " Now," he continues,
" I have found the red thread, which will lead through
this apparently endless labyrinth. I have made out
# The oldest texts of the Book of the Dead. Berlin, 1867.
Index of Works, No. XCV.
ITALY.
JI 5
the divinities, great and small, and also the most
important data for the history of Egyptian mythology.
The relation between the Greek accounts and the
monuments has become clear to me ; in short, I know
that an Egyptian mythology really can be written."
That which he found in Thebes he combined, at a
comparatively late date, with what he had gained in
Italy, and the results of all these collections, studies,
and combinations were finally accumulated in his
epoch-producing work on the first Egyptian Pan-
theon.* This proves that even with the motley swarm
of Egyptian Gods it is possible to follow the historical
principle of classification. Lepsius was the first, not
only to discover and more nearly determine the " group
of the superior gods," but also to establish clearly the
reasons why the adored beings of whom it consists are
associated together. Where variations occurred he
explained their origin from local or temporal causes in
a convincing manner. His conjectures as to t,he age
of the Osiris myth have been confirmed by the inscrip-
tions in the lately opened pyramids.
In his treatise on the gods of the four elements**
there is much with which we cannot now agree. Con-
trary to his opinion their names occur much earlier
than the time of the Ptolemies. But in spite of this
and other errors the paper stands, as far as method is
concerned, on an equal footing with its predecessors,
and it is here that he has summed up in a brief phrase
* Berlin, 1851. Index of Works, No. XLVII.
* Berlin, 1856. Index of Works, No. LXI.
Il6 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the rule which he steadfastly obeyed during his long
and active scientific career : " In all antiquarian
investigations it will always be safest to begin with a
chronological analysis of the material, before proceed-
ing to a systematic arrangement thereof."
Lepsius also adhered firmly to this rule when he
entered upon that department of hir science towards
which at Rome he was impelled, not only by the
influence of the Archaeological Institute to which he
belonged, but by the tendency of his whole life. He
there turned his attention to the art of the ancient
Egyptians, and chiefly to their architecture. In his
parents' house at Naumburg he had seen the preference
with which his father cultivated this branch of art ; on
all his journeys he filled his note-book with observa-
tions on the remarkable buildings which he encountered,
and accompanied them with little drawings. We know
how eagerly, particularly at Gottingen, he had followed
the progress of the archaeology of art, which was
greatly promoted at that time by the influence of
Winckelmann. The air of Rome, too, was as thoroughly
permeated with art then as it is now, and with even
more enthusiastic artistic interests. There all conver-
sation between aspiring friends so easily took, as it still
takes, the form of a conversation on art. So that
Lepsius, as well as Bunsen, who a few years later was
to publish his celebrated work on Christian basilicas,
felt the liveliest interest in these subjects and
was forced by an inherent necessity to give special
attention to the remarkable art of that people to whose
ITALY. 117
resurrection he had pledged the best powers of his
life.
In 1838, then, there appeared Lepsius' dissertation
on the columns of the ancient Egyptians, and their
connection with the Grecian columns.* When we
designate this work also, which lay outside of the
master's special field of research, as original, and un-
surpassed of its kind, in so doing we are in no wise
" burning incense to our dead " but simply judging it
as it deserves to be rated. Here, as elsewhere, Lepsius
applies the law quoted above, by dividing chronologic-
ally the material which he has first thoroughly col-
lected, and pointing out how the Egyptian columns
arose from their original beginnings and developed
themselves independently, here in cave-building, and
there in open-air edifices ; — he scrupulously maintains
the division between the two. This classification alone
is a real achievement, and any one who follows the
progress of cave-building step by step with him, will
see the Doric column with all its component parts
develop organically before him. Even he who, out of
regard for the omnipotence of the genius of Hellenic
art, is averse to considering the Doric column as an
architectural constituent borrowed by the Greeks from
the Egyptians, will not be able to deny that the trans-
formation of the pillar in the so-called proto- Doric
column of the Egyptian cave-architecture (first and
chiefly in the vaults of Beni Hassan), can be proved to
* Sur V ordre des colonnes p liters en Egypte, etc. Index of Works,
No. XIX.
Il8 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
be natural and necessary, while the Greek-Doric
column, even in the oldest temples of the Doric order,
makes its first appearance as a thing complete, and as
fallen from heaven. It indeed forms from the begin-
ning an organic and essential part of the monument of
architecture to which it belongs, but while its origin
cannot be definitely pointed out on Hellenic ground, it
can be easily and positively traced in the Egyptian
cave-architecture. Lepsius reverted to this question
after his Egyptian journey, and in an academical
treatise* he criticized sharply yet admiringly the funda-
mental conditions, the properties, and the merits of
that Egyptian art, whose development he here, as
elsewhere, followed with peculiar interest. He gave
his attention also to the canon of proportions, that is,
the binding rule according to which the Egyptian
sculptors were obliged to measure and shape the
relative proportions of the different parts of the human
body. He had already been interested in the study of
this subject in Rome, for in October, 1833, he saw a
little bust in the Palin collection which was furnished
on the under surface and both side surfaces with
mathematically exact squares, the sides of which
appeared to give him the unit of the canon. " The
whole bust," he tells Bunsen, " is wrought by this unit,
which, in fact, according to my measurements of
various statues, is contained about twenty-one times in
the whole height."
* On some Egyptian Forms of Art and their Development.
Berlin, 1871. Index of Works No. CVI1I.
ITALY.
II 9
This canon was well known to the Greeks, and
Diodorus refers to it in the last chapter of his first book.
According to him the body was to be divided into
twenty-one and a quarter parts, and Lepsius now found
that this rule conformed to the teachings of the later
sculptors of the Ptolemaic era, who undoubtedly
divided the human form up to the top of the forehead
into twenty-one and one-quarter parts, but up to the
crown of the head into twenty-three parts. Previous
to this mode of division the canon had been twice
altered, and both of these older rules (the more recent
refers to the sculptures of the time of the pyramids),
had for a fundamental unit the foot, which, taken six
times, corresponded to the height of the body when
erect, not indeed, as one would have expected, from
the sole to the crown of the head, but only to the top
of the forehead. The distinction between the first and
second canon principally concerns the position of the
knee: in the Ptolemaic canon, known to Diodorus,
Lepsius found the general distribution itself changed.
This he first discovered at Kom Ombos. We have
always found the estimates of Lepsius entirely con-
firmed by our own measurements; yet, as the labors
of Charles Blanc in the same department demonstrate,
some other unit than the foot might be the basis of the
canon of proportions, such as the finger in men, the
claw in lions — ex ungiie leonem.
The application of this obligatory rule (of the can-
on) impressed upon the works of Egyptian plastic art
that stamp of uniformity with which it has been so
120 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
often and so bitterly reproached. Yet we must regard
the artistic talents of the Egyptian sculptors from the
first with great respect when we consider the oldest
specimens of Egyptian sculpture, which far excel the
later in freedom of method and in realistic fidelity to
nature, and which nevertheless are in no way inferior
to them in all that concerns delicacy of execution.
Let us then suppose that this most ancient artistic
race was surrounded by pure barbarians, who in the
struggle for the bare necessaries of existence had no
superfluous force to expend in the adornment of life ;
it is easy to understand that the guardians of Egyptian
culture, the priests, must have made every effort to
protect against retrogression and ruin the possession
which was so recently won, and which was exposed to
constant peril. The canon of proportions held Egypt-
ian sculpture firmly fixed upon the lonely pinnacle so
painfully attained, and even though it checked farther
progress in a lamentable manner, yet, on the other
hand it had this merit, that by its aid Egyptian plastic
art preserved untouched through every epoch its
remarkable purity of style and great technical skill.
This latter even extended to the production of the
simple household furniture. Lepsius teaches us to
value this law correctly, and explains the peculiarity of
the methods of sculpture by the special qualities of the
Egyptian national character, which gave its full value
to every detail with great fidelity, and only accorded
the second place in its regard to the aspect of the
whole. The same people whose language was rich in
ITALY. 121
pronominal substantives and who, in an objective sense,
said, " I give to thy hand," rather than " I give to
thee," " the speech of his mouth," rather than " his
speech," was obliged to do justice to each separate
portion of the body. For this reason, in figures in alto-
relievo and in paintings, the eye was set en face in a
countenance in profile, in order that it might have its
full value, regardless of the detriment which accrued
to the whole figure from such an error.
Lepsius teaches us to regard and value Egyptian
sculpture correctly and to consider the detached fig-
ures which we see ranged in the museum in connection
with the architectural surroundings for which they
were originally intended. The erroneous view that
Egyptian sculpture was architectural in its spirit and
execution has long been subverted by the figures in the
round from the ancient kingdom, found during the last
decade. These are true to nature and well preserved,
and Lepsius knows how to set forth their merits properly.
In his investigations concerning the canon of pro-
portions, we see him apply the measuring-scale for the
first time, and his researches in the province of Egypt-
ian metrology were subsequently to yield a rich har-
vest to science.
With all this purely Egyptological work, and his
extensive labors for the Institute, he did not neglect
his old linquistic studies, and resumed the investigations
to which his dissertation on the Eugubian tablets had
given the impulse. The opportunity for the prosecution
of this work had formed no insignificant element of his
122 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
attraction to Rome, and we see him make a fine col-
lection of Umbrian and Oscan inscriptions, and draw
up two papers on ancient Etruria, which did not
appear in print until several years later, and formed
the extra profits, as it were, of his sojourn in Italy. It
is hard to understand how he found time so far to
complete them that from 1840 to 1842 he only had
to correct them, and to oversee their passage through
the press, when we consider that he in no wise with-
drew himself from the social life of Bunsen's house,
and from intercourse, grave and gay, with eminent
strangers. Lepsius himself calls the years in which
he had the good fortune " to build huts at Rome," " a
great holiday of life, earnest and serene, instructive and
elevating, a determinative period in his development."
Under Bunsen's guidance, he says, he had learned
to know life and science upon classic ground from their
highest and noblest sides.
In his intercourse with Bunsen he also acquired the
interest in politics, and especially in ecclesiastical
politics, which he cherished throughout his life, as is
proved by his letters to his patron the statesman, and
to his father, as well as his own journals and the diaries
of his wife. In one of his note-books we find the plan,
which, however, was never taken into consideration, for
a new episcopal order for Germany. The seat of the
supreme leader of the church and the counselling
authorities was to be Magdeburg.
123
HOLLAND, ENGLAND, AND THE SEASON
OF WAITING, IN GERMANY.
In July, 1838, Lepsius was obliged to take leave of
Rome with an unwilling heart, in order to attend to
business of importance for the Institute, first at Paris
and afterwards at London. He had to enroll new and
active members for it, and to organize its connection
with the English literati. Afterwards, by his own wish,
he returned to his native land, released from editorial
labors for the Institute, although he still continued
to work for it as a member of the board of directors.
On the way from Paris to London he turned aside
to Holland, in order to study the celebrated collec-
tion of Egyptian antiquities at Leyden, which since
1835 had an excellent director in C. Leemans. Here
Lepsius found an unexpected wealth of the most
valuable monuments and papyri, and on September
12th, 1838, he wrote to Bunsen : "I was going to
leave to-day, but now I shall be glad to stay for a few
days more, as I can not return again, and so must
finish here once for always.* Besides, Leemans, with
whom I am staying, is a charming man; admirable
alike in head and heart, and full of ability in every
direction. He helps me wherever he can, and has
already made Leyden a city of delight to me."
* Lepsius visited Holland and Leyden once again in 1852.
124 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
In England he was most cordially received by
Bunsen, who had resigned his post at Rome, and left
that city before our friend. The reason of this was
that he had not succeeded in making an amicable
adjustment of the ecclesiastical complications in Prussia
{the quarrel at Cologne and the imprisonment of the
Bishop of Droste-Vischering). Lepsius had long been
adopted as a beloved comrade by the Bunsen family,
and his letters show what a hearty interest he felt in
every member of it, especially in the lad George, who
was afterwards to become a prominent member of the
German National Assembly.
It was an easy thing for Bunsen, whose admirable
wife was descended from an English family of dis-
tinction, to smooth the way for Lepsius, not only in
London but throughout Great Britain, and to open to
him the doors of the best houses and of the collections
most difficult of access. In this way the young Ger-
man scholar not only learned to know English life on
all sides, but also obtained admission to all the col-
lections of Egyptian antiquities, whether they belonged
to the government or to private individuals. He knew
how to turn these favorable opportunities to good
account, and in all England there were few hieroglyphic
inscriptions which Lepsius did not carry away with
him, either in impressions or copies, when he quitted
hospitable Albion. His intercourse with Bunsen was
especially delightful when he visited him at beautiful
Llanover, the country place of his mother-in-law, Mrs.
Waddington. Speaking of this subject, Hare says in
HOLLAND, ENGLAND, ETC. 1 25
his biography of the Baroness von Bunsen, " The
friends were accustomed to wander over the hills for
hours together in enthusiastic conversation about Egypt
and its antiquarian writings, or to sit in profound con-
versation in the churchyard of Llanffoist under an oak
tree a thousand years old." They had much to say of
the affairs of the Roman Institute, which Lepsius found
to be very badly managed in England. The subscribers
there had received none of the publications for years,
many of them not since 1830, and on this account had
stopped paying their dues. Others had supposed that
the Institute had been dissolved, and the difficult task
of correcting these errors and determining and collect-
ing the arrears fell to Lepsius. His plan of publishing
a separate volume of annals in London was not
adopted, but he had the good fortune to secure S.
Birch as an assistant in the management, and the latter
was now entrusted with the affairs of the English
section, in place of Millingen.
The conservative subject of the absolute monarch,
Frederick William III., also learned in Great Britain
to know the advantages of civil freedom and of parlia-
mentary life.
He had much to settle with Bunsen himself regard-
ing the work of which they were to be the joint authors,
and he wrote from London to his faithful patron : " I
have never labored with such love and devotion as
now at our, that is, at your work. For it is you who
have conceived the idea, and at the same time pointed
out and assured its place in European science; you
126 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
have spun the thread of its life and given the frame-
work for the whole. Finally, you have provided the
means for carrying it on, and everything that I accom-
plish and record I only do according to your ideas
and for you, and as I work I naturally think of no
other reader than yourself. I see that I must visit
you to get you to give me a few quiet days in
which we can come to a definitive understanding and
agreement about the impending publication."
Bunsen labored at the part of the work which fell
to his share, as Lepsius at his, and the day seemed not
far distant when the two would compare, combine, and
publish their manuscripts. But there had already
arisen many differences of opinion between the col-
laborators, and these seemed particularly important in
the department of chronology, where Lepsius was to
execute the lion's share of the labor. While Bunsen,
as was afterwards proved, reposed far too much confi-
dence in the list of Eratosthenes, Lepsius had so high
an estimate of Manetho as to place the greatest confi-
dence in those lists of the series of kings which he
considered the genuine work of that priest. He also
made freer use of the historical inscriptions and the
data of ancient Egyptian origin, (with which he had a
much more intimate acquaintance than Bunsen), and
attributed to them far greater importance, than seemed
justifiable to the latter. The materials for his " Book
of Kings " and his Chronology developed, and took
the form of independent works, and although both
were intended as a part of the book to be published in
HOLLAND, ENGLAND, ETC. 1 27
common by him and Bunsen, they yet contained, as
we perceive from the letters of that period, a number
of details which were in direct opposition to Bunsen's
views. At the end of the year 1839 it was already
difficult to comprehend what path the fellow-workmen
could pursue in order to arrive at a practicable agree-
ment.
The confidence which Lepsius inspired in the high-
est circles of English society is shown by the circum-
stance that the Duke of Sutherland wished to take him
into his household as mentor and tutor to his son. But
the young scholar declined this flattering offer, which
was associated with great material advantages, and
wrote to Bunsen : " My one-sided talent in the dissec-
tion of organic structures has never been united with
any readiness for presenting things broadly, as is
necessary in teaching, and especially in teaching the
young. Besides, I am not qualified for an instructor,
because I perceive every day that I myself have not
yet passed the season of education."
These words sound somewhat strange on the lips
of so thoughtful and able a young man ; he was then
twenty-nine years old. But at that time he was still
striving after the ideal of life which hovered before
him, and such expressions were partly dictated by
modesty, partly by the disinclination which he had
previously expressed for the vocation of a pedagogue,
and partly also by a longing for Egypt. During his
stay in England (1839) this became stronger and
stronger.
128 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
After he had declined the offer of the Duke of
Sutherland, he took serious council with himself as to
how his future should be spent, and wrote to Bunsen :
" A decision as to my immediate future is constantly
becoming more imperative. But no matter in what
direction I send forth my thoughts, not one of them
brings me back the olive branch. I cut myself off from
Italy," (by giving up his situation in the Institute at
Rome, although he was still to work for it in Germany),
" I cannot stay in England." Bunsen had been ap-
pointed Prussian Ambassador to Bern, and while in
England Lepsius' affections had become engaged,
although he would not yield to the impulse of his heart,
as his uncertain future did not permit him to woo a
maiden who was apparently as poor as himself. " I
have nothing to do in France, and it would be too
soon for me to go to Germany. So Egypt is all that
remains to me, and that is still the pole-star in all my
deliberations. Some day or other Egypt must be
devoured ; this is my time, there is no war there now,
etc. An Egyptian journey would be a great recom-
mendation for me afterwards in Germany. In any
case this would be the most natural course for my
affairs to take. Ought it not be possible to attain
this goal in some way ? The first and most agreeable
thought always leads to Berlin. Therefore, I ask you
if an extraordinary effort might not be made there.
An urgent application from you to the Crown Prince
would be the main thing. I would appeal especially to
Humboldt. Gerhard would certainly be willing to
HOLLAND, ENGLAND, ETC. 1 29
undertake the personal conduct of the affair. If this
course seems to you entirely impracticable, or if it mis-
carries, I must try to start from here If the
worst comes to the worst, I will raise the necessary
money somewhere or other in Germany, and go to
Cairo at my own risk."
In this letter, he gives open expression to the desire
of his heart for the first time. Bunsen thought him
right, promised his young friend to do everything possi-
ble in the affair, and in conjunction with Humboldt to
interest the Crown Prince, (soon afterwards Frederick
William IV.), in his Nile journey. But he begged his
protege" not to be over-hasty, and represented to him
how detrimental it would be to break up their common
enterprise, as well as the undertakings begun by
Lepsius alone. His Umbrian and Oscan inscriptions
finished at Rome, as well as two treatises, were still to
be printed ; and the edition of his " Book of the Dead,"
besides several other things, was not yet concluded.
Yet more, previous to his departure the Egyptian
chronology and lists of kings, for which Bunsen was
impatiently waiting, must be set in order, and the
German translation of Gaily Knight's " Development
of Architecture," also awaited its completion. This
had been prepared by Lepsius' father, and he had him-
self undertaken to revise and provide it with an intro-
duction.
The impatient young Egyptologist yielded to these
monitions of his experienced and benevolent patron,
and in November, 1839, we see him again among his
9
130 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
family at Naumburg. The ensuing months he spent
partly in his native town, partly in Berlin, working
indefatigably, while Bunsen (who had meanwhile
arrived at Bern as Prussian Ambassador), and A. v.
Humboldt exerted themselves to promote his Egyptian
journey. The great influence of the latter had only
increased, since the Crown Prince of Prussia, on June
seventh, 1840, had ascended the throne as Frederick
William IV. Lepsius was permitted to enter into
closer relations with the famous friend of the King, as he
satisfied Humboldt's desire to possess a list of the stones
and metals mentioned in the hieroglyphic texts. This
he did in a fashion which surprised the natural philoso-
pher, who was ever hungry for knowledge, and filled
him with gratitude. Instead of a catalogue, Lepsius
presented to him a treatise, of which he says himself
that the style in which it was written gave him great
pleasure. "These researches concerning stones," he
writes, " have brought to light many a jewel for myself,
which I have deposited in my hieroglyphic store-cham-
ber." All that he then acquired remained lying there
until, in 187 1, it celebrated its resurrection in his model
dissertation on the metals in Egyptian inscriptions.
The proposition made to him at this time to enter
the Foreign Office, and devote himself to a diplomatic
career, he declined positively and without long con-
sideration.
In Naumburg was completed the printing of Gaily
Knight's work,* and of the introduction by Lepsius.
• Index of Works, No. XXVII.
HOLLAND, ENGLAND, ETC. 13I
This fills forty-six pages, and treats of the extensive
employment of the pointed arch in Germany as early
as the tenth and eleventh century. His observations
begin with the Naumburg cathedral, which his father
had studied with special thoroughness, and where he
had actually found pointed arches of the eleventh
century.
This introduction raised a great deal of dust, and
when, thirteen years afterwards, Lepsius wished to
carry through an affair of importance with the King,
the royal adviser on art matters at that time, was not well
disposed towards him, because in the views of Lepsius
on the early application of the pointed arch in Ger-
many, he saw an attack upon his own opinions. For
the rest, the note-books of the Egyptologist, full of
architectural drawings, and his letters to his father,
show that in all his subsequent journeys he paid the
keenest attention to all the edifices which he met, and
when he was in a position to construct a house for
himself, he built it in the English-Gothic style, and
placed his beloved pointed arch over the doors and
windows.
Meanwhile, he also published two smaller academi-
cal treatises.
In the winter of 1841, he undertook a new journey
to Italy across the Alps, which were covered with
snow and ice. The exclusive object of this was to
complete the editing of the " Book of the Dead,"
which had been already prepared, and which was
mentioned above on page 95. As a well-known
132 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
scholar and member of the board of directors of the
Archaeological Institute at Rome he was now received
at Turin with particular consideration, and had freely
placed at his disposal a new copy of the great Turin
" Book of the Dead," which had been brought thither
by Barucchi, the manager of the museum. But this
was not sufficient for him, and there was still much for
him to do before his own copy gained that accuracy
which distinguishes it.
" I ought to leave here to-morrow in order to keep
to the time fixed upon," he writes to Bunsen, on Feb-
ruary 18, 1 84 1 ; " but it is not possible for me to finish
yet. I need at least two days more to complete all
that is of most importance. I go to the museum at
half-past eight; they are not up there before that; I
stay there the whole day, except from four till quarter
of five, my meal-time ; from the table I go back again
and work until ten or half-past ten o'clock. I cannot
work at the great papyrus by candlelight, for fear of
injuring something, but then, I have the finest things to
look over to select for copying, all of which I had not
found when I was here first." Altogether, he now
perceived that during his former visit much had been
intentionally withheld from him ; this time everything
was entrusted to him, and he made the most profitable
use, for his chronological purposes especially, of the
large " Papyrus of the Kings." He had busts cast in
plaster, from the finest images of the Pharaohs, for the
Berlin museum, and amongst the treasures of Turin the
idea occurred to him of publishing the most important
HOLLAND, ENGLAND, ETC. 1 33
records of the time of the Pharaohs as a separate
work. This accordingly appeared in 1842.*
He employed the draughtsmen Weidenbach before
mentioned, on this work and on the edition of the
" Book of the Dead," and he expressed to Bunsen his
delight over the great progress made by these artists on
the path which he had indicated to them.
On his way home he visited Bunsen in Bern, spent
several happy days in the circle of the ambassador's
family, and then tarried for some time in Munich,
where v. Zech was his " cicerone," and where he estab-
lished relations with Cornelius and other men of
celebrity. He enjoyed the most frequent and agreeable
intercourse with Schelling, of whom he says " his nature
is as great as it is lovely." The latter had just
accepted a call to Berlin, (at first for one year only) and
Lepsius says he was going thither with great hopes of
success and of exercising a salutary influence. " He is
convinced beforehand of the victory of his good cause,
since it is not a question of bare negation and opposi-
tion, such as he reproaches Stahl with, (who only filched
from him), but he has something to advance which is
new and positive, and will make a place for itself. He
must either be refuted, or he must convince and prevail.
As, according to his firm conviction, he cannot be
refuted, the latter must take place. Besides the fore-
going alternatives, it is true that another occurred to
me, but about that I naturally kept silence. Good
fortune to him !"
* Index of Works, No. XXX.
t/
I34 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Refreshed and satisfied with the results of this
journey he devoted himself at home with all his energy
to the editing of the Umbrian and Oscan inscriptions*
which he had collected in Rome.
In the following year two more of the fruits of his
Italian labors came to maturity,** and were received
with universal commendation.
One sees with what bee-like industry he made use
of this time of waiting. This was duly recognized,
for before he set out on the Egyptian journey, he was
appointed Professor Extraordinary at the University of
Berlin, and thus the first chair of Egyptology was
founded at that university. There was already a
similar one at Leipsic, but the improper course adopted
by SeyfTarth, for whom it had been founded, gave little
encouragement to other universities to extend support
to Egyptologic studies. In this way it had happened
that Lepsius' proposition, that a professorship in the
Berlin University should be conferred upon him, had
been rejected ; but Humboldt had recognized the
qualifications of the applicant, and in 1841, as soon as
he returned home from a protracted stay in Paris, he
interested himself in the matter. As usual, he carried
through what he desired, and on the twenty-sixth of
January, 1842, Lepsius received the appointment as
Professor Extraordinary of Egyptology, and in addition,
the grant of a small salary. It is true that the newly
appointed Professor could not begin to lecture ; for the
* Index of Works, No. XXVIII.
" Index of Works, No. XXIX.
HOLLAND, ENGLAND, ETC. 1 35
completion and publication of the works mentioned
above claimed much of his time, and the preparations
for the Egyptian journey still more.
Frederick William IV., of Prussia, was a monarch
whose unpractical, romantic disposition took the great-
est delight, not only in the luxuriant, many-colored,
fragrant bloom of Indian civilization, but also in the
mysterious and immemorial magic of the Egyptian.
He had given willing audience to Humboldt and to
Bunsen. The ambassador had been exchanged from
Bern to London in 1841, especially in order that he
might carry out the wishes of his master regarding the
evangelical episcopate in Jerusalem. Both these men
were in particularly close relation with the king, and on
this account they were more likely than any others to
succeed in winning the monarch over to Lepsius' pro-
ject of travelling.
Already, as Crown Prince, the King had acquired
the Passalacqua collection of Egyptian antiquities, as
well as negotiated for the purchase of other similar
collections.* He had taken pains to place this treasure
in the Monbijou palace at Berlin, and entrusted the
* At this time the famous Anastasi papyri were also offered for
sale in Berlin through Lepsius, and for a comparatively low price.
Yet at that time there were no funds forthcoming for their purchase.
The same thing occurred with the beautiful Dorbiney papyrus, which
was sent to Berlin in 1851 to be sold, and was examined by Lepsius.
He writes, "I would not myself consider the two thousand pounds
too dear for such a work of the fourteenth century, which perhaps
was put before Moses as a reading-book. But now they would not
give eight hundred thalers for it here." Eighty to a hundred pounds
were offered to Miss Dorbiney for it at that time by Olfers ; if he had
gone a little higher, this treasure would have come to Berlin, but
soon after de Rouge" deciphered its interesting contents, and it then
went, if I am rightly informed, for two thousand pounds, to London.
V
136 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
care of it to Passalacqua. In his youth the scientific
event of the deciphering of hieroglyphics had excited
his special attention, and Bunsen, who had long been
in close relations with him, both as a man and as his
most eminent statesman, had been assiduous in pre-
serving his interest in Egyptian antiquity. He had
kept the monarch informed as to the progress of
Egyptology, before his own protege had even thought
of undertaking a voyage on the Nile.
Humboldt now joined with Bunsen to induce the
king to bestow his powerful support upon the young
Prussian, who, even at that time, might be considered
the most worthy of Champollion's successors.
Lepsius had his plans to make ; Humboldt talked
over each separate point with him in the most careful
manner, and thus there ripened in them both the wish,
to transform the journey of a single scholar into a
scientific expedition. Lepsius must of course keep the
leadership, and there was also committed to him the
choice of those persons to be especially employed in
carrying out his own purposes. But he had to consult
with Humboldt on the greater or less fitness and
necessity for the appointment of the corps of assistants
who were to be taken, as well as on the capabilities of
each single member of the expedition. He had to
submit to him exact estimates, both in writing and by
word of mouth, in regard to the prospective expenses
and the time to be consumed, as well as of all that he
hoped to gain, and the collections which he expected
to make on the way, before Humboldt would undertake
HOLLAND, ENGLAND, ETC. 1 37
to present to the king the "memorial" which had been
drawn up for the purpose, and to influence him to the
final decision.
Lepsius had designated, as one of the principal
objects of his journey, the collection of beautiful and
interesting monuments of the time of the Pharaohs, to
be added as a new embellishment to the Egyptian
museum in the palace of Monbijou at Berlin. This
purpose of the expedition, which Humboldt knew how
to dilate upon, won the entire approbation of the King,
and accordingly he approved the contents of the
" memorial " which had been presented to him, endowed
the expedition with abundant pecuniary resources, and
commended it, and especially its leader, by means of a
warm autograph letter, to the great Muhamed 'Ali,
who at that time ruled over the valley of the Nile with
a strong hand. He also bestowed upon the travellers
superb vases, from the porcelain manufactory at Berlin,
as a gift for Muhamed ' Ali, in order to lay the viceroy
himself under an obligation and to secure for the
expedition the favor of that monarch.
Everything was now ready for the departure, but
before Lepsius started he had to set his affairs in order.
Several undertakings had been brought to a successful
issue, and all the most important preparatory work was
finished for the book which he and Bunsen were to
publish in concert. Yet it was this very enterprise
which filled him with the greatest solicitude. Frankly
and honorably he disclosed to his revered patron every-
thing that disturbed him, in the admirable letter in
138 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
which he tried to induce Bunsen, to absolve him from
co-operation in the work which they had planned. The
differences of opinion between them had become more
and more sharply defined, and the elder scholar had
been as little able to convince the younger, as the
younger to convince him. It seemed to Lepsius im-
possible to present side by side two different opinions
in a work which must yet pretend to unity of thought.
He justly attributed to Bunsen the most magnificent
ability for the handling of great historical problems;
but considering his wide command of this field, and
that in chronology also he was able to pursue his way
independently, Lepsius regarded his own intervention
as a mistake, both practically and essentially. He was
indeed most disturbed by the circumstance that no one
would be in a position to distinguish between his and
Bunsen's work, whence they must both be subjected to
erroneous criticisms. He, Lepsius, wished to reserve
his manuscript till the completion of his travels ; Bun-
sen would soon be able to send his work to press.
He besought the latter not to wait till his own return
from the journey, but to proceed independently without
delay, and to use as entirely his own, all the material
regarding which they had come to an agreement. To
put it off would only be to renew the old doubts, and
to begin afresh the conflict which had been once waged
without result. He would be ready and glad (and this
promise he fulfilled), to make an abstract for him of all
the names of kings written in hieroglyphics, and pre-
pare them for the press.
HOLLAND, ENGLAND, ETC. 139
Thus, in the work entitled " Egypt's Place in
Universal History," the first volume of which was
published in 1845, De f° re Lepsius' return from Egypt,
the whole historical statement, which takes the loftiest
point of view and is rich in novel and suggestive
ideas, is entirely Bunsen's own work. His young friend
only placed at his disposal much historical and chrono-
logical information, which he had happened upon in the
course of his researches among the monuments.
It is unquestionable that if the fellow-laborers had
adhered to their original plan, and had not separated,
Bunsen's work would have gained a more stable
foundation and assumed a much calmer and more
succinct shape than it actually had. The stream of
Bunsen's eloquence, which was often too glittering and
too diffuse, would have been confined within bounds
by the conciseness and severity of Lepsius. His aspi-
rations after grandeur and breath, would have been kept
down to earth by Lepsius' fidelity and care for the
smallest detail.
The candor of the letter in which Lepsius abandons
the enterprise, and the manner in which Bunsen took
the withdrawal of his protege, do them both the highest
honor, and this incident never in the least disturbed the
friendly relation between them.* Lepsius, when he
* Unfortunately, a work begun by Lepsius during this period of
waiting was never completed. It was to be called " The Main Out-
lines of Hieroglyphics," and he wrote of it to Bunsen : " In it I must
once again touch briefly on the history of discovery, then on the system
of writing, but more practically than in its historical development.
After this follows my statement regarding consequent transcriptions.
These are in Latin letters, for henceforth I shall use the Coptic letters
140 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
could finally leave Berlin, went by way of London, was
received there in the most affectionate manner by
Bunsen, and accompanied by him to Southampton,
where on the first of September, 1842, the young
Egyptologist embarked for Alexandria. Together they
had thoroughly talked over all that might be attained
and all that might be gained, before the steamship
weighed anchor.
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYYT,
UNDER THE DIRECTION OF LEPSIUS.
On the eighteenth of September, 1842, after a
stormy passage through the Bay of Biscay and a short
stay in Gibraltar and Malta, Lepsius, who was proof
against sea-sickness, and had been perfectly well
throughout the voyage, first set his foot upon Egyptian
soil at Alexandria.
The choice of his companions had been fortunate,
and answered perfectly to the needs of the expedition.
We will first mention Erbkam, an excellently trained
for real Coptic words only, and not, as Champollion has done, for
hieroglyphic words, as that only creates confusion. After this comes
a short sketch of the hieroglyphic grammar, and I intend to give a
selection of groups of hieroglyphics, as the foundation of a lexicon ;
more to secure for myself the priority of classification than even
remotely to supply the need of a lexicon, which I cannot think of
at present. 1 mean to bring out the book, as well as the plates, in the
usual octavo form of the Annals.'' Written on the 15th of September,
1 841.
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 141
young architect, distantly related to Lepsius, who was
to make surveys, and draw maps and sketches. He
showed himself so entirely equal to the task that the
architectural and topographical drawings executed by
him under the direction of Lepsius have long been ac-
knowledged to be model productions and faultlessly
correct.* We have already said all that is necessary of
Lepsius' Naumberg fellow-countrymen, the brothers
Weidenbach, and their work as hierogrammatists.
Lepsius had made the acquaintance of the painter
Frey, from Basle, when in Rome. In the book on
monuments, which will be described hereafter, many of
the beautiful colored landscapes and architectural pic-
tures from lower Egypt are by him ; others are by the
Dresden painter, George, a jovial and talented artist,
who joined the expedition after Frey had become seri-
ously ill, and been sent home.
The moulder, Franke, at first rendered excellent ser-
vice by making casts of such monuments as could not
be brought away, and by preparing the many thousands
of paper impressions which it was necessary to take of
the inscriptions and bas reliefs. But subsequently he
had to be dismissed and sent home on account of inad-
missible conduct.
The expedition was also accompanied by H.
Abeken of Osnabriick, who had been with Bunsen, first
at Rome and then at London, as chaplain of the Prus-
* Erbkam himself afterwards wrote several excellent works,
namely: " Ueber den Graber-und Tempelbau der alten Aegypter"
1852. " Ueber die Memnoncolosse des Aegyptischen Thebes" 1853.
" Ueber alte Aegyptische Bauwerke." Ephemerides, Vienna, 1845.
142 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
sian Embassy. He had made the acquaintance of the
leader of the expedition on the Tiber, and was closely
associated with him during the remainder of his life.
Under the guidance of Lepsius he occupied himself
with Egyptological studies, even after he had relin-
quished theology and entered the diplomatic service.
This is the same Abeken, diplomatic Privy Counsellor
and Acting Counsellor, who afterwards accompanied
Prince Bismarck to France during the war of 1870-1,
and proved of great service there. On the tenth of
December, 1842, he joined the expedition in which he
served incidentally as chaplain. He was the most
agreeable companion to Lepsius, " with his invariably
cheerful temper," and his " witty and learned conversa-
tion."*
With these Germans were associated two English-
men. The first was the sculptor Bonomi, who at that
time had already won celebrity as a traveler in Egypt
and Ethiopia, and of whom Lepsius himself said : " he
is not only full of practical knowledge about the life
there, but he is also a connoisseur in Egyptian art, and
a master of Egyptian drawing."** The second was the
* Abeken afterwards published a "Rapport sur les risultats de
I 'expedition Prussienne dans la haute Nubie. Revue archiol. IV." 1846,
as well as a lecture entitled : " Das Aegyptische Museum." Berlin,
1856.
** Bonomi published the following papers: "On the Site of
Memphis." Transactions of the Roy. Soc. of Literature. N. S. II. 1847,
" Arundale a. Bonomi. Gallery of Egyptian Antiquities." London,
1844, " and Catalogue of the Museum of Hartwell House," London,
1858. Sharpe and Bonomi published together the fine "Sarcophagus
of Seti I." London, 1858. We also know of two papers of his on
Obelisks in the Transactions of the Roy. Soc. of Literature, 1841,
Vols. I. and II.
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 143
young and " genial " architect Wild, who was of great
assistance to Erbkam.
The leader of the expedition had himself scarcely
passed his thirty-first year, and was so young and vigor-
ous, that when he desired to hire a kavass, that is, a
Turkish constable, to superintend the servants, the in-
tercourse with the authorities, etc., he wrote home :
" In Europe I should have felt more than sufficient
confidence in my own ability to manage the entire prac-
tical conduct of the expedition." He had, besides, sov-
ereign command of the most thorough scholarship in all
those departments wherein the expedition was intended
to add to existing knowledge.
He had garnered the whole harvest to be reaped in
Europe from every field of Egyptian archaeology, and
all that could be gathered anew from the banks of the
Nile only needed to be stored in the receptacles which,
already set apart and half-filled, stood ready for the ex-
pected gains.
The conditions under which he traveled, and
studied the localities of the monuments, were such as
to fill us later investigators with envy. For in 1842^
there was no museum of Boulak, which now lawfully
claims all antiquities from Egyptian soil as soon as they
are brought to the light of day. At that time there ex-
isted only the first beginnings of a collection of Egyp-
tian monuments, and these had no supervisor nor
director.
The subsisting law against the exportation of an-
tiquities was set aside in favor of Lepsius, compulsory
144 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
labor was not yet abolished, and Muhamed 'Ali, who
governed in his viceroyalty with the irresponsible power
of an absolute despot, wished to extend every assistance
to the expedition. He caused a firman to be issued for
Lepsius, which gave him unconditional permission to
make any excavations which he might consider desira-
ble. All the local authorities were charged to assist
him in his undertakings, and Lepsius said that by means
of the kavasses who had been assigned to him by the
government, and on the strength of the firman, they
obtained from the sheiks of the nearest villages and
the mudirs of the provinces all the workmen and ap-
pliances needed for making and transporting his collec-
tion of antiquities. The necessary payments had of
course to be made, but they never met with a refusal.
At Fayoum, for instance, he employed a hundred and
eight workmen in the excavation of the building which
he considered to be the Labyrinth. Each man received
two copper piasters a day (about twenty pfennige) and
each child ten pfennige, or, if it was very industrious,
fifteen pfennige, a day. Besides this some bread was
given them. Under such conditions great things may
be accomplished with comparatively small means.
Nowadays it is only under exceptional circum-
stances, and within carefully prescribed limits, that a
European is permitted to make excavations. The la-
borers ask quite a high price, — in Thebes I had to
pay each man six full piasters (one mark, twenty pfen-
nige) — and, if one disinters any monuments, even
under the most favorable circumstances, only such
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. I45
single specimens are permitted to leave the country as
the vice-regal museum is already rich in. Lepsius was
more fortunately situated. The monuments which he
found in Ethiopia and wished to add to his collection
were brought from Mount Barcal to Alexandria on
government vessels, and to these were also added three
tombs, from the neighborhood of the pyramids of
Ghizeh, which had been carefully taken to pieces
with the help of four workmen sent expressly for the
purpose from Berlin. On his departure from Egypt he
received a special written permit for the removal of the
collection, and the objects obtained were themselves
presented to King Frederick William IV. of Prussia,
by Muhamed 'Ali.
With full authority to take possession of all that
might embellish the Berlin collection, Lepsius appro-
priated what was most desirable and most interesting
wherever he found it, and ventured, as we have seen,
to remove whole tombs from the necropolis of ancient
Memphis to the Spree. This could not be done with-
out injury to the adjoining tombs, as they had con-
sisted of a number of rooms collectively, and envy, ill-
will and stupidity were quickly at hand to accuse the
Prussian expedition of having, like impious Vandals,
plundered and injured the monuments in pursuit of
their own purposes. But this accusation was entirely un-
founded, and any one who knows the condition of Egypt
at that time can only rejoice that so many treasures,
which were neglected and exposed to wanton de-
struction in their native country, were at a favorable
146 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
moment removed to Europe and preserved in a fine
public museum.
No farther assurance is needed that Lepsius and
his companions neither laid hands upon nor destroyed
a single stone unnecessarily, but it will be expedient to
mention here that since the French expedition and the
completion of the great work on monuments prepared
by it, a series of ancient edifices portrayed therein have
vanished from the earth.
Between our first and second visit to the Nile an
interesting little temple at Erment had been turned into
a sugar factory, and in the same space of time the fine
remains of a Grecian portico of white marble, which
had adorned the old Bes-Antinoopolis, had found their
way to the lime-kiln. This could occur at a time
when the monuments were lovingly and jealously
guarded by the vigilant eye of Mariette, and hence it
is easy to conjecture what dangers threatened them as
long as they were left entirely at the mercy of every
encroachment of the fellahin.
In a letter from the necropolis of Memphis, long
before the above-mentioned accusations were brought
against him, Lepsius wrote : " It is really shocking to
see how every day whole trains of camels come here
from the neighboring villages, and march back again
in long files, laden with building stones. Fortunately,
— for everything is fortunate under some circum-
stances, — the lazy fellahin are more attracted by the
Psamatik tombs than by those of the oldest dynasties,
whose big blocks are too unwieldly for them."
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 147
Therefore we may confidently designate the re-
moval to Berlin, just at that time, of the three tombs
from Memphis and the other monuments, as an act of
protection. Only the pillar which Lepsius removed
from the perfectly preserved tomb of Seti I. at Thebes,
should have been left in its place.
The travellers, filled with enthusiasm for their task,
had a long and difficult journey to take in the course
of their investigations and search for spoils. It led
them all, by ships, upon the backs ot camels, and on
foot, with many delays and digressions, into the heart
of the African continent, as far as Khartoum at the
junction of the two sources of the Nile. Then, alone
except for the company of Abeken, Lepsius sailed on
up the Blue River as far as the village of Romali, be-
tween Sennar, the celebrated ancient capital of the
Sudan, which he visited, and Fazokl.
The last letter from our wayfarer is dated from
Smyrna, and was written on the seventh of December,
1845, much more than three years after his arrival at
Alexandria. From the very first, a long period of
traveling had been contemplated, and the leader had
taken pains to establish his own position with regard to
the whole party, and the rights and duties of each in-
dividual member of it, as well as to provide for " suit-
able intellectual diet." The commanding nature of
his distinguished and imposing personality had, if we
except the excesses of the moulder Franke, obviated
throughout the whole time any illegitimate opposition
to, or rebellion against, his position as chief. How
148 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
justly, kindly and wisely this was maintained may best
be shown by the friendship and attachment manifested
towards him till death by Abeken, Erbkam, the Wei-
denbachs, and all the other members of the expedition,
with the exception of Franke.
And this is no light matter, for nowhere do dis-
agreements of every kind occur more readily than
among a small party, who, separated from their native
civilization, have to endure, in addition to many de-
privations, the burden of an enervating climate; and
who, tormented by discomforts, fatigue, and homesick-
ness, yield only too easily to gloomy and discontented
moods, beneath whose spell it is hard to be just
and to submit cheerfully to the will of another.
Lepsius himself says that from the beginning he tried
to diversify the life of his party, and especially the irk-
some and very monotonous work of his artists, not
only by the weekly holiday of Sunday, but also, as
often as an opportunity offered, by cheerful merry-
makings and pleasant diversions.
One must himself have lived and worked in the
Orient, far from the bustle of cities, to appreciate what
it is to pass on from days to weeks and from weeks to
months as on a monotonous road without stopping-
places. In such a place and at such times one feels
the blessing of our Sunday holiday, and Lepsius' fel-
low-travellers would certainly have fallen a prey to
fatigue and disgust during their long period of travel-
ing and working together, if their chief had not ob-
served the feasts and holidays peculiar to their own
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 149
country, and had not kindly and judiciously taken ac-
count of their spiritual needs. One of the most beauti-
ful memories of our own life is that of the moment
when, after many months of wandering through Mos-
lem lands, we unexpectedly heard a church bell ring on
Christmas day. It was long, long since we had lis-
tened to the sound, and for the first time we fully ap-
preciated its elevating loveliness, when standing in front
of the little Protestant church in Upper Egypt from
whose modest tower it resounded.
Like a thirsty man after a cool drink, we returned
to our labors with fresh pleasure and fresh enthusiasm.
The Sunday holiday of the Prussian expedition not only
recompensed and blessed them with the necessary rest,
but kept them in communion with the life of their dear
ones at home.
It would exceed the limits prescribed for this bio-
graphy if we should follow from spot to spot the travels,
excavations, researches and collections of the party led
by Lepsius. He has himself relieved us of this very
tempting task, for his " Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia
and the Peninsula of Sinai,* is a book which can and
should be read with pleasure and profit even by the
general reader. It is by no means confined to the re-
sults of his scientific investigations, but makes the
reader familiar also with the personal experiences of the
author, and is distinguished by a clear, concise, vivid
and often charming style. It is in many respects a
* Index of Works, No. XLVIII.
150 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
book of importance for his fellow laborers in the same
department, since it places them in living contact with
the sources whence sprang many of the most important
discoveries and works of the author.
During his long stay at the necropolis of Memphis
he succeeded in elucidating the details of the history of
the " Old Empire." The intuition by which he separ-
ated the twelfth dynasty from the eighteenth,* assigned
its correct place to the incursion of the Hyksos, and
even anticipated all that afterwards received documen-
tary corroboration by Diimichen's discovery of the
great Tablet of the Kings at Abydos, will ever remain
an intellectual feat worthy of admiration.
From Memphis he undertook, with the assistance of
Erbkam's technical knowledge, to investigate the archi-
tectural system employed in the construction of the
pyramids. The results were recorded, even before the
close of the journey, in a dissertation in which the sub-
ject was treated in the most fundamental manner.**
These conclusions have been maintained against all at-
tacks, and even against the attempt to modify them
made by the excellent Perrot. In this work Lepsius
confirms and explains the statement of Herodotus that
the pyramids were completed from above downwards,
and were built " in successive steps." The work cited
also contains a well considered and convincing answer
to that other question which presents itself to the
* Afterwards thoroughly demonstrated. Index of Works No.
XLTX.
** Index of Works No. XXXII.
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 151
thoughtful observer of these remarkable monuments..
As soon as a Pharaoh ascended the throne he began
the construction of his mausoleum. It was at first of
modest dimensions, since he erected, as a nucleus of the
whole, a truncated pyramid with steep sides, and in
doing so often took advantage of the natural rocks..
When he was overtaken by death, the pinnacle was first
placed upon this nucleus, and its inclined sides were
then continued to the ground. If time and power were
still left after the completion of the first nucleus and
before the pinnacle was set on, the truncated pyramid
was invested with a new outer layer in the form of
steps, and so it was continued until a point was reached
where each new addition constituted of itself a gigantic
labor. Whenever the time came to bring the monu-
ment to completion it was always necessary first to set
on the pinnacle ; the steps lying nearest to it were then
filled out, and finally those at the bottom. There are
pyramids of all sizes, and what we have said explains
how it came to pass that one king erected for himself a
monument of prodigious dimensions, while another was
contented with one much smaller; why we can only
point to two unfinished pyramids, and how Cheops, the
builder of the largest pyramid, found courage to un-
dertake a work for the execution of which the average
duration of a reign would in no wise suffice, while yet
the completion of it could not be exacted of his suc-
cessors, who would have their own mausoleums to pro-
vide for. Everything is made clear, if we assume with
Lepsius that the size of the pyramid was regulated by
152 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the duration of its builder's life, and that the latter had
it in his power at any time to complete the work.
Lepsius believed that he had found the Labyrinth
at Fayoum, and he was perhaps right in so thinking.
But, even if this remarkable ancient building should be
re-discovered on some other site of the old " lake coun-
try," yet to Lepsius would still belong the credit of
having determined the position of Lake Moeris, first in-
dicated by Linant de Bellefonds, and of having proved
that the Pharaoh Amenemha III., of the twelfth
dynasty, was the Moeris of the Greeks.* He also was
the first to investigate and make known all that was ac-
complished by this prince in regulating the inundation
of the Nile.
We know that his researches in Egypt and Ethiopia
extended even beyond the limits of the region of monu-
ments. Within that zone he has, if we may be allowed
the expression, left no corner unexplored. He met with
the most abundant returns at Beni Hassan, Thebes,
(especially upon the return journey) Gebel &ilsile, the
island of Philae, Abu Simbel on the second cataract,
among the ruins of Ethiopian Meroe far in the South,
and also on the peninsula of Sinai.
Within the bounds of the temple of Isis, on the
lovely island beyond the first cataract, he made a suc-
cession of discoveries, upon which he afterwards based
great and original works. He first found here an ec-
clesiastical ordinance,** similar to the decree of Rosetta,
* Index of Works No. XXXIII.
* Index of Works. Nos. XLIV., XLIVa. and XLlVb.
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 153
drawn up in two languages, that is in hieroglyphics, and
also in the demotic (popular) writing and language.
The numerous names of the Ptolemies, which occurred
in the inscriptions of the temple of Isis, also impelled
him to study more thoroughly the succession of the
Egyptian kings of the house of the Lagidae and to de-
termine finally the order of this series of rulers, of such
great importance for the history of other countries.*
Here, as everywhere, he paid special attention to the
Greek inscriptions, which are very numerous on Philae.
By his sagacity and quick insight great additions were
made to the Egypto-Grecian inscriptions previously
collected by Letronne and others. Those which had
been previously known received manifold corrections
and additions owing to the extreme accuracy peculiar
to him. He afterwards devoted a special treatise to the
hieroglyphic form of the name of the Ionians.**
On the return journey he was not able to stop for
as long a time as he had desired in the well-preserved
Ptolemaic temples of Denderah and Edfu. These are
thickly covered with inscriptions, and therefore he left
behind him at those places, for Dumichen, Mariette,
Naville, Brugsch and other Egyptologists, not only rich
gleanings, but really the greater part of the substantial
work still to be accomplished. But his attention was
especially attracted in Edfu by an inscription which
was afterwards to be of great service to him. In it were
recorded the possessions in landed, property of this tem-
* Index of Works. No. L.
** Index of Works. No. LVIIIa.
154 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
pie during the reign of Ptolemy XI. (Alexander I.)*
The surface measures which occurred in it he was after-
wards able to use to advantage in his studies on the
linear and square measures of the ancient Egyptians.
After the expedition had passed the first cataract
and entered the Nubian dominion the leader not only
turned his attention to the remains of the temples there,
which had as yet been examined in a very insufficient
manner, but he also, with indefatigable industry, de-
voted himself^to studying the languages of all the tribes
on whose territories he touched. The description
which he gives of the Nubian language, in a letter
from Korusko, dated the thirtieth of November, 1843,
presents with extreme conciseness the essential charac-
teristics of this remarkable idiom. In his farther
travels towards the south he afterwards investigated all
the dialects of this same group of languages, and ac-
quired such an excellent knowledge of it that he could
venture, at a later date, to publish a translation of the
Gospel according to St. Mark in Nubian.* In pub-
lishing this translation he made use of the standard al-
phabet which he had himself invented and which has
been previously mentioned. Indeed it was on this ac-
count that he first began the difficult task of preparing
the universal alphabet, which he was afterwards asked to
extend to a great number of languages for various special
purposes. During the journey he prepared a grammar
and dictionary of three dialects; the Nuba language
# Index of Works. Nos. LIV. and LVIII.
** Index of Works, No. LXIX.
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 1 55
spoken by the Nuba or Berber tribe, the Kungara lan-
guage of the negroes of Dar-Fur, and the Bega lan-
guage of the Bischarin inhabiting the eastern Sudan.
This he did so perfectly that he himself hoped that the
publication of these works would at least afford a clear
idea of the languages mentioned. After his return
home he continued to pursue these studies unremit-
tingly, and thus obtained that profound insight into all
the idioms of the African continent, which gives its
great and permanent importance to his last long work,
the Nubian Grammar, to which we shall again refer.
Lepsius at first devoted himself with special ardor to
the study of those languages which in his own day
still flourished on the domain of the ancient Ethiopians,
because he cherished a firm hope of finding in them the
key, by which to decipher the popular writing of the
Ethiopians, many examples of which he had discovered
on the site of ancient Meroe. This writing is intended
to be read from right to left, and the words are always
separated by two points. But its significance is un-
solved up to the present time. In deciphering the de-
motic-Ethiopian inscriptions little assistance is to be
looked for from the Ethiopian-hieroglyphic as, what-
ever strange variations these may contain, they corres-
pond almost entirely to the Egyptian, in form as well
as in the language which underlies them. Like our
own Latin inscriptions, they are composed in the
writing and language of an alien people. As we shall
see, Lepsius afterwards became convinced that the key
to the Ethiopian-demotic inscriptions of which we
156 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
speak was not to be sought in the Nubian, but in the
Cushite Bischariba language.
On the domain of ancient Meroe everything was
still to be done, for Cailliaud, through whom the monu-
ments there had first become known, had seen and de-
scribed them without technical knowledge of the sub-
ject. It was, therefore, reserved for Lepsius to dissipate,
once for all, the popular conjectures of a "splendid
primeval Meroe," whose inhabitants had been the pre-
decessors of the Egyptians and their instructors in civ-
ilization. He proved that all the native monuments
which had been preserved there dated from a relatively
late period, which should not be fixed before the time
of the Ethiopian Pharaohs of the twenty-fifth dynasty.
The majority, he considered, could be assigned to a
much later period and had scarcely originated previous
to the first century before Christ. The little to be
found dating from an earlier age owed its existence to
the Pharaohs and their artists.
The fine granite rams which bear the name of Am-
enophis III., (eighteenth dynasty), and one of which
at present adorns the Berlin museum, were transported
thither at a later period. They came, probably, from
Soleb. Ninety-two fellahin spent three sultry days in
dragging down to the Nile on rollers the " fat sheep "
which weighed one hundred and fifty hundred weight,
and was to be transported to the Spree.
Lepsius advised the purchase for the Berlin museum
of the gold and silver ornaments discovered in 1834, by
the Italian Romali. They were found in a pyramid at
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 1 57
Meroe which had a Roman vaulted antechamber.
This advice Lepsius gave after he recognized that they
had probably belonged to a specially powerful and
warlike Ethiopian queen, whose image has been pre-
served at El-Naga in rich attire, and with pointed
finger nails, nearly an inch long. At present the orna-
ments mentioned form one of the embellishments of the
Egyptian collection at Berlin.
An entertaining anecdote is connected with the so-
called Ferlini discovery at Meroe, and with the recol-
lection of the sojourn of the expedition and their labors
there. The natives, naturally, could only regard as
treasure-seekers the strange men who busied themselves
so indefatigably among the old monuments, who ap-
plied measuring line and rule to them, covered them
with wet paper, poured plaster over them, gazed at
them, note book and pen in hand, and penetrated into
their innermost recesses.
When one of our colleagues afterwards visited this
neighborhood, an old sheik told him that he knew well
that the King of the Germans had only acquired the
resources to vanquish the French, through the treasures
which the Howadji Lepsius had found at Meroe and
sent back to his native land.
Lepsius' sojourn in Ethiopia led him to the convic-
tion, only confirmed by all subsequent investigations,
that there could have been no ancient and original
Ethiopian civilization and culture. In respect to this,
all the reports of the ancients which do not rest upon a
pure misunderstanding refer only to Egyptian culture
158 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
and art, which, during the dominion of the Hyksos,
had taken refuge in Ethiopia. The outbreak of the
Egyptian power from Ethiopia at the founding of the
New Egyptian Kingdom, and its advance even far into
Asia, was transferred from the Ethiopian country to the
Ethiopian people, first in the Asiatic and afterwards in
the Greek traditions respecting this event; for no
knowledge had penetrated to the northern peoples of a
still older Egyptian Kingdom, and its proud but peace-
ful prime.
During the long journey which led the expedition
once more northward, and towards home, and which
was now uninterrupted by side excursions, a number of
short inscriptions on the rock were discovered at Sem-
neh * and Kummeh. These yielded important histori-
cal information, for they proved that the solicitude of
Amenemha III. (the Moeris of the Greeks, twelfth dy-
nasty), for the regulation of the inundation of the Nile
had extended to this point ; that the Sebekhotep must
be added, as the thirteenth dynasty, to the twelfth, and
that four thousand years ago the river rose higher by
twenty-four feet than it does in our day.
The principal purpose of the expedition, the one
which Lepsius ever kept in view, and which decided
the choice of the monuments to be copied, was histori-
cal. When he could believe that he had achieved
everything possible in pursuance of this object, he felt
that he might consider himself satisfied. If we remem-
ber this we can easily understand how he was almost
* Index of Works, No. XXXIV.
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 1 59
wearied by the examination of those temples belonging
to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods which he in-
spected cursorily before coming to Thebes ; these were
Philae, Kom Ombos, Edfu, Esneh, Erment. We can
see especially that the inexhaustible but more lately
built temple of Edfu could detain him but for a dispro-
portionately short time. But in Thebes, which he
reached more than two years after leaving Europe, he
found once more the old delight in, and impulse for,
research, and he could therefore write, in a letter dated
November twenty-fourth, 1844; "Here, where the
Homeric figures of the mighty Pharaohs of the eigh-
teenth and nineteenth dynasties meet me in all their
splendor and magnificence, I feel once more as fresh as
at the beginning of the journey." And one must credit
his assurance, and profoundly admire the man's elas-
ticity and enthusiasm for his task, when one surveys
the great treasure of inscriptions which he and his as-
sistants amassed there, and the wealth of admirable
surveys, maps, sketches, and pictures, which the expe-
dition found time to execute. Five and a half months
he devoted to Thebes, and did not leave off until there,
too, he had attained his purpose, although he was al-
ready on his homeward way and surrounded by un-
speakable difficulties and privations, while before him,
on the contrary, beckoned with outstretched hands
everything to which his heart clung, and which could
bring him peace, recreation, honor and spiritual refresh-
ment.
His friend Abeken had been forced to leave him at
l6o RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Philae, and although there was no lack of occasional
European visitors in Thebes, yet it would have been
natural if his taste for travel had by this time abated.
But, on the contrary, his passion for research seems
just then to have gained a new impetus, and the trip
which he undertook from Thebes to the Peninsula of
Sinai, after indicating the course to be followed during
his absence by the members of the expedition in their
various labors, was begun and carried through as
though he had just quitted his native land, with an im-
mense surplus stock of energy and enthusiasm.
Accompanied only by the younger Weidenbach and
the necessary servants, he chose to proceed from
Keneh to the Red Sea, not by the usual caravan route,
but by the road through the midst of the mountains to
Gebel-es-Set. This promised to save time, and he
hoped to find on it something interesting and new.
In the Wadi Hammamat the Arabs refused to fol-
low him upon this route, which was destitute of water,
little known, and not free from danger. But he suc-
ceeded in inducing them to consent, and came within a
hair's-breadth of losing his life when, in his search for
the porphyry quarries, he went astray on Gebel Dukhan,
the Mons porphyrites of the ancients. But he was not
the man to resign easily a scientific prize when he be-
held it before him, and therefore we see him, though
scarcely escaped from destruction, begin his search
anew, and once more attain his aim.
He had ordered a ship to be ready at Gebel-es-Set,
and thence he went across the Red Sea to Tur. His
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. l6l
companion, Weidenbach, is now living in Australia, in
easy circumstances, and we can readily understand the
sigh with which he declared that this was the most
fatiguing part of all the journey, when we consider that
Lepsius was obliged to limit his whole sojourn upon
the Peninsula of Sinai to the time between the twenty-
first of March and the sixth of April, and observe, from
his other writings,* as well as the great work on monu-
ments, all that he accomplished in that period. With
this must be included, too, all the inscriptions and de-
signs which he copied. The days began at sunrise,
and before the travellers lay down to their brief sleep
in the evening all that had been discovered through
the day had to be reduced to order and set down in
writing.
Lepsius visited only a small portion of the Peninsula
of Sinai, but with the exception of the neighborhood of
Petra, it was the most interesting part, and he explored it
in every direction with diligence and sagacity. He copied
or took home with him in the shape of casts whatever
Egyptian inscriptions or paintings of interest he found
there, and he afterwards published, from his excellent
paper casts, many of those incisions upon the rocks of
the Peninsula of Sinai which are known by the name of
the Nabathean Inscriptions. The most important eleva-
tions in that locality were all ascended by him, and he
* R. Lepsius. Briefe aus Aegypten und Aethiopien. Pages
329 to 357 and notes. Also Index of Works, Nos. XXXVIII. and
XXXIX. The biblical-geographical conclusions of Lepsius were con-
troverted by a certain Kutscheit in a paper as superficial as it was
spiteful.
11
l62 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
took from their summits the points of the compass, for
the cartographic works to be undertaken in the future.
His sagacity and erudition established that which the
king of Oiiental travellers, Burckhardt, had suspected
before him, namely, that the mountain from which the
Law was given was not the Gebel-Musa group, which
is at present held to be the Sinai of the Scriptures, but
the magnificent Serbal. The author of this biography,
during his own journey to Sinai, was also obliged to
adopt the view of Lepsius ; he furnished fresh argu-
ments to confirm it,* and is of the opinion that sooner
or later it must be generally accepted as correct, in
spite of the opposition which it still encounters on
many sides.
After Lepsius had returned to Thebes from this ex-
cursion, he wrote to Bunsen : " Fortunately the journey
to Sinai now lies behind us, and in truth I am heartily
glad of it, not only because it was the hardest and
most dangerous part of our whole pilgrimage, but also
because it presented the most important and difficult
problems which still remained to be solved on our
return journey. Now nothing remains but the depart-
ure from Thebes and from Cairo ; and, this, too, is
only a question of getting ready to leave, there is
nothing more of importance to be undertaken. When
I consider all the material which we have collected in
the three years it almost terrifies me, for I shall never
* Ebers. Durch Gosen rum Sinai. Aus dem Wanderbuche
und der Bibliothck. a Aufl. Leipzig, 1882.
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 1 63
be in a position to work it up, even if we succeed in
bringing it home."
Nevertheless, he was afterwards able, as we shall
see, to make the whole of it accessible to science.
From the Peninsula of Sinai Lepsius went back to
Thebes, where he found that his instructions had been
excellently carried out. Thence he returned to Cairo,
making only short stops in the places where the most
important monuments were to be found. On the way
he met Dr. Bethmann * an old university friend, who
had come over from Italy, in order to make the return
journey through Palestine with him. Before his de-
parture to the Promised Land, Lepsius superintended
the despatching of the treasures which he had col-
lected, and the taking apart of the tombs from the
pyramids to be transported to Berlin. Lastly he
visited the localities containing the most important
monuments in the Delta.
In a letter of the eleventh of July, 1845, he stated
the plan according to which he hoped to see the Egyp-
tian antiquities arranged in the new museum at Berlin.
This was to be on an historical basis, and was after-
wards executed in the manner proposed. He had
heard at Cairo, much to his delight, that they had not
yet begun to build the halls intended for the Egyptian
department of the new museum at Berlin, and that his
desire to see every part constructed in the Egyptian
* Louis Conrad Bethmann, born at Helmstedt, 1812. He was
one of the collaborators on the " Monumenta Germaniae historica,"
etc. Died in 1867 in Wolfenbuttel, where he was librarian.
164 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
style of architecture might yet be carried out from the
very foundation.
" I think," he wrote, " that to produce a generally
harmonious impression, we must preserve the charac-
teristic styles of building of the different periods, and
especially the order of the pillars, in their historical se-
quence, and also with all their rich colored decora-
tion."
Lepsius still kept his attention fixed upon Egyptian
antiquity even during his rapid journey through Pales-
tine, and he was afterwards able to publish,* and also
to incorporate in his great work on monuments, the
best copy of the celebrated tablet chiselled on the
living rock, which commemorates the victory of
Rameses II. on the Dog river (Nahr-el-Kelb). This is
the Lycos of the ancients, and lies north of Berytos
(Beirut).
When Lepsius finally turned homewards from
Smyrna, (he had chosen the route through Constanti-
nople), much more than three years had passed since
he first set out upon his journey, and these years had
been employed in a manner which far exceeded all the
expectations and hopes of his monarch, his patrons and
his friends. Not only had the tasks imposed upon
him been perfectly fulfilled, but the emissary had be-
thought him upon the way of imposing new ones upon
himself, and now returned home with an unprecedented
number of acquisitions in the way of inscriptions,
• Index of Works. LIV. a.
THE PRUSSIAN EXPEDITION TO EGYPT. 165
maps, works of art and notes on language. The really
enthusiastic reception which he met with everywhere,
and especially in Berlin at the beginning of 1846, was
well deserved. All the newspapers lauded the bril-
liant achievements of the returning expedition. The
name of the leader became famous in all countries ; it
spread far beyond the circle of his professional colla-
borators and countrymen, and won that world-wide
celebrity which it will retain as long as historical and
philological research exist.
His King, Frederick William IV., was the man to
recognize the value of his acquistions, and his friend
and fellow- workman, Bunsen, his patron, A. v. Hum-
boldt, the Director of the museum, v. Olfers, and
others, did not grudge due appreciation to the great
services of the returned traveller. They were able to
induce their monarch to grant him the means of turn-
ing to good account the abundance of treasures which
he had sent home, and of placing them at the disposal
of the learned world in the best and most appropriate
manner. Thus, without regard to the enormous ex-
penses which must be entailed by such an undertaking,
Lepsius was able to set to work at the preparation of
the great book on monuments which was to make his
name immortal, and to give renown to his native land
and his royal patron.
As far as his expenses upon the journey were con-
cerned, he had not exceeded his estimates, and these
funds had paid for all excavations and purchases.
Humboldt considered the journey ■■" cheap beyond
l66 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
measure." It had cost altogether thirty-four thousand,
six hundred thalers.
Humboldt estimated the expenses for the publica-
tion of the store of inscriptions and monuments col-
lected, as well as the maps and pictures prepared upon
the journey, at sixty to eighty thousand thalers. Lep-
sius thought at the time that he had rated it too high,
but it afterwards proved that it could not be completed
even for this large sum. The King had received Lep-
sius most graciously, and never wearied of hearing his
accounts of his journey and his acquisitions. This is
confirmed by v. Reumont, and the following extract is
taken from his book, " The Days of King William in
Sickness and Health : " " After Lepsius' return (from
Egypt) in 1846, the importance of the results which he
had achieved and the beautiful things which he had
sent home, procured him the most gracious reception
at court, and he was a frequent and welcome guest
there, animated and suggestive, clever in relating his
many experiences, etc." It was therefore natural that
the king should immediately grant him the fifteen
thousand thalers, which according to Humboldt's esti-
mate was the first instalment necessary for the prepara-
tion of the work on monuments.
67
THE MASTER WORKMAN.
On the twenty-third of August, 1846, Lepsius was
appointed a regular professor at the Berlin University.
This was followed, in 1850, by his election as member
of the Academy of Sciences, and in 1855 by his ap-
pointment as co-director of the Egyptian museum, in
conjunction with Passalacqua, who, although a person
of superficial education, was a good man, and could
not be set aside. Lepsius thus obtained the necessary
leisure to devote himself uninterruptedly to the great
and varied labors which awaited him.
Now that his probation as a journeyman was com-
pleted, he established a home of his own, and on the '
fifth of July, 1846, was married to Elizabeth Klein.
The lovely bride, then eighteen years old, was an or-
phan, the child of the celebrated musician and com-
poser of the same name.
In 1856 were completed the twelve volumes of the
great work on monuments which Lepsius had been
commissioned by his king to prepare. At the time
that he left Egypt he had thought that it would exceed
his powers. It was published in sixty-two numbers,
and the eight hundred and ninety-four plates which
compose them are in folio form, and exceed in size all
previous works of the kind. The size interferes with
the convenience of the book for handling, and is the
l68 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
sole point to be found fault with in what is otherwise a
model production. The late Mariette once said to us
in jest : u One needs a corporal and four soldiers to
use your Lepsius' ' Monuments,' " and it is true that
these twelve gigantic volumes demand too much
physical strength, and too much space on the study-
table, when one is obliged to consult them one after
another. Yet the labor is substantially lessened by the
incomparable order in which the author has arranged
them. " The Monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia " *
embrace all the archaeological, palaeographic and his-
torical acquisitions of the expedition. They contain
the prodigious wealth of hieroglyphic, Greek and other
written records which the travellers collected on the
way, in addition to maps, sketches, landscapes and
architectural pictures, many of which are finely exe-
cuted in colors.
The thousands of sheets of paper containing the
impressions taken in Egypt, from which the majority of
the inscriptions were copied and transferred to the
lithographic stone, are preserved in the Egyptian mu-
seum as valuable documents. Let it be noted here
that Lepsius was the first to apply successfully and
efficiently this excellent method of copying by means
of paper impressions. It is now, however, only on
rare occasions of minor importance that the investi-
gator finds it necessary to refer to the original impres-
sions of the expedition, so wonderfully accurate are
the reproductions of them. In the great publications
* See Index of Works, No. XLV.
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 169
of Champollion and Rosellini, (page 78) we fre-
quently find alterations and inaccuracies on comparing
them with the monuments, but in the " Monuments "
of Lepsius such defects are almost unknown. Yet still
greater commendation is due to the classification of the
immense material comprised in this inexhaustible mine.
There is scarcely the least change to be made in the
historical sequence of these hundreds of closely filled
plates, although later researches and excavations have
furnished much that is new, and many details have
been elucidated by the monographic works of Egypt-
ologists since 1850. Before his departure for the
Orient Lepsius had already examined the succession of
the Egyptian dynasties. Amidst the monuments of the
Nile he succeeded in finding answers to all that had
appeared questionable to him while in Europe, and in
thus bringing light into darkness. While carrying for-
ward his work on the " Monuments " he also estab-
lished a scientific groundwork for all the knowledge
which he had previously accumulated, and was thus
able to assign their correct places to the ruling families
or dynasties, and to the several Pharaohs among them.
It was easy to give their proper positions to the latter,
as in the historical inscriptions are recorded the names
of the Pharaohs under whom they were made. For
such as were not dated the ingenuity and experience of
the savant fixed their correct places according to the
indications of style, or on palaeographic or other
grounds.
To the inquiry which of the achievements of Lep-
170 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
sius we consider the greatest, we do not hesitate to
answer, the classification of his "Monuments," when
we consider the lamentable condition of Egyptian his-
torical research at the time when it was produced, and
the prodigious amount of new information to be re-
duced to order. In this work we see him surmount the
mass of material which had been collected by his own
energy, and transform the chaotic whole into a beauti-
ful and faultlessly-proportioned organism. He never
loses his broad outlook over the entire field, and never-
theless he gives the smallest detail its due with painstak-
ing consciousness. We discern the divine likeness most
clearly in a great man when he keeps in view the great
whole, and yet does not disdain to give heed to small
things; like the eternal and mysterious power which
prescribes their wide and immutable orbits to the stars,
and yet forgets not to give its antennae to the tiny in-
sect.
This colossal work is accompanied by no explana-
tory text,* and the excellence of the classification
makes it easy to dispense with one. Each separate in-
scription can only be sought for in the place where it
occurs, and the marginal notes inform us as to the
locality whence it came, and the ruler under whom it
originated. Whoever wishes to know to what period
the Pharaoh in question should be assigned, must con-
sult the Book of Kings, which was begun by Lepsius
* The comments upon his work on monuments, given in the ses-
sions of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, only refer to special points.
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 171
at an early date, and completed in 1859. He will there
find the desired information.
In the middle of the fiftieth year of this century,
the time had not yet come for giving continuous and
exact translations of great hieroglyphic texts, and
therefore the editor of the " Monuments " wisely ab-
stained from doing so. Such an undertaking would also
have far exceeded the powers of one person. Even
now an abundance of difficult problems are still pre-
sented to Egyptian philology, great as are the advances
which that has made, by this unparalleled corpus i?iscrip-
tionum. It contains the most important Egyptian in-
scriptions, from the most'' ancient times up to the period
of the Roman emperors, classified in the most rigor-
ously systematic manner.
The " Monuments " is, and must ever remain, the
chief and most fundamental work for the study of
Egyptology.
Its classification presupposes a deeper study into
the history of the Pharaohs hitherto unheard of. We
have seen how, when a journeyman, Lepsius de-
voted himself by preference to the study of historical
monuments, and while in Egypt he everywhere laid
the greatest stress upon this.
As a master workman too, after his return to Berlin
in 1846, he remained faithful to his historical bias. He
had at his disposal, in complete shape, all that was fur-
nished by the monuments in the way of historical in-
formation. The systematic arrangement of the work
on monuments which he had in view already imposed
172
RICHARD LEPSIUS.
upon him the task of restoring in a critical manner the
main skeleton of history, (chiefly Egyptian,) and of
ascertaining the periods of time which separate the
chief historical events from each other and from our
own age. In other words, he was obliged to devote
himself with all his energy to the study of Egyptian
chronology.
As a matter of course the monuments were always
the foundation from which he proceeded, but it was
also necessary to consult and to fix the worth of such
other historical records as were in existence.
Amongst these the highest rank was held by the
Egyptian history of Manetho of Sebennytos. This had
been written, or was said to have been written, for
Ptolemny II. Philadelphus(285 — 247 B.C.) by Manetho,
an Egyptian priest familiar with the Greek tongue.
During the Christian era several other works, (the
Book of Sothis and the Old Chronicle), were falsely at-
tributed to this writer. The heathen Greeks had held
the histories of the priestly scholar in little esteem, but,
except by the Jew Flavius Josephus, they were dili-
gently used by chronographers of the Christian era in
their efforts to establish a chronological reckoning for
the legendary and historical events in the Old Testa-
ment. Amongst these writers are found the lists of the
Egyptian kings compiled by the Sebennite, with an es-
timate of the duration of their reigns. But there is a
frequent disagreement in the facts as given by them,
for each individual chronographer adapted the figures
to his own system, and altered them arbitrarily to suit
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 1 73
his special purposes. Therefore the fragmentary infor-
mation gathered from Manetho as to the succession of
rulers can only be used with great prudence. Lepsius
submitted these statements, as well as other accounts of
Egyptian history occurring in the classics (Hecateus of
Miletus, Herodotus, Hecateus of Abdera, Diodorus,
etc.), to a severe criticism, in the attempt to separate
the genuine work of Manetho from all that had been
interpolated or perverted in his writings. As a result
of Lepsius' supposition that some of the ruling families
enumerated in the lists did not reign successively, but
contemporaneously, he arrived at the conclusion that
Manetho would reckon the duration of Egyptian his-
tory, from the first King Menes to the end of the reign
of Nectanebus II,* at three thousand five hundred and
fifty-five years, and that the accession of Menes to the
throne should therefore be fixed at 3892 B. C. On the
correctness of this computation he insisted up to the
time of his death, and by the aid of his innate fine
mathematical sense he showed the connection between
this and the other calculations, as subtle as they are
clever, which lie at the basis of his system of reckon-
ing.
Rosellini's industrious attempt to compile an Egyp-
tian history was of little service to him, but he found
many fruitful ideas in Bunsen's fine publication.** This
had been meantime completed with the advisory aid of
* King in opposition during the period of the supremacy of the
Persian empire over Egypt.
** J. Bunsen, Aegyptens Stelle in der Weltgeschichte [Egypt's
Place in Universal History] Hamburg, 1845. Fortsetzung 1856-57.
174 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the able English Egyptologist S. Birch, and Lepsius
himself had furnished many contributions to it. No
less a man than Boeckh * had, a short time before,
addressed himself to a criticism of Manetho, incited
thereto partly by Champollion's and partly by his own
investigations. In France, also, Biot,** Lesueur and
Nolan had published able works on Egyptian chron-
ology. Ideler's hand-book, which came out in 1825,
was still highly esteemed, although this acute but far
too versatile scholar was entirely ignorant of the monu-
ments.
Lepsius had the advantage over his predecessors in
his comprehensive knowledge of all the monuments,
and his understanding of hieroglyphic writing. He
took his stand upon the monuments, and on this founda-
tion which at that time was a safe and favorable one
for him alone, he labored with perfect independence,
but without overlooking the prior works mentioned
above. These, however, in most cases he was forced
to controvert. As far as the chronology of Bunsen was
concerned, he was obliged to shake it to the founda-
tions, and he found himself forced to apply critical
standards very different from those of his learned friend
to the lists of Eratosthenes, the value of which, as we
know, the latter had far over-estimated. Although on
this account he naturally arrived at results which con-
tradicted those of Bunsen, yet he dedicated to him the
* A Boeckh, Manetho und die Hundssternperiode. [Manetho
and the Dogstar Period.] Berlin 1845.
** See page 83.
THE MASTER WORKMAN- 1 75
great work,* the first volume of which was published
in 1849, in the midst of his arduous labors in editing
the " Monuments." The second and third volumes
originally planned by him remained unwritten. While
the first volume was mainly occupied with criticism of
the authorities, the two latter were to have contained
the applications and proofs in detail. All these are now
to be found in the folio volume of text which accom-
panies the plates of the " Book of Kings "** previously
mentioned. In the beautiful dedication of his chron-
ology to Bunsen, he declared that he offered him this
work as " a public token of gratitude." Lepsius knew
that Bunsen, like himself, had only the truth at heart,
and agreed with him that the final truth could only be
attained by a keen comparison of all possible differ-
ences of opinion. Such differences of opinion existed
between Bunsen and Lepsius, but, however candidly
they were expressed, they had no power to shake the
real attachment of these two men.
Unlike Bunsen's great book, Lepsius' work was not
intended to establish the place of Egypt in universal
history, but only in the external frame thereof, the an-
nals of time. It made no attempt to be a history, but
was a chronology solely. The problem involved is
solved in the first volume of which we speak, and is
treated in an original and at the same time broad man-
ner. Here, as elsewhere, Lepsius never loses cogniz-
* Die Chronologie der Aegypter. [The Chronology of the
Egyptians.] Index of Works. No. XLVI.
** Index of works. No. LXVI.
176 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
ance of the general aspect of* his subject, whilst always
carefully and even lovingly considering the smallest de-
tail and assigning it its place as a part and factor of the
whole.
He first critizes the chronology of the Romans, the
Greeks, the Hindoos, the Chaldeans in Babylon, the
Chinese and the Hebrews. In so doing he makes it
clear that among all these nations the conditions for a
very early computation of time were lacking, and
proves that no nation and no country possessed more
favorable conditions for an early chronology and history
than the Egyptian. He then proceeds to consider the
astronomical basis of the Egyptian chronology, and
goes thoroughly into the question of the divisions of
time employed by the ancient Egyptians. Here, in
addition to the monuments, which he always considers
as of the first importance, he cites the classic authors,
and ascends in regular progression from the smaller
divisions of time, the thirds, seconds and minutes, to
the days, weeks, months, intercalary days and years.
He dwells for some time upon these latter, and explains
with remarkable clearness his views regarding the vague
year and the fixed year of Sirius. After these funda-
mental principles are established he turns his attention
to the longer periods of time, beginning with the Apis
period of twenty-five years, and concluding with the
conjecture that the Egyptians possessed the knowledge
of a longest astronomical period of revolution of
thirty-six thousand years. According to our reckoning
this should undoubtedly be only twenty-six thousand
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 1 77
years, yet the period given can be recognized in the
thirty-six thousand five hundred and twenty-five years
which Syncellus alleges to have been the Egyptian
period of universal apocatastasis of the heavens.
He then reviews the Egyptian calendar, its intro-
duction and reforms. Although no one knows so well
as he that events are commonly reckoned upon the
monuments, not from an era, but according to the years
of the separate reigns, he attempts to prove that the
Sothiac cycle of one thousand four hundred and sixty
years had been used as an era for such purposes as
necessitated the conception of a longer distinct period
of time.
To many of our readers the words " Sothiac cycle "
and " year of Sirius " will be but empty sounds. We
will therefore give an explanation of them, in accord-
ance with our promise to be intelligible even to the
general reader. Let us adhere as closely as possible to
the statement of Lepsius himself! — In the Egyptian
heavens was visible a sidereal phenomenon which in a
very remarkable manner corresponded perfectly, except
for a mere trifle, to the Julian year of three hundred
and sixty-five and a quarter days. It continued for
more than three thousand years, and in fact was pre-
cisely coeval with the duration of the Egyptian empire.
This was the heliacal rising of Sirius ; that is, the reap-
pearance of Sirius, the brightest fixed star, before
sunrise. For a time this star was invisible, on ac-
count of its rising simultaneously with the sun. The
early rise of which we speak occurred regularly one
178 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
day later at the expiration of every four (civil) years of
three hundred and sixty-five days, which was the
simple basis on which the Egyptian calendar had been
established at an early period. Thus when the New
Year's day of the fixed year of three hundred and sixty-
five and a quarter days fell upon the first of the New
Year's month (Thot) of the civil year of three hundred
and sixty-five days, then, after four fixed years, it fell
upon the second of the New Year's month, Thot, after
2X4 upon the third, after 3X4 upon the fourth of
Thot, and so on. After 365 x 4, that is, when, after
one thousand four hundred and sixty fixed years, it
had run through all the days of the civil year, the next
New Year's day of the fixed year fell once more upon
the first of the New Year's month Thot, and the two
forms of the year had thus readjusted themselves, so
that one thousand, four hundred and sixty fixed years
of three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days
were exactly equivalent to one thousand, four hundred
and sixty-one civil years of three hundred and sixty-
five days. We cannot here take cognizance of the
slight error which resulted from the fact that the true
solar year does not exactly amount to three hundred
and sixty-five days and six hours, but only to three
hundred and sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight
minutes and forty-eight seconds; nor can we now
speak of the compensation therefor. In any case, it
follows from what has been said that the Egyptians,
during their whole history, had in their year of Sirius,
computed according to the heliacal or early ascension
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 1 79
of that star, the most perfect sidereal model ever pos-
sessed by any nation for their simple annual reckoning
of the year of three hundred and sixty-five and a quar-
ter days. Therefore Lepsius is right when he main-
tains that the Egyptians had a perfectly exact astro-
nomical period in the Sothiac cycle of 4 x 365 ; that is,
in the one thousand, four hundred and sixty years of
Sirius, during which the civil year, shorter by a quarter
of a day, readjusted itself by being renewed one thou-
sand four hundred and sixty-one times.
Thus closes, on page 240, this full and noble intro-
duction. The review of the authorities then begins.
After a preliminary survey of these, Herodotus and
Diodorus undergo a searching criticism, which proves
the uselessness of these authors for chronological pur-
poses. In the subsequent chapters Lepsius exerts him-
self to show the relation of the Egyptian to the ancient
Hebrew chronology, and he rightly applies to the Bi-
blical reckoning the same rules of criticism which he
has employed in regard to that contained in secular
writings. In so doing he proceeds on the sole tenable
principle that the truth discovered in the course of the
healthy development of any science cannot be opposed
to Christian truth, but must rather promote it. " For
all the truths in the world," he says, " have from the
very beginning presented a union and solidarity against
all untruth and error. But in order scientifically to
separate truth from error in any department, theology
possesses no other method than that which belongs to
every other science j namely, rational and cautious
l8o RICHARD LEPSIUS.
criticism. Whatever this may affirm, it is only possible
to amend or refute by a criticism which is still better
and more cautious."
To him, as to us, the practical religious significance
which the Old Testament must have for every Chris-
tian reader, seems to have no connection with the re-
corded dates regarding early periods of time of which
the authors and compilers of those Scriptures could
have had no exact knowledge, except by means of a
purposeless inspiration.
" Science must be pursued with reverence and free-
dom." With these beautiful words of Bunsen, Lepsius
agreed, and he demanded reverence for all that was
venerable, holy, noble, great and well-proved, and
claimed freedom wherever it was a question of attain-
ing and declaring the truth and his own conviction
thereof. This noble principle he also impressed upon
his disciples, and we would like to recall it to the
memory of those younger men who, in our day, so
readily absolve themselves from all that goes by the
name of "reverence," and hold themselves so much
the greater and stronger if they can succeed in shaking
that which is established, in detecting a blemish upon
greatness, or discerning a spot upon the source of light.
They have received criticism as an inheritance; but
there is only too good foundation for the complaint
often repeated by Lepsius, that by them the noblest of
all weapons is wielded sacrilegiously, and with special
delight for the purposes of destruction. They can
learn from the Master, who prescribed the method for
THE MASTER WORKMAN. l8l
a whole science, and aided to erect its mighty edifice,
that it is possible to practise reverence and gratitude,
and yet maintain one's own opinion with manly inde-
pendence, and attack error with the sharpest criticism.
The last and perhaps the most important portion of
the " Chronology " is occupied with Manetho and the
authorities which can be traced back to him, and also
with the relation of these authorities to each other. A
special chapter is also devoted to Eratosthenes and
Apollodorus.
This work embraces the whole foundation of Egyp-
tian chronology, and indicates the methods according
to which all chronological investigations, no matter in
what direction, should be conducted. The detached
historical-chronological researches on special subjects *
which followed the " Chronology " are so many model
specimens of the consistent application of this method.
In the " Chronology " itself the fine and thorough
humanistic training of its author is manifested in a
specially happy manner. There are modern scholars
who, as students, confine themselves to their special
provinces, and, peasant-like, do not look beyond the
space where they plow and sow and reap. These may
learn from Lepsius how, without straying too far afield,
it may yet be possible to establish a connection be-
tween that which they themselves have gained, and
the acquisitions which have been made in other and
* Index of Works, Nos. XLIX.. LI., Lla., LIL, LIIL, LX.,
LXIa., LXIV.. LXIVa., LXVla., LXV1L, LXVIIa., LXXVII.,
XCIV., XCVIL, XCIX., CIIL, CXX., CXXXIV.
1 82 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
kindred departments of science. They may observe
how details can be treated in the most thorough and
fundamental manner, without losing cognizance of the
whole. Lepsius was an able philologist, linguist, arch-
aeologist and historian, before he became an Egyptolo-
gist. From an acquaintance with the main principles
of science, and from broad generalities, he descended
gradually and without a break to a knowledge of the
separate parts. Vulgar learning amasses the material
of knowledge, and leaves all that has been thus ac-
quired heaped together in confusion; genuine learning
proceeds from the general to the special, connects the
details with the whole, and always subjects the former
to the latter. It was thus that the scientific activity of
Lepsius was exercised, and if we inquire what it was
that elevated him above even the most industrious and
ingenious of his fellow workers, we find that he owed
his lofty position to his truly scientific method of de-
velopment, research and work. This makes his pro-
ductions a true system of learning, in contrast with the
knowledge amassed by so many others who have
labored without regard to the general principles ani-
mating the whole.
Thence, too, it results that his " Chronology " is
available for every purpose, and is employed as a guide
and source of instruction, not only by the Egyptologist,
but also by every historian who wishes to devote him-
self to the study, either of the chronology of all nations,
or of any special people. Although many of the de-
tails of this work may have become disputable and un-
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 1 83
tenable in consequence of the latest advances of
science, yet for all time to come it must remain the
starting point whence all investigations in this domain
are forced to proceed.
In spite of the manifold and profound researches on
which this work was based, and in spite of the time
and strength demanded by the editing of the " Monu-
ments," Lepsius, during the years following his return
to his native land, himself superintended the embellish-
ment of those rooms in the new museum at Berlin
which were destined to hold the Egyptian collection.
He also attended personally to the arrangement and
cataloguing of the collection. He took peculiar pleas-
ure in this work, and pursued it with indefatigable zeal.
The aged Passalacqua, a man eager for knowledge,
had gone to Egypt in the capacity of a merchant, and
had afterwards made himself acquainted, as a dilet-
tante, with the discoveries and works of Champollion.
He now filled, " conscientiously and with pleasure to
himself," the post of superintendent of the collection of
monuments and relics which he had brought from the
Nile. Frederick William IV. in buying his collection
had taken him with it into the bargain ; no one wished
to remove him from his position, and thus it came to
pass that Lepsius could only be appointed co-director
in 1855, and it was not until 1865, that he was appointed
chief superintendent.
The Berlin collection of Egyptian antiquities con-
sisted of the collections of v. Minutoli, Passalacqua, v.
Koller and Bartholdy. Prior to its removal to the new
I&4 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
museum it had been lodged in the palace of Monbijou,
and while there had received many additions, especially
by the purchase of the third collection of Drovetti.
This man, who had been French consul-general at Al-
exandria under Napoleon I., had some time before col-
lected the rich stores which now form the Egyptian
museum at Turin. (See pages 93 and 132.) He had
already sold another smaller collection, (See page 97),
to King William IV., upon the solicitation of Lepsius
and in consequence of his intervention. Bunsen only
concluded the purchase in 1837, as the authorized agent
of that prince. In 1839, there was added to the Berlin
collection that of the state-counsellor Saulnier at Paris,
and in 1843, that of d'Athanasi at London. From the
pamphlet published in 1880, entitled " History of the
Royal Museum at Berlin,"* and from the portion of the
same dedicated to Dr. S. Stern of the Egyptian depart-
ment, we learn that there were already five thousand
numbers in that department in the year 1849, that is,
previous to the incorporation of the treasures which
Lepsius sent home from Egypt.
The expedition whose travels and labors we have
recorded had sent home not less than fifteen thousand
Egyptian antiquities and plaster casts. Especially
valuable among these were the three tombs already
mentioned from the necropolis of ancient Memphis on
the plain of the pyramids at el-Gizeh, as well as many
"* This pamphlet, dedicated to the Crown Prince Frederick Wil-
liam, was published August third, 1880, on the celebration of the
fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Royal Museum at Berlin.
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 1 85
sculptures and inscriptions from other tombs of the Old
Kingdom. The colored portraits of Amenophis I. and
his celebrated mother Nefertari, long worshipped as
divine, are also of great importance. These the expe-
dition took, together with the fragment upon which
they were painted, from a tomb. They also took a
pillar from the tomb of Seti I. Both of these monu-
ments came from Thebes. With them and with a
column taken from the temple of Philae was connected
the reproach brought against the expedition of having
destroyed venerable monuments to further their own
special purposes. Against this accusation we have
hitherto defended the expedition in perfectly good faith,
but unfortunately, as far as the pillar from the splendid
tomb of Seti was concerned, there was some foundation
for the charge. Of the other acquisitions of Lepsius
we will also name an obelisk and many columns from
tombs, a portrait in relief of Thothmes III., a colossal
bust of King Horus, the naophore statue of Prince
Setau-an, an altar from Ben-Naga, and, in addition, the
ram sphinx from Mount Boreal mentioned on page 156.
Together with these were numerous monuments from
Meroe, many of which were covered with those Ethio-
pian-demotic inscriptions, the key to which is still want-
ing. He also sent home several beautiful sarcophagi of
stone and wood, the tablet of Moschion, with a Greek-
demotic inscription, many bricks with the stamp of the
Pharaohs of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties,
and finally, in addition to numerous lesser relics, valu-
able papyri.
1 86 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
The casts taken by the expedition while on the Nile
were intended to complete the collection of casts begun
by the advice of Lepsius. Large and fortunate addi-
tions were afterwards made to this collection, and its
founder always, and with justice, attributed great im-
portance to it. By means of these casts it was possible
to supply in an available and desirable manner the in-
evitable deficiencies with respect to an historical se-
quence of the original monuments. Other museums
imitated that of Berlin in instituting collections of casts.
The finishing and painting of the halls which had been
renovated for the Egyptian collection were begun and
completed under the superintendence of Lepsius, who
had entire liberty in the matter. In every respect it
was done to correspond with those ideas and wishes
which he had already expressed in Cairo. All the de-
mands of the Egyptian style were observed in the three
halls at his disposal, and the walls, pillars and ceilings
received that decorative and highly-colored pictorial
ornament with which the temples and tombs of the
time of the Pharaohs are adorned. The most
interesting pictures from the tombs and sanctuaries on
the Nile were reproduced here, and Ernest Weiden-
bach, upon whom devolved the execution of the mul-
titude of paintings selected and arranged by Lepsius,
performed the task with that delicate feeling for the
characteristics of Egyptian style which was peculiar to
himself. They had at their disposal the rooms situated
in the northern half of the ground floor of the new
museum. The entrance leads immediately into the
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 187
anteroom, where a column from Philae with a palm
capital is stationed. If one turns thence towards the
hall adjoining on the right, one has before him a series
of rooms which can in some measure represent the
chief divisions of an Egyptian temple ; vestibule, hy-
postyle and sanctuary. In an Egyptian temple the
court was usually surrounded by colonnades, whose
architraves contained the dedication of the building.
In the midst stood an altar. Behind these sacred
halls there were smaller rooms, the last of which, in
the axis of the building, was the sanctuary containing
the statue of the god of the temple. In a general way
the rooms of the Berlin Egyptian collection correspond
to this customary arrangement. They contain the court,
covered with glass and surrounded by columns, the
hypostyle adjoining, and the cella in the background.
At the side of this central temple lie three main rooms ;
to the right are the mythological hall and the hall of
tombs, while the historical hall extends along the whole
length of the left side.
Let us turn first to those rooms situated on the
right and towards the east ; these are the mythological
hall and the hall of tombs. In the former are ar-
ranged the sarcophagi and coffins, and the spectator is
there impressed by that serious mood so easily awak-
ened in our souls by objects which remind us solely of
death. There he finds himself in the company of the
gods, and every picture on the walls relates to them,
and is connected with the mythological tenets of the
most religious of all peoples. The divine constella-
l88 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
tions of the Egyptian heavens look down upon the
visitor from the ceiling, as in the great passages of the
rock tombs and the consecrated halls of the temples.
Every picture has its astronomical and mythological
significance. In the rear portion of this space, which
is partitioned off, is the hall of tombs, and here are the
tomb chambers from Memphis, and the other monu-
ments of the Old Kingdom.
The middle hall is divided into the portico, the hy-
postylic hall, and the sanctuary of an Egyptian temple.
The portico, which lies to the south, and which in
Egypt is covered only by the bright blue arch of
heaven, is intended to arouse in the spectator the sen-
sation of being still in the open air. Therefore the
beautiful landscapes with which modern artists have
adorned the walls, and which remind us of the most
remarkable localities and the sites of the most venerable
monuments of Egypt, are extremely appropriate here,
where are also grouped the colossal statues and sepul-
chral stele. In the hypostylic portion of this hall the
paintings transport us among the subjects of the Pha-
raohs, and numerous illustrations of the private life of
the old Egyptians make us familiar with the high and
peculiar culture which took root and blossomed in the
valley of the Nile much earlier than in any other spot
on earth. Carefully-selected papyri are hung on the
walls of this room. In the sanctuary, which lies alto-
gether to the north, stands the statue of King Horus.
The third or historic hall, (to the left or west,) is
adorned with pictures connected with the history of the
THE MASTER WORKMAN. • IQg,
kingdom of the Pharaohs, and also with representations
of battles by land and water. The long series of ovals
inscribed with the names of the old royal rulers of the
Nile valley in hieroglyphics, form a suitable decoration,
and attract the eye of all who are desirous of knowl-
edge. Those monuments which are distinguished for
their historical importance are arranged here in order
according to the time of their origin. The plaster casts
are in a special room beside the vestibule, and are be-
ginning more and more to overflow it.
If the Egyptian museum in Berlin has long been
among the most famous in the world, on account of the
wealth of treasures there preserved, it has also gained a
value peculiar to itself from the historical ideas intro-
duced and carried out by Lepsius. There we see ex-
hibited the artistic epochs of Egyptian history arranged
in groups according to their chronological succession.
Yet at the same time the effort to keep together objects
which are mutually connected, such as sarcophagi and
coffins, has been successful. Also, where it was neces-
sary to form distinct divisions, the historical method
has been applied within the limits of each separate group.
There can be but one opinion as to the propriety
and the scientific advantages of Lepsius' historical
method of classification; but the decoration of the
rooms in the Berlin museum by no means meets with
such universal approbation. It is indeed conceded
that it is in the best possible taste, and is both beautiful
and attractive, but it is maintained by many people
that the pictorial representation on the walls, that is,.
I90 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the accessories, draw the attention of the visitor too
strongly and distract him from the contemplation of
the monuments, which are certainly the real objects of
importance.
There is some reason for this objection ; but yet
these pictures serve the immediate purpose of bringing
visitors to the collection and it is this very decoration
of the Berlin- Egyptian museum which renders it pe-
culiarly attractive.
Whoever goes there with any knowledge of the
monuments will pay attention to them, and not to the
decorations of the hall. But the layman will there be-
come interested in the culture and artistic ability of the
old Egyptians, as he would not do in a museum where
the monuments stand in bare halls, and have to speak
entirely for themselves. The pictures attract him, and
at the same time introduce him to Egyptian antiquity.
They make him familiar, in a trustworthy manner, with
the Egyptian civilization from whose soil have sprung
the works of art there assembled. They teach him to
understand the connection between these and the or-
ganic whole of which they are the separate parts, and,
in many cases, the most beautiful blossoms. In one
place there are pictorial representations, and in another
monuments, to direct and instruct the visitor so that he
may comprehend every stage of the development of
this great whole. Whoever enters these rooms with a
mind open and alert will soon perceive the relation be-
tween the decorative pictures and the monuments, and
will easily succeed in connecting them with the depart-
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 191
ments of Egyptian life and activity to which they be-
long. He will transport the coffin, upon which he can
lay his hands, into the funeral procession shown him in
the painting ; when he gazes up at a colossus he will
place it mentally in that spot at the temple gate where
it really belongs, according to the picture on the wall.
Indeed, the decorative paintings will show him the
Egyptian artist at his work, and the prince whose
monument stands before him upon his war chariot in
the tumult of battle. They will make him familiar
with the gods who are mentioned in the hieroglyphic
texts of coffins, stele and papyri. Thus these paintings
possess great value for instructive and illustrative pur-
poses, apart from the attraction which they present to
the eye, and the appearance, as peculiar as it is pleas-
ing, which they lend to the halls of the museum.
Therefore we would not willingly be without them.
He, who permits himself to be distracted from the
monuments by them, will yet not have visited the mu-
seum in vain, but will have learned something authen-
tic and interesting concerning Egyptian antiquity.
By the beginning of the year 1850 the arrange-
ment of the Egyptian relics in the new museum was
completed, and after Passalacqua's death, when Lep-
sius had officially assumed the management of the col-
lection, he caused Ernest Weidenbach to be employed
as assistant in the Egyptian department. He also im-
mediately drew up a full description of the pictures on
the walls,* for the use of visitors to the museum, and
* Index of Works. Nos. LV, and LVI.
192 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
afterwards prepared a little catalogue.* In 1878, he
had the larger monuments furnished with short explana-
tory labels. After his appointment as chief librarian he
nominated Dr. L. Stern as first assistant superintendent.
Dr. Stern aided him in all his labors concerning the
museum with diligence, judgment and technical knowl-
edge ; he was an able Egyptologist and had a thorough
knowledge of the Coptic language. The Egyptian
collection received continual additions under the direc-
tion of Lepsius, and the complaisance with which he
placed its treasures at the service of foreign scholars
was universally recognized.
As an academical instructor Lepsius also manifested
the high intellectual qualities and admirable ability
peculiar to himself. His first lecture was delivered on
the twenty-ninth of October, 1846, and related to the
condition of Egyptological science in France and Italy,
compared with what had been accomplished on the
same field in Germany. It went off excellently, and
amongst his hundred auditors appeared officials of high
rank and military men. As his lectures proceeded he
took advantage on their account of the collection in-
trusted to his care, and we remember with pleasure the
weekly lectures which he read amongst the monuments
in the halls of the museum. The special discourses de-
livered in the directors room were usually succeeded by
rambles through the museum, as instructive as they
were interesting.
The public lectures in the museum attracted
Index of Works. No. LVII.
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 1 93
students from all the faculties, but the private lectures,
which he delivered at his own house to a few youthful
scholars who desired to devote themselves to the study
of Egyptology, were models as regarded the well-con-
sidered arrangement of the material. Amongst them
we must praise as especially instructive the historical
and chronological lectures. These were attended with
profit by many young students of history. The purely
grammatical lectures were confined to the ancient
Egyptian grammar, and only incidentally touched upon
the hieratic or the later linguistic forms of speech of the
demotic and Coptic. His delivery was always simple,,
and nevertheless the surpassing faculty of judgment and
the severe critical method of the teacher always en-
chained the attention of his hearers. The material was
always as copious as the arrangement was excellent.
Lepsius gave to the writer of this biography the
strongest proof of the seriousness with which he re-
garded his office of instructor and the lovely benevo-
lence which was united with his other great qualities.
When a young and enthusiastic student I was obliged
by illness to keep the house during a whole winter
term, and I shall be forever grateful to Lepsius for the
great and rare kindness with which he visited me on a
certain day of every week, and went over the essential
parts of the lectures of which my illness had deprived
me. These private lectures, or rather these lessons
when the pupil worked under the direction of the mas-
ter, for which of course no material equivalent could be
given, are among my most delightful memories, and a
13
194 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
more liberal gift I have never received. Those of his
scholars who afterwards rendered special service to
Egyptology were J. Dumichen, professor at Strasburg,
and E. Naville, the eminent Genoese Egyptologist. A.
Erment, professor at Berlin, and A. Wiedemann, pri-
vate lecturer at Bonn, attended his lectures during sub-
sequent terms. The younger Egyptologists educated
by me at Leipsic, he liked to call his " grandpupils."
At that time, and indeed in 1856, there was sub-
mitted to the Berlin Academy and offered to it for
sale, by professor Dindorf of Leipsic, a pahmpsest
containing the work of Uranius mentioned by Stephen
Of Byzantium, AiyvTrrtW /ScuriAeW avaypafav 0i|3Aoi rpcZ?, (three
books of lists of the Egyptian kings). Up to that time
this had been supposed lost. On the first examination,
at which Lepsius was present, there appeared to be no
reason to doubt the genuineness of the manuscript. It
was written between the lines of a genuine text of
the twelfth century. The traits of the Greek uncial
writing, skilfully reproduced in the style of the first
centuries after Christ, would not be suspected by a
palaeographer of the present day, although it is now
proved that the codex is a counterfeit. When it was
learned that the manuscript belonged to the Greek
Simonides of ill-repute, some doubts were raised, and
yet the rediscovery of the Uranius would have been of
such eminent importance for the historical and chrono-
logical studies in which Lepsius was then engaged,
that he furnished from his own pocket half the price,
as a deposit in order to secure it for Berlin and for
THE MASTER WORKMAN 195
himself. Dindorf had declared that in consequence of
an agreement with Simonides he could not leave the
manuscript behind in Berlin for closer inspection
without such a deposit. This examination was com-
mitted to Lepsius, and on searching more thoroughly
the lists of kings which Simonides represented to be
those of Uranius, he soon found there could be no
question but that he had before him a bold and unpre-
cedently skilful counterfeit. Indisputable arguments
were soon added to the internal reasons which had led
Lepsius to this conviction, and it then became a ques-
tion of recovering from the counterfeiter his plunder of
twenty-five thousand thalers. In this Lepsius was suc-
cessful, owing to the cleverness and prudence of
Stieber, the chief of police, who accompanied him to
Leipsic. Thus the Berlin library was protected from
loss and imposition, and science from unspeakable
confusion, through the sagacity of our friend. Lepsius
himself furnished information as to the particulars of
this affair in a clear and exhaustive explanation.*
Simonides appears to have continued to drive his trade
as a counterfeiter, for it is hardly possible that it was
any one else than he who produced the manuscript of
the Persians of Aeschylus, which reached Leipsic by
way of Egypt, and (not without our own humble co-
operation) was recognized by Ritschl as a forgery, t
Index of Works, Nos. LXII and LXTII.
t F. Ritschl. Aeschylus Perser in Aegypten : ein neues Simon-
ideum. [Aeschylus' Persians in Egypt: a new Simonideum.]
Rhein. Museum, Bd. XXVII. , page 114-126. F. Ritschl, Opuscula
philol. Vol, V., p. 194-210.
196 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
During his life in Berlin as a Master Workman,
Lepsius also addressed himself to those metrological
studies which he continued to pursue up to the time of
his death. If we look over the Transactions of the
Berlin Academy of Sciences we shall also find that he
was faithful to research in the department of languages.
This was entirely apart from his special and unceasing
labors on the Nubian Grammar and in the examination
of the fundamental laws of construction of the other
African languages.
During his sojourn in Egypt amongst the monu-
ments of the Pharaonic period, his attention had been
specially called to the measures of the ancient Egyp-
tians. He had subjected many of the monuments to
measurement, and also found certain stamps of linear
measure, with accompanying figures, upon some of
those of the Old Kingdom. These he studied accord-
ing to the same method which had already approved
itself to him throughout his previous labors. He col-
lected all existing material from the monuments with a
thoroughness and in an abundance thitherto unknown,
and subjected all previous investigations and measure-
ments to severe criticism. From the information thus
gained he sagaciously and cautiously deduced positive
inferences. In his investigations he also included the
kindred measures of other ancient peoples.
In his fine work on the ancient Egyptian ell and its
subdivisions* he arrived at the conclusion that the
small ell of 0.450 of a meter " was the true unit under-
* Index of Works, No. LXXIX.
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 1 97
lying the whole system." The great royal ell, which
was in use at the same time, he considered a special
ell, distinct from the common one and added to the
measures at a very early date. The cause of the in-
crease of the small ell used in private life appeared to
him to have been " that the kings or priests paid the
same compensation for the great ell, in building, as
formerly for the small ell, as the overplus of labor was
considered as compulsory service, and not paid for."
In addition to ail the greater and lesser units of the
Egyptian linear measure * he also directed his attention
to other measures of the ancient Egyptians,t and after
familiarizing himself with the results obtained in Assy-
riology, (which at that time was making rapid progress),
he occupied himself with comprehensive researches
into the linear measures of the ancient nations in gene-
ral. He took special pains to subject the celebrated
tablet of Senkereh,f in which he discerned one of the
most important bases of Asiatic metrology, to a search-
ing examination, and in doing so he received the as-
sistance of the most eminent Assyriologists. He re-
stored the whole tablet, and recognized it as a table of
comparison, by the aid of which Babylonian-Assyrian
measures could be reduced to ells, which were rec-
koned according to the sexagesimal system. He
proved that the metrical systems of the Assyrians,
* Index of Works, Nos. LXXXIV., CII., CXXXVI., CXXXVIL,
CXXXIX., CXL.,
t Index of Works, Nos. LXXXV.
X Index of Works, Nos. CXXIV., CXXVII., CXXIX.,
CXXXVIL
198 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Babylonians and Persians were entirely distinct from
each other, although he could grant them one point in
common, the building ell of 0.525 of a meter, which
was regularly in use in Egypt in the fourth century
before Christ, and was employed in the building of the
pyramids.
Although Lepsius had worked with sagacity and
caution in the realm of metrology, yet his conclusions
in that field were not to remain unchallenged, and he
found himself forced to defend the results of his inves-
tigations, first against the distinguished Assyriologist
Jules Oppert, and then against the attacks of the archi-
tect Dorpfeld. This young scholar, who had distin-
guished himself by his very excellent work in his own
special province, attempted to tax Lepsius with a fun-
damental error, and to prove that the small ell which
the latter considered, and was obliged to consider, as a
special unit of measure, was in fact nothing of the sort,
but should o,nly be regarded as a subdivision of the
great royal ell. But the grey-haired scholar, although
he had been struck by apoplexy, still rejoiced in a
keenness of mind which many a younger man might
have envied, and defended himself bravely. He not
only opposed his adversary in a controversial treatise
scarcely a year before his death, but he also energeti-
cally refuted Dorpfeld's reply in the last of his works,
" The Linear Measures of the Ancients." * This ap-
peared a few days before his decease. We have ex-
amined both opinions impartially, and cannot but
* Index of Works, No. CXXXVII.
THE MASTER WORKMAN.
99
range ourselves on the side of the Master, Lepsius,
who had the advantage of his opponent in a knowl-
edge of all the monuments and an understanding of
hieroglyphic writing. It was in his favor in the con-
troversy that his adversary partly relied upon perverted
translations and on dubious authorities, or those which
he was obliged to take at second hand. The old war-
rior knew how to bring such errors skilfully into the
foreground, and thus, at the very beginning, compro-
mise his adversary, who in other respects had worked
with good faith in the correctness of his cause. The
controversial paper of Lepsius has not the least appear-
ance of being written by an old man suffering from ill-
ness. He may have drawn the force of his reply from
the conviction that he was in the right. Besides, the
vigorous grey-beard saw all that he had won by pain-
ful and conscientious labor unexpectedly endangered,
and " therefore," thus he says himself in his last
book — "I both desired and was obliged to make
a plain answer in a matter which but few under-
stand. Otherwise the greatest confusion might be
occasioned in the minds of half-instructed readers by
the influence of such an extensive, bold, and yet en-
tirely unfounded attack from a man otherwise estim-
able, and who, in his own department, has decided
merit."
Lepsius' last work, on the linear measures of the
ancients, included all the results of his metrological
studies. In it he took a high standpoint from which it
was possible to survey all the multitude of details as
200 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
one great whole. He considered the linear measures
of the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Assyrians
and Persians, and the Philetarian system. This latter
he found to be employed in Egypt, especially in the
temple of Denderah. But he was not contented with
treating them monographically, but also investigated
the relations of all these systems to each other, and
showed that in all probability a historical connection
existed between them.
The treatises on language written by Lepsius were
all published in the transactions and monthly reports
of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, and the greater
number of them have been already cited.
Up to the year 1866 he remained in Berlin, oc-
cupied with ceaseless labors, and only in the autumn
holidays did he undertake long journeys for recreation
or in pursuit of his scientific aims. Several times he
went to London, especially on account of affairs relat-
ing to his standard alphabet. He was always at-
tracted towards Paris, and once went there (1857) on a
commission from the government to bid at an auction
of Egyptian antiquities for the Berlin museum. He
also reaped a fresh scientific harvest in the year 1852,
during a second and longer visit to the museum at
Leyden, where he was most cordially received by the
Leemans and the mother of the excellent Director.
In the beginning of 1866, he undertook his second
journey to Egypt, and was again accompanied by his
faithful hierogrammatist, E. Weidenbach. On the
second of April he left for Cairo, and this time with
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 201
the design of visiting the Eastern Delta and the locali-
ties of the ruins there. These were of special import-
ance for Biblical geography. He first inspected the
Persian-Egyptian monuments which had just been ex-
cavated by the workmen on the Suez Canal. Accord-
ing to his views these had been dug up from the canal
constructed by Darius, and were memorials intended
to adorn that great undertaking. After also examin-
ing the other monuments found in the neighborhood
of the excavations of De Lesseps, together with their
surroundings, he proceeded in quest of the site of an-
cient Pelusium.* The shingle bed which covers the
whole Gesiret-el-Farama is bounded towards the east
by a continuous bank, which can be traced till beyond
the western Tell-el-Her, and whose fortress-like curves
separate the shingle field upon its declivity from the
sand dunes of the desert. Lepsius believed that he
had found there the locality of the ancient Hauaris
(auaris), so often sought for, and thus proved that this
was not to be looked for in Tanis, but on the site or in
the neighborhood of the later Pelusium. In the Her-
in Tell-el-Her he thought might perhaps be recognized
a remnant of the old name Ha-uar, the ancient Egyp-
tian form of Auaris. These conjectures have not been
shaken by any later investigations, but on the other
hand Lepsius' opinion, previously expressed, that Tell
el-Maschuta, which he visited before Pelusium, was the
Ramses of the Bible, seems to be disproved by the
latest excavations of Naville, and this place must now
* Index of Works, No. LXXXVIII.
202 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
be regarded as the Biblical Pithom and Succoth, in
spite of the opposition which that view afterwards en-
countered from the Master.*
His greatest prize was to fall into his hands at San,
the Tanis of the Greeks, the Zo'an of the Bible,
whither he was accompanied by the Viennese Egyp-
tologist Reinisch. This acquisition was of such great
and epoch-making importance as to throw into the
shade all the other gains of the journey. The dis-
covery of the decree of Tanis, or the Tablet of Can-
opus, amongst the ruins of San, is one of the most im-
portant discoveries made in Egypt since the finding of
the Rosetta stone. It furnishes proof of the correctness
of the results which had been obtained up to 1866, by
the Egyptologists with the aid of the Rosetta key and
Champollion's method of deciphering hieroglyphics.
This rare monument consists of a stela of solid
limestone, and has on its front surface a hieroglyphic
inscription of thirty-seven lines, and the Greek transla-
tion of the same in seventy-six closely written lines.
On the edge of the tablet, though Lepsius did not
notice it at first, is the same text in demotic writing,
that is, in the popular dialect of the later heathen Egyp-
tians. The whole stone, including the rounded upper
surface, is 2.16 meters high and 0.78 of a meter wide,
and is at present kept in the museum of Bulak. It is in
excellent preservation, and Lepsius could easily read
both texts at the first trial.
The translation of the hieroglyphic decree, which
* Index of Works, No. CXXXVIII.
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 203
was made on the basis of Champollion's method of
deciphering and by the aid of the grammars and lexi-
cons published between the time when that was dis-
covered and the year 1866, agreed perfectly with the
Greek version thereof upon the same stone. With this
valuable monument for a basis it was thus once for all
positively determined that the study of the Egyptian
language was being pursued according to the correct
method.
The decree discovered by Lepsius was dated in the
ninth year of Ptolemy Euergetes I. Like the decree
upon the Rosetta stone it had been passed by priests,
who had assembled at Canopus for the celebration of
the birthday of the king. In the first part of it were
enumerated the benefits conferred by the ruler of the
land, which had caused the hierarchy to accord to him
many new honors in addition to those conferred upon
his predecessor. In the part establishing a new popular
festival to be celebrated in honor of Euergetes in all
the temples of the country, there occurred certain ar-
rangements of the calendar from which, as Lepsius
immediately perceived, it must be inferred that a
mutable year had been in use at an early period, in
addition to the fixed year. It was also evident that in
the ninth year of Euergetes I. the fixed Julian year
had already come into use in the civil affairs of Egypt.
The hieroglyphic names for Canopus, Syria, Phoe-
nicia, the island of Cyprus and Persia, could be deter-
mined with the aid of the Greek translation. This
weighty document also furnished much important in-
204 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
formation regarding history, chronology and the calen-
dar. Egyptian philology is indebted to these inscrip-
tions for confirmation only, if we except a few additions
to the dictionary, and some peculiarities of the dialect
of Lower Egypt in which they were written.
Lepsius immediately made the monument which
he had discovered the common property of science, in
a model publication * containing both texts, which he
accompanied by thorough translations and most impor-
tant explanations. In so doing he gave an example
worthy of imitation to Mariette, the great autocrat of
all the monuments in Egypt, who always published the
inscriptions which he excavated long after their dis-
covery.
Invested with a new and illustrious honorary title, t
Lepsius returned to Berlin, and there resumed his old
labors with all his energy.
Henry Brugsch, a scholar who, quite independently
of Lepsius, had become one of the most eminent
leaders in the science of Egyptology, had in 1863
founded an organ of his own for Egyptological re-
search, under the name of " Zeitschrift fur agyptische
Sprache und Alterthumskunde " [Journal of Egyptian
Language and Archaeology:] A profound estrange-
ment, increased by adverse casualties and incidents,
had up to this time kept these two eminent men
asunder. But Brugsch, after successfully conducting
* Index of Works, No. LXXXVII.
t Dr. Reinisch claimed to have taken part in the discovery of the
exceedingly important decree in question, but unjustlv. We refer to
<he explanation given by Lepsius. Index of Works, XC.
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 205
the new journal to the end of its first year, obtained a
place in Egypt in the Prussian consular service, and
left Europe. The relations between him and Lepsius
at this time became more friendly, and Lepsius under-
took, " with the cooperation of H. Brugsch at Cairo,"
the management of this journal of Egyptology.
Scholars from all countries furnished contributions to
it, and for some time it remained the chief organ for
the special investigations of Egyptologists. It also re-
ceived Assyriological works. It had afterwards as
competitors, first in France the Vieweg " Recueil " *
and then the " Revue Egyptilogique " t founded in
1880, by Revillont and Brugsch, and in England the
" Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archae-
ology." I Yet, in spite of the rivals mentioned, the
German journal maintained its rank and its import-
ance. This was the case even after Lepsius, over-
whelmed by his official duties and with enfeebled
health, resigned the lion's share of the editorial work to
the distinguished young Egyptologist, A. Erman. Erman
taught as a private lecturer at the Berlin University in
the time of Lepsius, and has lately been appointed
professor there.
H. Brugsch-Pasha still worked for the " Zeitschrift,"
even after he had founded the " Revue Egyptologique "
* Recueil de travaux relatifs a la philologie et a l'archeologie
egyptiennes and assyriennes. Paris, Vieweg.
t Revue egyptologique publie'e sous la direction de H. Brugsch,
F. Chabas, E. Revillout. Paris, Leroux.
t Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology. London.
2o6 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
in conjunction with Revillout, and his relation to his
older colleague became more friendly with time.
After the death of Lepsius, Brugsch again became
editor of the " Zeitschrift " and dedicated to the senior
master an obituary which was couched in the warmest
terms.
In the autumn of the year 1869, Lepsius undertook
his third and last journey to Egypt, and was present at
the opening of the Suez Canal. His hasty trip to
Upper Egypt could yield little fruit to science, but it
served to give him great pleasure, and in his letters to
his wife he could not sufficiently praise the amiability
of the Crown Prince, to whom, as cicerone, he showed
the monuments.
A great number of distinctions were conferred
upon the Master during the latter portion of his life,
but in consequence thereof, at a time of life when
others feel the desire for rest, he was induced to as-
sume a burden of duties which would have oppressed
many a man in his prime.
In 1873, he was appointed privy counsellor to the
government, and was entrusted with the temporary di-
rection of the Berlin library. We were witness to the
extreme and careful deliberation with which he con
sidered the matter before assuming this onerous office.
He did not conceal from himself that it would hinder
the completion of many an enterprise which ne had al-
ready begun and which was very dear to him ; but on
the other hand he told himself that he was the right
man to regulate and carry through numerous affairs
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 207
which he knew would be of benefit to the important
institution which he was to conduct.
The broad and firm foundation of his education,
his prolonged work as a student at Paris, Rome and
London, and his practical intelligence, specially fitted
him for the place of a chief librarian. He entered
upon the post on the twenty-fifth of March, 1874.
Pertz had formerly been a very useful man, but
had now become enfeebled by age, and was difficult to
manage. We learn from the most authoritative of all
sources that Lepsius, at the instance of Delbriick, then
vice-chancellor, undertook to induce Pertz first to re-
sign the management of the collection of the archives
of the German people, (the Monumenta Germaniae),
and afterwards to retire from his olhce of chief librarian.
After Lepsius had succeeded in this — the wits of Ber-
lin called him Propertz, as the successor of the aged
Pertz, — the Minister, Falk, invited him in April, 1873
to assume the management of the Royal Library.
The place was at first provisional, but when he defin-
itively assumed the office in March, 1874, he did it
under the condition that the Budget for the library
should be considerably increased, and that provision
should be made for erecting a new building. Of this
there was and is urgent need, for the limited amount
of space in the old " roccoco-cabinet of Frederick II.,"
produced, and still produces, incredible disadvantages.
After inspecting many large foreign libraries during the
long vacation of 1873, and taking into consideration
everything which he found there suitable for the end
208 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
in view, Lepsius looked over the plans of the grounds
available for this purpose. As the result of his reflec-
tions a bold idea saw the light of day. The place
which he chosed for the future library of the capital city
was the great square enclosed by Unter den Linden,
Charlotten, Dorotheen and Universitats streets. This
was a bold but extraordinarily • happy project, which
might perhaps have been adopted, had it been earlier
laid before the Government and the chambers. But
the golden days of flood in the Prussian treasury were
passing away. Lepsius succeeded in arranging that
the rear portion of the Dutch palace, towards Behren
Street, should be specially appropriated as journal
rooms, whereby space was procured for from one to
two hundred thousand volumes more. But he did not
live to see the realization of his project. Nevertheless,
the impulse given by him is still working, and the day
cannot be far distant when a worthy domicile will be
provided for the treasures of the Berlin library.
Lepsius did much for the internal regulation of the
library. He spoke with special pleasure of the system
introduced by him for the disposal of newly-procured
books as well as of the cataloguing, and the following
innovations : Here, as elsewhere, the titles of the
books desired by different individuals were written
upon cards and handed in. If it was impossible to
satisfy the demand thus expressed, the card was simply
returned, and such returns were far more frequent in
the Berlin library than in any other. Lepsius there-
fore directed that thenceforth the cards containing such
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 209
demands as could not be complied with should be
kept, and he made it the duty of the higher officials of
the library to find out whether the refusal was owing
to any negligence of the subordinate employees. The
cards requiring books which could not be furnished
were preserved, and it was soon evident that certain
books were repeatedly called for. These were natur-
ally such as were particularly important for students,
and Lepsius caused several copies of them to be im-
mediately procured. He also invited the most experi-
enced professors to supply him with the names of those
works which were of special weight in their own de-
partments, but too costly to be procured by individuals
of narrow means. He proceeded upon the correct prin-
ciple that precisely those books which students could
not buy for themselves should be at their disposal
in the library. According to his own reckoning, up to
that time a third of the books demanded had not been
delivered, while a year after he took the management
only one-twelfth were not delivered. The scant cour-
tesy, indeed the incivility, of the Berlin library under
Pertz, had been really notorious, and presented a glar-
ing contrast to the obliging spirit encountered in the
other large German libraries, especially those of Got-
tingen, Munich and Leipsic. This bad reputation was
in some measure improved under the administration of
Lepsius.
The multitude of duties which devolved upon the
chief librarian did not hinder him from continuing to
hold the office of president of the board of directors of
14
2IO RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the Archaeological Institute. This, although it con-
ferred honor, yet consumed much time. Lepsius had
held the post since Gerhard's death in 1867, and when
he became manager of the library the directors were no
less men than Haupt, Curtius, Mommsen, Kirchhoff,
and afterwards Hercher. Under his presidency the
Institute had been enlarged from a Prussian institu-
tion to a scientific institution of the whole Ger-
man empire. The construction of a stately building
at the capital had been authorized and completed.
It was also largely owing to Lepsius that the schol-
arships for young archaeologists were increased in
number and amount. The application for them
constantly became more numerous, and among the
archaeologists were many philologists, who wished
to participate in the benefits of the Institute. The
archaeologists generally received the preference, but
Lepsius specially and rightly interested himself for the
young private professors of the university and the
teachers at the gymnasiums. He desired that they
might acquire more elevated views of art, and a more
enlightened conception of science and of life, by a so-
journ on the classical soil of Italy, where the whole
spiritual existence of a well-prepared and susceptible
youth is so easily broadened and ennobled. Entirely
apart from whatever scientific gains he may have won,
the memory of Italy must illumine the teacher's life,
his academical discourses, and even his dryest teach-
ing, and lend to all a higher inspiration. Lepsius was
also enthusiastically interested in the founding of a
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 211
subordinate branch of the Roman Institute at Athens,
and exerted all the influence in his power in favor of it.
Ernest Curtius, " whose intellectual Fatherland is
Greece," showed himself most active in carrying out
this project. The correspondence which Lepsius had
to conduct, as president of the board of directors in
Berlin, had so increased that in 1874 he was obliged to
write about eighty letters in a quarter of a year. Since
1833 he had belonged to the Institute as a correspond-
ing member, since 1835 as a regular member, since
1836, first as a director, and finally as presiding mem-
ber of the central board. When he retired in 1880 the
Institute awarded him the well-deserved honor by elect-
ing him an honorary member.
He had been made a Doctor of the Theological
Faculty in Leipsic in 1859.
Since 1850 he had been a member of the Berlin
Academy of Sciences, and since 1858 a corresponding
member of the Institut de France. He had besides
been elected member of almost half a hundred learned
societies. After the death of Trendelenburg, when the
office of secretary of the Berlin Academy of Sciences
was vacant, he was asked if he would be inclined to
assume it, and only after his decided refusal, and at
his suggestion, was E. Curtius chosen. In 1872 he re-
ceived the most honorable of all German decorations,
the order pour le merite for science and the arts. He
had already, in 1869, been appointed a knight of the
Bavanan order of Maximilian, which was closely re-
lated to the foregoing. In 1883 he was appointed
212 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Government Upper Privy Councellor. The unusual
and numerous ovations which he received during the
same year upon the occasion of his Doctor's Jubilee of
fifty years, were such as have fallen to the lot of but
few scholars.
His later works on Egyptian art and the oldest texts
of the rt Book of the Dead " have been already men-
tioned. Connected with these were a series of valuable
monographs * published in the Transactions and
Monthly Reports of the Berlin Academy of Sciences,
and in the " Zeitschrift fiir agyptische Sprache und
Alterthumskunde." In his seventieth year, after an
apoplectic attack which slightly crippled his arm, he
presented his long-expected Nubian Grammar ** to
science.
This work, which marked an epoch, comprised the
results of many years of study. Throughout his whole
life as a master workman he had been engaged in ar-
ranging the philological material which he had ac-
quired while in Ethiopia and on the Blue Nile. He
had illuminated this mass of knowledge by profound
study, and so greatly added to it that, as far as the
works then in existence permitted, he had gained a
mastery over all branches of language upon the African
continent.
The introduction to this book, consisting of a hun-
dred and twenty-six pages, is in itself a colossal achieve-
* His work on "The Metals in Egyptian Inscriptions," men-
tioned on page 131, is of special importance, Index of Works, No,
CVII.
** Index of Works, No. CXXX.
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 213
merit. We devoted a special treatise * to it soon
after its appearance. By means of it the reader is as it
were raised upon a hovering cloud, whence he can
survey all Africa, and pass in review a portion of the
early history of its peoples. He is able, under the
guidance of the most skillful of commentators, to ob-
tain thence a general view of all the African nations
and their languages. These are presented to him
classified into zones and groups, and in fact, in all
those stages of their historical existence which are ac-
cessible to investigation. This is particularly the case
with regard to those peoples with whom the book is es-
pecially concerned. The author had recognized in the
Nubians a branch of the original African population,
who never possessed a historical literature in their own
language, and it was no slight matter, from the records
of the Egyptians and the occasional reports of the
Greeks, Romans and Arabians, to construct the gen-
eral outlines of a history which begins at such an early
period as the building of the pyramids, and ends with
the destruction of the great Christian Nubian kingdom
at the end of the thirteenth century after Christ.
Lepsius was also induced to construct a history of
the Kushite peoples from the records on the monu-
ments of the struggles which the more feeble Nubians
had to sustain against that race. At an early date the
Kushites were in possession of both shores of the Red
Sea, and had also made themselves masters of the
* Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellscb. [Journal of the
•German Oriental Society.] Leipzig, 1881, Bd. XXXV., p. 207-218.
214 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
eastern bend of the Nile adjacent thereto. Lepsius
was also inspired by the desire to approach more
nearly to a solution of the problem whether the so-
called Ethiopian stone inscriptions, which were yet un-
deciphered and many of which are to be found between
Philae and the confluence of the two sources of the
Nile, were written in the African tongue of the Nu-
bians, or in the Kushite language. Of this latter the
present Bega language, which is comparatively little
known must be considered the successor. This por-
tion of his work is one of the author's boldest intellec-
tual feats. The chapters which he devotes to the
Kushite Puna, as the predecessors of the Phoenician
colonists on the Mediterranean, and to their emi-
gration to Babylon, have roused much opposition, and
have encountered serious doubt even in ourselves.
But other portions of this same historical statement
are of great value, and must give repeated impulse to
fresh investigation.
The final result of all these researches is that the
key to the " Ethiopian " inscriptions so frequently men-
tioned is to be sought, not in the Nubian but in the
Bega language, and the future, we think, will prove the
correctness of this supposition. Had Lepsius, during
his long journey, been in a position to arrive at those
conclusions whence he afterwards inferred the high
historic and linguistic importance of the Bega language,
he would have given it the first place in his philological
researches. He would have devoted to it the thor-
ough study which, as a matter of fact, he gave to the
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 215
Nubian tongue. The fundamental and comprehensive
manner in which he prosecuted this latter study is
proved by the second part of the work mentioned
above, which comprises the Nubian grammar and its
rules of pronunciation, etymology and syntax, as well as
reading exercises. These include the whole Gospel of
St. Mark, the " Our Father," and a series of Nubian
songs, besides the lexicon and scheme of the Nubian
dialects. Good old Achmet Abu Nabbut, a native of
Derr, who was perfect master of two Nubian dialects,
(the Kennez and Mahas), and first introduced Lepsius
to the Nubian tongue, has been for months in my own
service, and assures me that Lepsius was the only
European who knew how to write the language of his
native land. After Lepsius returned to Germany the
Nubian 'Ali wed Schaltuf, whom Count W. von
Schlieffen had brought from Africa with him, also did
him good service. The Nubian Grammar is certainly
a useful work in itself, but the magnificent introduction
which precedes it is of yet greater weight and higher
significance. It may be described as the beautiful and
enduring result of many years of faithful industry and
difficult preparatory labor,* upon a wide domain of re-
search which had been almost untrodden before.
Max Miiller, a faithful friend of the departed, and
of his family, has made the following appropriate re-
marks on this introduction : " While most comparative
philologists are at present absorbed in details regarding
the character of the possible dialectal diversities of in-
* Index of Works, Nos. XXXV., CVIIIa., CXXIXa.
2l6 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
dividual vowels and consonants, Professor Lepsius
draws with bold strokes the mighty outlines of a history
of language which covers four or five thousand years,
and embraces the whole continent of Africa and the
neighboring coasts of Asia. As the admirers of Gerard
Douw shake their heads before the immense surfaces
which Paul Veronese has covered with color, so we can
readily understand that scholars who are absorbed in
the question whether the Arian language had originally
four or five distinct " A's," turn with a sort of terror
from investigations like those of Lepsius, where lan-
guages are traced back to a common origin. Happily
there is room for both in science, for the Gerard Douws
and the Veroneses ; indeed it is to be sincerely desired
in the interests of science that the two styles may ever
exist side by side. There is still much rough work to
be done among the hitherto unstudied languages of the
world, and for this work the bold, far-seeing eye of the
huntsman is far more necessary than the concentrated
labor of the philological microscopist."
For the rest, the Grammar contains much which
shows with how fine an ear and sense of detail its
author was endowed. He has also proved himself to
be a microscopist in his chronological and metrological
investigations. To these, as we know, he remained
faithful to the end. The effects of his apoplectic at-
tack could not break down his vigorous nature, and
his last papers in the "Zeitschrift fur agyptische
Sprache and Alterthumskunde," his controversial trea-
tise against Herr Dorpfeld, his " Linear Measures of
THE MASTER WORKMAN. 217
the Ancients," best prove that the vigor and acuteness
of his mind were entirely untouched by this ominous
misfortune, and by the heavy blows of destiny which
he encountered during the last years of his life.
Lepsius' career as a Master Workman ended with
his life. He was a diligent and faithful laborer up to
the boundaries of this earthly existence. He, the Senior
Master of a most ambitious branch of study, has laid
down his office of pioneer and leader. Egyptology, to
which he consecrated the best part of his great powers,
will deserve the name of a science so long as she fol-
lows the way which the departed pointed out to her.
In him the Berlin university lost one of its ornaments,
and the Fatherland an investigator who, far beyond its
borders, was accounted one of the most eminent of his
time.
2l8
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS,-)
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS.
Since Lepsius' fortunate entrance into the haven of
matrimony we have devoted our whole attention to es-
timating his scientific achievements as a master work-
man, leaving unmentioned his personal experiences,
except so far as they fell within the sphere of his schol-
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 219
arly labors. We thought it better to depict his domes-
tic life, and the man Lepsius, in the circle of his family
and friends, quite apart from his scientific occupations.
These latter were carried on in the sanctuary of his
study, in the lecture room, or in the public library.
No one ever understood more thoroughly than he how
to disengage his mind from his special pursuits, and to
enjoy intercourse with wife or child, with individuals or
general society. None better knew how to participate
with both intellect and heart in animated conversations
on art or literature, science or politics. His special ac-
quirements remained hidden until a desire was ex-
pressed for information on such subjects, and he was
appealed to.
The Lepsius. who returned from the Orient and
founded a home of his own, was essentially different
from the young scholar who had been reckoned among
the conservatives in Gottingen, and whom we saw in-
dignantly quit Schleiermacher's lectures on the Life of
Jesus, in Berlin. During a long sojourn in England,
which had brought him into connection with the
leaders of political life, he had learned to appreciate
the rights of the people, and the advantages of a free
state under a constitutional government. He had
spent three years in the East under unusual conditions,
always in a position of authority and subject to none.
What can so quickly expand even the most limited
views, what can more certainly conduce to an unfet-
tered and vigorous use of existence, what can more
strengthen even the feeblest self-confidence, what can
220 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
lead with more imperious necessity to self-examination
and to knowledge of one's own faults and merits, than
a prolonged sojourn in the East, and in the silent
desert ?
He had returned home entirely self-reliant, under-
standing himself and his aims, and capable of maintain-
ing his own stand in the face of opposition. He had
become a free-thinker of dispassionate and temperate
views, who had learned to despise the barriers which
prejudices and one-sided opinions of every kind ma-
levolently set between men. He no longer held to the
dogmas and formulas of a circumscribed confession,
but he still adhered to that Christ to whom his free-
thinking father had taught him to look up as the har-
binger of pure self-sacrificing human love.
And the choice of this man had fallen upon a
maiden of eighteen years. All who knew her as a
bride speak of her as a charming, happy creature, full
of childlike archness. But nevertheless passionate
blood ran through the veins of this young girl ; Eliza-
beth's finely cultivated mind was restless and over-
active, and her soul was completely filled with ardent
and fanatical religious zeal.
What contrasts ! Seldom has there been a pair in
«very respects so different ; and yet they confirmed
Schiller's lines : " For where the severe with the tender,
where the strong and the gentle unite." Love was the
metal of that bell whose voice had drawn them to-
gether, and bound them to each other for a life time.
It gave forth a pleasant sound, and only one discord,
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 221
which became especially perceptible in their latter
years, and which was produced by the great difference
in their religious convictions. This disturbed his ear
but slightly, for, calm and assured of his own aims,
happy in his work and in his life, he devoted his time
to labor and science, and his intervals of recreation to
his children, to social pleasures, to the learned societies
of which he was a member, to his garden, to music,
whose pleasures he gladly shared with his wife, and to
his beloved chess. At first she had attempted to re-
alize the dream of her girlhood, and to kindle his
heart with the fire of her own enthusiasm ; but in vain.
Tranquilly and cheerfully he accompanied her to
church, and whenever his occupations permitted it,
usually on Sunday, he took part in the daily household
worship which she had instituted. He allowed her to
train the children, and to instil into them that religious
feeling in which he himself was not wanting, and in
which he recognized the loveliest flower of the soul,
and of the feminine soul especially. But he warned
her against excess and exaggeration, which were so
alien to his own nature, and possibly this unsympa-
thetic attitude towards what to her was highest and
holiest, only contributed to cause in her ardent heart
still warmer devotion to the doctrines of her positive
Protestant faith. We should here assert, in the most
decided manner, that this devotion was of the most un-
obtrusive kind. Frau Lepsius never gave it public
manifestation, and the only ones whom she allowed to
share in it were her nearest relatives, her pastor, and
222 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
her diary. She was ever averse to the course of the
zealots and pietists, who enjoyed such palmy days
under Frederick IV., and once, on hearing a sermon
by the famous pastor Knak, she left the church in in-
dignation. The noble Jonas and the excellent Kogel
were her pastors, and certainly had more frequently to
moderate than to kindle her zeal. Her husband saw
no reason for serious interference with the excessive
religious aspirations of her soul, for to him she gave
everything that a man can ask from the companion of
his existence : a heart overflowing with love, esteem
heightened to admiration, and a warm interest in all
his labors and productions, even the most abstruse.
In addition to this she cared with prudence, skill and
indefatigable industry for the management and embel-
lishment of the home, and there were few houses where
the hostess was able to make her guests so thoroughly
at ease. Nothing was farther from her thoughts than
a puritanical renunciation of the pleasures and delights
of this world, and she gave a zest to the household
festivals by the inexhaustible fertility of her ideas in
the way of original representations and spectacles.
She pleased in society by her amiability and wit;
she was the best of mothers; and as the children
grew up she was so excellent and untiring a teacher
that he, who had never had any confidence in his
own ability as a pedagogue, was glad and thankful
to resign to her the charge of the mental and moral
education of the children. Among them were boys
who were hard to govern, yet they all turned out
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 223
excellently. In matters of charity he gave her entire
liberty.
The inner being of this rare woman lies plain before
us, and we are permitted to follow the life of the Lep-
sius family almost from day to day. We ourselves
visited the house of Lepsius only as a friend and
guest, but the diary of its mistress, some twenty vol-
umes, makes us a member of the household. It is
honest, simple, and yet written with great intuitive per-
ception. A number of poems are intermingled with
the excellent prose. They are mostly of religious
tenor, and many of them are distinguished by their
lofty strain and beautiful thoughts. The perusal of
this journal has therefore afforded us genuine pleasure,
and it has exhibited to our soul as well as to our sight,
the character of a woman so singular and noble in her
love, her activity and her aspiration that we separate
from it with sincere admiration, but also with deep
regret. It would be to abuse a great trust, were we to
yield to the desire to portray the character of its
author from the avowals contained in this journal,
and yet this would excite quite different, and tenfold
greater, interest than that of her husband. For how
much less alluring to the psychologist is the calm pro-
gress of a man who came early to maturity, his suc-
cessful contests with the impulses of youth, and his
tranquil labors after the goal was attained, than the
ceaseless struggles of a woman distinguished above
thousands by the ardor of her soul and the keenness
of her intellect. Yet we may be at least allowed to
2 24 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
extract from the diary all that can serve to give the
reader a clear idea of life in the home of Lepsius, its
intercourse with the outside world, and the experiences
of its head as a husband, and as a member of a select
society.
Every betrothal has its history. Lilli (Elizabeth)
Klein,* who was greatly admired, had done some
friends the favor to appear at an entertainment as the
fourteenth guest. The ominous number thirteen was
caused by Lepsius' declining the invitation at a late
moment. But, nevertheless, he appeared, after all the
guests were assembled, and it was on this occasion that
she made his acquaintance. " Oh Superstition " she
wrote in her diary, " for the first time I bless thee."
Even this first meeting had carried the day with
* Frau Lepsius was the daughter of the celebrated composer,
Klein, and many a friend of music will be glad to hear all that her
aunts in Cologne related to Frau Elizabeth, regarding the early his-
tory of her father, when she visited them at Berlin in 1856. He was
the son of a musician who died suddenly, and left his wife and chil-
dren, the youngest only seven months old. without means. At that
time Bernard Klein was twenty-one vears old, and immediately an-
nounced that he should support his mother and brothers and sisters
by giving music lessons. He did this faithfully and with serene con-
fidence in better days to come. The mother always had to care for
his clothes, for he paid no attention to his external appearance. He
once visited a friend who complained that he had no coat. He gave
him his own in entire faith that he had two, but when he got home he
found that he had made a mistake, and must buy himself a new one.
As a child he had wished to become a merchant, and not to learn
music, but he was suddenly seized by a passion for music, and said
to his mother : " Now if I had become a merchant, and were so rich
that I could drive four horses, I would rather be a music teacher."
Not long after his father's death he went to Paris with Begas for two
years, and there studied music under Cherubini. In 1818 ne went to
Berlin. Ten years after, as a famous composer, he returned to Ber-
lin, to be present at a great musical festival, at which his " Jephta"
was performed with great applause.
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 225
her. The next Sunday she could not help thinking of
him during the sermon, and when she visited him with
several of her relations, amongst whom there were
some young ladies, to inspect the curiosities which he
had brought with him from the Orient, her young
heart was not only disturbed, but deeply troubled, be-
cause he seemed to have paid more attention to her
sister than to her, and she already loved him.
The following day put an end to her anxiety. It
was a Palm Sunday, and that evening he wrote in his
term-calendar " To-day the palm of life is won," while,
at a later hour, she confided to her diary the rejoicings
of her heart. She prefaced the sentences with which
she gave expression to her rapture by Chamisso-Schu-
bert's " I cannot understand it, I cannot believe it."
She continues : " God, my God, how shall I thank
thee for this unutterable bliss ! No, it is too great and
too much, my Heavenly Father. ' Beloved !' Beloved
by him ! My heart is full, but I cannot write ! My
soul rejoices in the thought; Beloved by him! But
how can I prove myself worthy of him ?"
The letters which he wrote to Elizabeth also lie
before us, and it is not without deep emotion that we
read these beautiful effusions of tender passion from
the profoundly touched heart of a man to whom we
had been accustomed to look up as an earnest teacher,
and the dignified senior master of our science. Here
we see him succumb with lovable weakness to a beau-
tiful human emotion.
The passion for his " Lilli " compensates him for
15
226 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the magic of the East, which he had felt so deeply a
short time before, and he calls her his " Shulamite "
and his " Rose of Sharon." Yet even in the bonds of
love he preserves the fundamental instincts of his soul,
and he writes to her : " Often and earnestly do I ask
myself, my dear Lilli, whether it is not after all ignoble
selfishness, when 1 feel such intense bliss in your de-
voted love, and in the consciousness that I have won
you, so ardently beloved a spirit, for my own. But
then again I feel that through your love all that is
good in me is helped and strengthened, and I become
capable of a higher and purer love towards God and
our fellow beings, and then it seems as if it could not
be wrong to desire such a relation with all the strength
of one's soul ; as if this happiness were our vocation,
seldom however to be attained untroubled, and never
entirely unalloyed, upon this earth. Oh, my Lilli,
what a rare and rich life would lie before us if the
thoughts which we have exchanged in our letters
should one day become an actual living reality, not
only in word but in deed."
The pure exultation of a maiden's heart, overpow-
ered by true love, re-echoes from her diary throughout
the whole time of the betrothal. It is true that there
were many differences of opinion between the be-
trothed, especially when religious questions were dis-
cussed, but his cheerful serenity was always able to
make amends for whatever might have wounded her
feelings in such disputes, and, taken as a whole, their
betrothal was one long happy festival. He taught her
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 227
the hieroglyphic alphabet, and wrote out for her little
protestations of love in the picture writing of the old
Egyptians. The learned man of five and thirty was
unwearied in the invention of tender speeches, and it
must have pleased Elizabeth-Lilli to have heard her-
self called, both in his letters and from his lips, by
eighteen pet names, — she counted them herself.
There was no lack on his side of verses, flowers, and
acts of homage. In the house of the Partheys, who
had adopted the orphan niece as a daughter, entertain-
ment followed upon entertainment, gay excursions to
the country were arranged, and masquerades, at which
Elizabeth was obliged to appear in Turkish dress.
But this gay life was contrary to her inclinations and
to his likewise. The wedding was celebrated on the
fifth of July, 1846, not in the old Nicolai house in
Behren Street, where they had first known each other,
but at Dresden. The excellent pastor Jonas, from
Berlin, performed the marriage ceremony in the Church
of Our Lady, and after a brilliant wedding banquet the
young couple went to Pirna, the first stopping-place in
a longer wedding trip which took them, by way of
Paris, to England. There they were cordially received
by the Bunsens, and the young wife found the eminent
statesman and patron of her husband so kind and
friendly that her fear of appearing embarrassed before
him proved entirely unfounded. * She described
vividly everything noteworthy that occurred to her,
* Frau von Bunsen, as I see by Hare's biography, was at that
time in Wildbad and Baden.
2 28 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
and depicted with a bold and ready pen the impression
made on her by men and things. She saw her Richard
received everywhere with the same respect and cordi-
ality; the light of his fame enveloped and delighted her,
but on their journey home a charming attention fell to
her lot also, for at Cologne her father's great mass,
which she never yet heard, was performed in the most
admirable manner as a mark of respect to her.
On the seventeenth of September they returned to
Berlin, and " Richard " writes Elizabeth, " was forced
to laugh at the childish delight which I showed in the
beautiful big house, our own house, (in Behren Street)
where I am to be mistress."
They were soon installed, and the young couple,
who were freed from all material anxiety by the com-
fortable property of the wife and the salary of the hus-
band, could now return the hospitality which had been
offered them on all sides. In spite of her strict piety
the wife showed herself as much inclined as was her
husband to social intercourse with agreeable guests.
A few weeks after their return the young couple enter-
tained a number of friends, and who these were we see
from the memoranda before us. On the third of No-
vember, 1846, there met at their house Gerhard, v.
Olfers, Homeyer, Max Muller, the Grimm brothers,
Farthey, Carl Ritter, Ehrenberg, Lachmann, L. Ranke
and E. Curtius. On the fifteenth of December there
were assembled there A. v. Humboldt (who also visited
them on other occasions, and for whom, Frau Eliza-
beth writes, she felt a genuine affection) v. Olfers,
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 229
Boeckh, Pertz, Cornelius, v. Reumont, the Grimm
brothers, Homey ers, Strack, the Partheys, Schelling
and Bethmann.
Such a company of illustrious men could at that
time be brought together nowhere but in Berlin, and if
we consult the diary of Frau Lepsius and Lepsius' later
note-books, and appeal to our own memory, we shall
find that the assemblage of noted colleagues and coun-
trymen was constantly increased by a number of emi-
nent strangers. Amongst them were scholars, travelers,
statesmen, artists, and even the ambassadors of foreign
powers, who were unwilling to leave Berlin without
having visited the house of Lepsius. The most faith-
ful friend of the family, beside the Partheys and Pin-
ders, was the valued traveling companion of the young
husband, Abeken, who had renounced his career as a
divine, and was constantly rising to higher and higher
positions in the Foreign Office.
How kindly Frederick William IV. was disposed to
Lepsius may be inferred from the fact that soon after
the return of the latter from his wedding trip the King
sent him fifteen hundred thalers towards the establish-
ment of the new household. Frau Elizabeth writes :
" It is altogether a peculiar feeling; to have in hand
such a large sum that seems as if it had fallen from
heaven. I was quite troubled about our great good
fortune in material things, and I reminded Richard of
the ring of Polycrates. But as I read the day after in
a letter from C. P. to Richard : ' Whoever has behind
him such a fruitful and undesecrated youth as you
230 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
have, has a right to make claims upon life, which will
not fail to reward you abundantly.' Nevertheless one
is astonished, and such a distribution of fortune seems
almost unjust, if one considers what an immeasurable
sum and what great wealth such a gift would be to
poor people, and how to Richard it was only a pleasant
proof of the King's good-will, which he calmly put in
the fund for setting our house in order. Five hundred
thalers he reserved for current expenses, and soon it
had all vanished as it had come."
In his own house Lepsius stood at the helm with a
steady hand, but his wife ever strove to make his voy-
age through life pleasant and happy.
Her struggle for greater calmness and a more
equable nature is touching, as is the loving humility
with which she recognizes his superiority ; and often
does a phrase, an interjection, in the midst of matter-of-
fact records, give expression to her true and tender
love. She says : " It is grand in Richard, that he can
take everything so naturally. It comes from his per-
fect honesty; if I could only educate myself up to
him." When her first little daughter was able to stand
alone she wrote : " Richard and Anna, these names
embrace my whole happiness, the fragrant blooming
shower of blessings which Our Father in Heaven pours
upon me from the abundant horn of plenty of His
grace and love."
The diaries are replete with such expressions.
Especially neat and pointed are the little sketches of
eminent men drawn by the young wife. Whoever was
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 231
personally acquainted with Master Peter Cornelius, (he
was a friend of my mother's, and indeed once made a
portrait of me as a boy), will admit that it would not
be possible to depict his external appearance more
neatly and pointedly than in the following words from
the diary of Frau Lepsius. She writes : " A little,
thick-set man, with a black peruke, piercing black eyes,
wide, kindly mouth, and with thought upon his wrinkled
brow."
On the twenty-fifth of July, 1847, a daughter was
granted to the young couple. She received the name
of Isis Anna. Minister Jonas, the liberal-minded pas-
tor of the household, found nothing wrong in the
choice of the name of the heathen divinity Isis, but
strange to say, Bunsen took serious exception to it, and
gave expression to his disapproval in a letter. The
happy father answered in the following letter, in which
we see pleasantly manifested the joyous zest in life by
which he was at that time animated.
Our little Isis gives us infinite delight ; she thrives
splendidly. Her mamma has carried her point by giv-
ing her the name of Anna. I foresaw that I should
furnish a subject for witticisms, in the name of Isis, to
those people in Berlin who honor us with their atten-
tion. It is necessary to throw them a few crumbs of
that sort from time to time, so that they may not devise
something worse. I was as little able to find any
serious scandal in it as was the excellent Jonas who
administered the baptism. Scarcely any one keeps to
232 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the Calendar for the sake of the Calendar itself, and I
should much prefer Friedhelm and Maxhelene, the
children's names recently given by Ranke, to the Fides,
Spes and Charitas, or Titus, Ptolemeus, Sosthenes, Lot,
Habakkuk, Methuselah, etc., of the Calendar. Yet
Ranke comes very near to offending against the only
limitation which I should admit ; that of not choosing
ludicrous names. Take Erica, Berenice, (that is Ver-
onica,) or Emin, which is the name of young Wilden-
bruch, the elder brother of the talented poet Ernest
von Wildenbruch; no one has anything against such
names as these and innumerable others, though they
too are as little in the Calendar, and have as little
Christian precedent, as a hundred thousand &na{ x^^va
from the birth of Christ to our time, in all Christian
countries. Besides, Isis, to every one who knows the
Egyptian goddess, is a very honorable name, which
can only recall the author of all good, a faithful spouse
and sister, the model and recognized prototype of all
queens. What the Romans made of her need trouble
us as little as their opinion of the image of Jehovah in
the Jewish temple, and can as little cast suspicion upon
her as can the Christianity of the Konigsberg impos-
tors upon the name of Christian. If, in another year,
I have a boy to baptize I shall not be obliged to call
him Apis, as Osiris is already received in the Christian
Calendar, under a much more beautiful form as Ono-
phrius.* But I will take care not to impose upon him
* Un noser, the pood being, the Divinity as the author of all good,
the Greek Agathodemon.
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 233
the equally Christian name of the Typhon, " Set." I
should like to see any one who would not as utterly
fail in any theory for the giving of Christian names,
as did, not long since, the law forbidding the Jews to
bear Christian names. But, on the other hand, I con-
sider it very wise to give the clergy a certain freedom
to exclude unsuitable, scandalous names of every kind,
according to their own honest judgment."
Little Anna was followed by a second girl, Eliza-
beth,* and the latter by four boys, to the delight of
the grandfather in Naumburg. For although he had
been blessed with six sons and three daughters,
strangely enough, he had had bestowed upon him no
other " Lepsius " grandchildren that those who sprung
from the marriage of his son Richard.
After the christening of Anna the family spent some
delightful weeks in lovely Ilsenburg. The winter was
passed in cheerful sociability and quiet enjoyment of
their first-born, till in February, 1848, all other interests
were entirely overshadowed by the news of the revolu-
tion at Paris. Lepsius had already foreseen when in
* Both daughters are long since married : Anna to Professor
Valentiner, the astronomer, in Carlsruhe, Elizabeth to Pastor Siegel,
who lived first in Tegel, afterwards in Neuenhagen near Berlin.
Richard, the eldest son, is professor of geology and mineralogy at the
Academy of Technology at Darmstadt, and married to the daughter
of Ernest Curtius. Bernard, lecturer on chemistry at the Senken-
berg Institute at Frankfort on the Main, is married to a daughter of
Professor Pauli, the Gottingen historian, since deceased. Reinhold
is a painter. The father had a beautiful studio built in the new house
in Kleist street for his talented son. and Johannes, after first devoting
himself to philosophical studies with the greatest success, has recently
passed his theological examination.
234 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Paris the downfall of the citizen king Louis Philippe,
and though he hoped that the next movement for free-
dom in France would be of benefit to the political de-
velopment of Germany and Prussia, yet he feared that
in those countries also violent uprisings of the people
would be unavoidable.
Each day was filled with increasing anxiety, the
danger approached more closely, and yet, — a notable
sight — there was no break in the fulfillment of the hus-
band's duties, and everything held its accustomed
course in the household, as well as in the social life of
the capital. Apprehension was aroused for Vienna, on
account of the dreadful Metternich administration ; all
ears were on the watch for every rumor. The Em-
peror of Russia was said to have been poisoned, Met-
ternich to have been seized with an apoplectic fit in
consequence of the news from Paris, and the Pope to
have taken flight, and abandoned Rome. In spite of
the tumult of the people on the streets during every
evening of this remarkably beautiful month of March,
anxiety for Berlin was dissipated, as in well informed
circles they believed it certain that the King was in-
clined to make great concessions. At last political in-
terests overcame all others, and the grave academical
instructor Lepsius, in his private lectures conversed
with his pupils on the events of the day, instead of dis-
cussing Egyptology. Then on the eighteenth of March
the Berlin revolution broke out, in the midst of the
concessions of the King, and the rejoicing of the popu-
lace. We are in possession of interesting information
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 235
on the course of this revolution, from the husband as
well as from the wife. In those days politics had such
power over every true man that even Lepsius took part
in them incidentally. When Abeken brought him a
paper much needed just at that time, a good concise
proclamation for the Prince of Prussia, whom Lepsius
especially esteemed, he immediately carried it to the
press which was working for him, and had the foreman
print, post, and distribute it. He understood perfectly
that the revolution indicated a great step forward in the
political life of his Fatherland, and his wife says that
the Kreuzzeitung people, in an underhand way, placed
them in a false position. The Bismarck family had
lived in the same house with the Lepsiuses, and once
when popular songs of liberty and " Not yet, not yet,
is Poland lost," had been sung during a social evening
at their rooms, Frau Elizabeth writes : " Thank God
that the Bismarcks have left, or he would have got . us
into the Kreuzzeitung as Republicans." How times
and men change ! These latter, fortunately, sometimes
to better and greater.
In September, 1848, Lepsius went to Frankfort, and
from his letters to his wife we know with what warm
interest he there followed the parliamentary transac-
tions in St. Paul's Church. He had learned many
things from the statesman Bunsen, and we have seen
(page 122) how keenly he followed, from time to time,
the course of ecclesiastical politics in Prussia. On the
whole his political opinions agreed with those of his
patron in London. He wished to be not only a
236 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
scholar and father, but a citizen also, and in 1S48, he
held it right "that every one should at least follow
some banner, and a bad one rather than none at all."
In the beginning of the year 1849, the political
■situation threatened to make it intolerable for his father
to remain in Naumburg, under the authority of the
town commissioners of that place (he had resigned his
public office in 1847). Therefore Richard wrote to
him : " If you should actually resolve to leave Naum-
burg, here in Berlin you would certainly find much the
greatest satisfaction for your higher intellectual pursuits
and interests, which in themselves rank far above all
political interests. Libraries, art collections, learned
societies of every kind would be open to you, and in
the more restricted circle of our own household, our
relations and most intimate friends, you would once
more find, as of old, peace, happiness and love, which
have grown to be the greatest necessity of your life."
In spite of the slight value which he allotted in
these sentences to political interests, he yet followed
the political development of his Fatherland to the last
with warm sympathy. In 1849 he attributed the
King's change to a policy independent of Austria to
Bunsen's influence, and as events continued to shape
themselves in a more and more gloomy fashion, he
constantly insisted upon the necessity for a stronger
exhibition of Prussian power, as due to the hegemony
of Germany.
He owed great gratitude to Frederick William IV.
and acknowledged very thankfully the favor which this
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 237
monarch had manifested to him personally, and the
appreciation which he had always shown for his works
and efforts. But in 1850, he already spoke with deep
anxiety of Prussian politics. The Waldeck Process-
rilled him with indignation, and in 1850, Frau Elizabeth,,
who was the echo of her husband's opinions, writes in
the journal : " Our proud Prussia, the only refuge of
German hopes, once more subject to the commands of
Russia and Austria ! . . . . I have never seen Richard
so depressed on account of politics as he is now. I
have seen tears in W. Grimm's eyes over Prussia's, —
Germany's, — disgrace. . . . The Prince of Prussia must
be beside himself at the shameful turn of affairs. . . ..
He will now be looked upon by all parties as the sole
salvation of Prussia." After the humiliation at Olmiitz,
and the brave stand of the Hessians for their constitu-
tion, she writes : " Jacob Grimm said lately, ' I am
proud to be a Hessian.' Alas for us, poor creatures,,
that we must say ' Let every Prussian be ashamed !'
In the worst days of the revolution people were not so
desperate and hopeless, so utterly overwhelmed as
now. . . . The king approves of everything, and is
pleased and cheerful !" Nevertheless she was warmly
attached to Frederick William IV. and says of him:
"What a character! So noble, so conscientious, so
kind, with such a comprehensive mind, — and yet he is
not a great man." Later, after Frederick William IV.
had left Berlin and removed to Potsdam, Lepsius
wrote to his father : " Here the departure of the king
has the effect of a death upon us. The recollection of
238 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
him is very painful. On the other hand, new life
springs up with the regency of the prince. Without
precipitation, and with due calmness, many changes
will soon be made, first in the leading men, and after-
wards in the general tendencies." Lepsius gave lively
expression to his delight at the dawn of the so-called
4t new era."
With what enthusiasm did he afterwards follow the
upraising of his Fatherland under King William I.
Our noble Emperor was ever a gracious master to him,
and Lepsius was always among the chosen few invited
to the evening tea-drinkings in the imperial palace.
To our colleague Dumichen the Emperor spoke of
Egyptology as "a science which our Lepsius has
called to life in Germany." To the author of this bi-
ography also the same great emperor, in the presence
of their royal highnesses, the Grand-Duke and the
Grand-Duchess of Baden, expressed himself with a
warmth bordering on friendship regarding the great
master of his science.
The following occurrence, related by Frau Lepsius,
is characteristic of Frederick William IV. and his rela-
tion to Humboldt. A friend had been invited to Pots-
dam with Lepsius and some others, and while there
ingenuously begged the king to speak a good word
for him to the Duke of Brunswick, who was also
present. The applicant wished to be appointed Musi-
cal Director at Brunswick. The monarch answered :
4< I cannot do anything for you in this matter; you
must apply to Humboldt."
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 239
All men of intellectual eminence who came to
Berlin always visited the house of Lepsius. The ex-
cellent missionary, Krapf, was once a guest there, and
was invited to court with Lepsius. At table, the king
asked the missionary, philologist and geographer,
" How long do you propose to remain in Africa ?" and
the latter answered : " Until I am dead. All my
family are buried there, and where they are is my
home."
Besides his colleagues from the university and
native and foreign scholars, deputies to the Chamber,
of all shades of opinion, also frequented Lepsius'
house. It not only gave Frau Elizabeth the greatest
pleasure to listen to the conversation of these men,
which often took the form of lively debates, but it was
also of real advantage to her. Three years after her
marriage she writes : " These distinguished persons,
with their different ways of thinking, strengthen the
tolerance which lies in Richard's character, and teach
me to accept and find pleasure in each one as he is."
On the ninth of November, 1851, was solemnized
the baptism of the third child and first son. * The
godparents were the grandfather Lepsius, Bunsen,
represented by Abeken, Jacob Grimm, the great geo-
grapher Charles Ritter, Ehrenberg, and several other
ladies and gentlemen.
Lepsius had invited Bunsen to become a sponsor in
the following words :
* Charles Richard George Lepsius, born on the nineteenth of
September, 1851.
240 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
" As you have more or less stood godfather to all
my intellectual productions, I naturally have a lively
wish that one of my real children might enter into this
beautiful and reverential relation with you. Your
friendly sympathy, and the fatherly love which you
have always bestowed upon me, far beyond my
capacity for any fitting return, permit me to hope that
you will willingly fulfil this desire also. But for the
child your name will be a dower whose value will in-
crease with every year, and I already rejoice in spirit
over the time when I can finally lead him to a full un-
derstanding of its significance. My wife insists that he
shall be called by my name ; but besides that he shall
be named Charles, after my father, after you, and after
Charles Ritter. Between these two we may perhaps
insert a third, about which we are still hesitating, but
it shall be neither a Pacomius, an Onophrius nor a
Nilus, but an honest German name, possibly Jacob,
after your fellow-godfather, Jacob Grimm, etc."
At the christening it turned out that George and
not Jacob had been chosen as the third name. This
was after the first known ancestor of the Lepsius
family, George Leps. * The christening feast was a
* From the pamphlet written by father Lepsius on the occasion
of the baptism of his oldest grandson Richard, entitled : The ances-
tors of trie Lepsius Family, Naumburg, 1851," we see that the
family of Lepsius was originally called Leps, and appears to be in-
debted for its name to the little village of Leps, in the Duchy of An-
halt-Dessau, the ancestral home of the family. It is derived perhaps
from the Wendish Lipz. the linden-tree, which word must also be the
root of the name of the city of Leipsic. The oldest authentic ances-
tor is the master tawer, George Leps, at Trebbin in the Mittelmark,
who died in 1699. The grandson of this George was the first who
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 241
merry one, and the godmother has given a brief ac-
count of the toasts which were drunk. That delivered
by Jacob Grimm to the health of the godfathers is so
characteristic of him that to everyone acquainted with
this magnificent scholar and man it must seem as de-
lightful as to the godmother it must have been agita-
ting. " I like," so he began, "to come to the christen-
ing of a child: it is always more agreeable than a
wedding or a funeral feast, where one usually sees
nothing of the principal persons." He then found
fault with the christenings of the present day, the nu-
merous godfathers, wherein the young Charles George
Richard was not lacking, and said that " formerly it
was much more solemn than now. Then there were
only two godparents, the child was entirely stripped —
there was more to be seen — and it was first plunged
under water in the font, and then covered with a little
shirt. More account was made of the godparents.
After baptism the child had to go to them on every
holiday, and received a gift from them. The church
regarded baptism as a regeneration, and therefore it
was considered of much greater importance; on this
account the child was baptized immediately? Then he
said that usually the godparents did not long survive
changed the name Leps into Lepsius. His father, in addition to the
tawer's craft, carried on a trade in leather and wool, "and was well
off, and held in respect and esteem by his fellow citizens." At the
baptism of his child, as if he designed him for a scholar, he bestowed
upon him the Latin names, Petrus Christophorus. The latter it was
who removed the family to Naumburg, and as Dr. jur. he was ad-
ministrator of several courts, provost of the cathedral, etc. He died
in 1793. He, the great grandfather of Richard Lepsius, like his
grandfather and father, was a lawyer.
16
242 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the child's baptism (general contradiction), "his god-
father had died half a year after his christening ; how-
ever the boy could learn his name out of the books.
The boy had three names, and that was particularly
stupid." (This word was strongly emphasized, and
Frau Lepsius' temper waxed hot). "He certainly only
needed one, for when he was fooling around on the
street with other boys and his mother wanted to call to
him out of the window, she would not cry : ' Charles-
George- Richard come here,' but ' Richard, come here f
He had waited and listened, to see if the minister
would not pronounce ' Jacob ' too, but in vain. What
was there though in that name to take exception to ?
It was indeed a Jewish name, but still Jacob had been
a good man, and he could tell of many excellent
people who had been called Jacob. The name pleased
him very well, and it grieved him that the child had
not been called by it."
To these latter words Frau Lepsius adds the re-
mark : " It grieved me too very much at that moment,
and still more afterwards."
Here we will break off the description of this toast.
It had touched the honest man very nearly that he had
to share with so many others the honor of being god-
father to the first-born son of his beloved Lepsius, and
he would have liked to see the little one grow up with
his own good name, as he had been led to expect. It
was never his way to conceal his feelings ; but nothing
was farther from the childlike nature of this man, who
in science was a giant, than any intention of giving pain.
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 243
His image still lives most vividly in my soul. For
many years my mother, and I with her, inhabited the
same house with the Grimms, in Lenne street, and I
know how right Frau Lepsius was, when she said in her
diary that there was in all the world nothing more
benevolent and kind-hearted than William Grimm's
wife : that every one must feel to her as towards a be-
loved mother. The kindness and cheerful friendliness
with which she added to the happiness of all of us
brothers and sisters, — who among us has forgotten
them ? When Jacob met me on the way to school he
always stroked my hair, and said : " Hurry, Flaxen-
head." It was Jacob Grimm who afterwards intro-
duced me to Lepsius : Frau Grimm I saw for the last
time when I was ill in bed, and she brought me a de-
licious cooling drink of fruit juice. Every memory of
her is connected with something kind and lovely.
If we except Abeken, the most beloved of all the
learned friends of the Lepsius family were the Grimms
and Gerhard, whose wife was Frau Elizabeth's intimate
friend. This cordial feeling also extended to the chil-
dren of William Grimm, and especially to Hermann,
whose first poetic essays they watched with affection,
but with impartial criticism.
So passed the weeks and months. The winter was
given to work and social pleasures in the city ; in the
summer the wife and children went into the country.
Longer journeys, such as the trip to upper Italy, were
usually undertaken in the autumn. The family were
very comfortable at Park-Birkenwaldchen near Berlin.
244 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
In 1852 this was completely in the country, but it has
long since been absorbed by the metropolis of Berlin.
The husband often went thither to see his family,
friends accompanied him, and in the repose of this rus-
tic life Frau Elizabeth prepared the index for the letters
from Egypt and Ethiopia. They were dedicated to A.
v. Humboldt, and he received them with gratitude and
emotion, although, to Lepsius' regret, the friendship
between them had been troubled, in consequence of an
affair which concerns people who are still living, and
therefore cannot be spoken of here.
In the summer of 1852, the first numbers of the
great work on monuments were completed. But they
had not yet been sent out, although Lepsius for several
months had been insisting on their distribution. Finally
he went once more to Sans Souci to urge the expedit-
ing of the matter upon Niebuhr, and found him walk-
ing with Gerlach upon a terrace. Just then the King
stepped out on an upper terrace, and when he became
aware of the Egyptologist called down to him " Lep-
sius, Lepsius."
The monarch then shook him by the hand, and a
conversation ensued which, on account of its charac-
teristic turn, we will give just as it was recorded imme-
diately afterwards.
King : " I have not seen you for along time. You
have grown quite stout."
Lepsius makes some reply, and then speaks of the
delay in distributing the completed numbers of the
great work.
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 245
King (to Niebuhr) : " Tell me exactly how it
stands ?"
Niebuhr : " It is just as Lepsius represents it. Your
Majesty has commanded the distribution, but the order
has not been carried out."
King : " Why, what delays it ?"
Niebuhr : " I have already written three times to
the Minister about it."
King : " What Minister ?"
Niebuhr : " Raumer."
King : " Oh, then I understand it ! If he has any-
thing to do, it is always a year before it is finished. But
don't repeat that to him. Complain once more, Nie-
buhr!"
" Richard has also heard from Humboldt that the
object of Niebuhr's mysterious mission this spring (1852),
was to invite Bunsen to resign,* which he, naturally,
politely deprecated. And who was it they wished to
put in his place ? Bismarck Schonhausen, that smart,
self-conceited young fellow ! This is grand !"
Later Frau Elizabeth learned to appreciate fully this
"" smart young fellow."
That autumn Lepsius went alone to England and
Scotland. In London he worked successfully for the
introduction of his standard alphabet. He went by
way of Leyden, and again immersed himself in the
treasures of the museum there, and enjoyed the hospi-
tality of the excellent Leemans. It was at Warmond,
* From the post of ambassador to London.
246 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
on the estate of the mother of the distinguished Egyp-
tologist and Director of the Museum that the idea of
making a similar delightful summer house for his own
family first occurred to him.
In September Frau Elizabeth journeyed to meet
him at Strasburg, where she was hospitably received by
the family of Kreis, her husband's student friend. She
then returned home with her husband by way of Stutt-
gart, Munich and Nuremberg.
The old life began anew after their return. In ad-
dition to the accustomed guests came also General von
Radowitz and Count Raczynski, both of whom Frau
Lepsius characterizes sharply and aptly. She concludes
with the following parallel, after she has mentioned how
astonishing the wit and knowledge of Radowitz ap-
pear to her : " Raczynski does not lead the conversa-
tion, he rather watches it, and lets himself be talked to;
on this account he likes the society of clever people,
while Radowitz prefers an astonished and attentive
audience, as he is always striving to make an impres-
sion."
But such distinguished visitors were the exception :
their large and inspiring circle of acquaintances was
almost exclusively composed of the leaders of the Ber-
lin literati. When there was no company in the
evening, and Lepsius was not attending any of the
societies of which we shall have to speak, he played
chess, and liked to have his wife play on the piano at
the same time. Often too there were " musical evenings"
in which both husband and wife took part, together
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 247
with guests, like Hermann Grimm and others, who were
not members. In the winter of 1852-53, a numerous
company assembled nearly every week at the Lepsius
house. On the seventh of April we hear of their giv-
ing a large ball. " The Old Guard comes to the front,"
writes Frau Elizabeth. " Even I resolved to dance
again after an interval of eight years. At first it
seemed strange to me to be whirling round, but by de-
grees I took pleasure in it again, especially in dancing
with Richard, who was really a very delightful host. It
is so charming in him, — the way in which he does
everything that he has to do with his whole heart and
without any reserve, whether it be grave or gay."
The pleasures of this winter were soon brought to
an end, for the mistress of the house lost her dearest
friend, and in April died the excellent father of the
master of the house. The affliction of Lepsius was
great. .
" Of all the family his father was nearest to him,"
says Frau Elizabeth. " He always felt the greatest de-
light and the most genuine sympathy in everything
that concerned Richard, in all his labors, his successes,
his honors ; with him Richard could talk freely of all
his intellectual interests, for he understood all abstruse
questions, and had, besides, the strongest paternal feel-
ing; delighted in our children, etc. . . . Richard thinks
now with every book that when he has written it, he
can no longer give his father pleasure by sending it to
him."
A quiet season followed, and in their domestic re-
248 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
tirement during the ensuing months they made some
experiments at table-tipping, according to the current
fashion at that time. They were very successful, and
the enthusiasm of the mistress of the house and her
interest in the supernatural were strongly excited;
Lepsius himself treated the subject more coolly.
" Richard, Abeken and Edward saw that we lifted up
our hands by degrees, and yet the table moved ; but,
because it did not do so again, Richard thinks we had
deceived ourselves."
When at last the formal mourning was laid aside,
and life again imposed its demands upon the Lepsiuses,
the remembrance of the festival of 1852-53, formed the
foundation for many charming performances, whose
theatre was to be the new house which the married
pair were about to build.
In October, 1853, the family had received notice to
quit their dwelling in Behren Street, on account of the
sale of the property, and they had therefore resolved to
build a home of their own. With the same enthusiasm
with which she threw herself into everything, Frau
Elizabeth became interested in the carrying out of this
idea, and, scale in hand, drew plan after plan, until she
at last completed a design which met with the ap-
proval of her husband and his friends the architects,
especially Erbkam. In fact it provided for all the
family needs; but the choice of a building site was
difficult. Lepsius at first fixed his eye upon the great
Seeger lumber yard, which was at that time on the
drill ground, now the Royal Square. It was then
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 249
just about to be divided up, but the lots there were so
dear, and the owner felt so confident of the purchase
of the whole plot by the Treasury, that Lepsius was
forced to look about for another situation. Long
weeks passed in this search, and, among other stran-
gers, the Lepsiuses received Oscar von Redwitz, before
breaking up housekeeping for the summer to go with
some intimate friends on a journey to Liibeck. The
diary says of him : " He is the poet of the sentimental-
religious Catholic Amaranth, which is so much read,
(though not by us), and admired. He is a lively
young Viennese, naive, but not at all sentimental, so
that he is better than his work." The future undoubt-
edly proved that this talented poet was capable of
things far more charming than what were at that time
his most celebrated works.
The wife and children passed the rest of the sum-
mer in beautiful Friedrichroda, Elgersburg and Ilme-
nau in Thuringia, while the husband went to Schlieffen-
berg in Mecklenburg, whither he had been invited by
Count SchliefTen, who had traveled through Egypt
intelligently and with open eyes and who had brought
home with him a Nubian from the neighborhood of the
Cataract. As we know, Lepsius made use of this
African, named 'AH', who was an intelligent man and
had entire command of his own language, to supply
many deficiencies in the Nubian grammar, at which
he still continued to work.
In January, 1854, the Berlin Academy of Sciences
had resolved to have type cast for printing Lepsius'
250 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
standard alphabet, and before the beginning of Feb-
ruary, he traveled once more to London in order to as-
sure the acceptance of it on the other side of the Chan-
nel. The well-known missionary Kolle had already
declared that he should make use of it. While Lep-
sius was working there with tact and success to in-
troduce his alphabet, his wife became the mother of
a boy, who, after the father's return, received the name
of Bernard at a merry and delightful christening feast.
This was the Christian name of Frau Lepsius' father,
the celebrated composer, B. Klein. Among the many
god-parents of the child were A. v. Humboldt, the
Counts von Schlieffen and von Usedom, Peters, etc.
Frau Lepsius was especially pleased with the presence
of Humboldt after the estrangement which had taken
place between him and Lepsius, but the obliging man-
ner in which he said to her : " I thank you especially
for having had the kindness to give the child my name,"
could not inspire her with any warmth of feeling.
E. Curtius' daughter, Dorothea, was baptized at the
same time with little Bernard. She afterwards be-
came the wife of Richard, the eldest son of the Lep-
siuses. Jacob Grimm toasted the two children, and
this time in a very poetical and delightful manner. In
the course of the toast he compared the boy with hail,
which descends roughly and impetuously, and the
maiden with snow, which murmurs softly and gently
down.
The spring was passed in searching for a building
site and in pleasant social intercourse. On the twenty-
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 251
fifth of May, 1854, they met Paul Heyse for the first
time at Schott's, and Frau Elizabeth wrote in her
diary : " It is a long time since I have seen Richard so
fascinated with anyone as he was with this young,
animated, candid, handsome, excellent, enthusiastic,
most lovable poet."
Very painful to Lepsius was the downfall of his old
patron and friend Bunsen, which occurred at this time.
He had been offered the position of Minister of Eccle-
siastical Affairs at Berlin, but in the beginning of '54,
while in London, he declared that in case of necessity
Prussia would side with England. This set the King
quite beside himself and General von Groben was sent
to London to reprimand Bunsen. The attempts at
mediation of his son Ernest, whom he had sent to
Berlin, were vain, and, in spite of the Prince of Prus-
sia's eager intercession for him, the Camarilla, and es-
pecially Gerlach and Manteuffel, had such strong in-
fluence over the King that he forsook his friend Bunsen,,
and permitted him to be dismissed.
But the anxieties of house-building were soon to*
place all others in the background, for a suitable plot
was finally found in Bendler Street, (which at that time
was sparsely built up,) and was bought on favorable
conditions. The space at their disposal was large
enough to permit of laying out an extensive garden,,
beside the roomy house.
At the laying of the corner stone, on the eighteenth;
of October, 1854, Lepsius made an admirable speech,,
from which we shall give some extracts later on. This
252 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
was of course the occasion of a festal celebration, and
friend Abeken composed the following sonnet for it :
" Within the ground all life doth first have birth,
Richly the tree unfolds its leafy pride,
Yet in the earth's dark night its germ must hide,
And downward still the root strikes into earth.
And that this house may reach its highest worth,
The master now, with wisdom for his guide,
In the firm soil lays the foundations wide,
That he may bind it firmly with the earth.
Yet is there one firm ground where build we must,
On which our house's peace we gladly found,
That still its sacred hearth with joy be filled ;
This is fixed faith in God and happy trust,
With which forever love and hope are bound,
And thus a temple with the house we build."
Lepsius had intentionally caused the corner stone
to be laid where the living room of the mistress of the
house was afterwards to be raised, and in his dedica-
tory speech he explained his motives for this in beauti-
ful words. The house when finished had a fine and
stately appearance, with its Gothic arches over doors
and windows, its battlements on tower and roof, its
handsome entrance, its covered piazza on the ground
floor, and open balcony on the upper story, and its in-
scriptions in carved stone.
When it was ready for habitation, Abeken, the
former divine, added the following second sonnet to
the first :
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 253
That here the temple with the house should blend
On the foundation stone we wrote, and lo !
Sank it far underfoot, that even so
The darkling earth its strength to us might lend.
Yet must from Heaven the mighty power descend
That upward bids the earthly germ to grow,
And Life and Love must still from Heaven flow,
The sacred fire on the hearth to tend.
Therefore we lift our hands and hearts to Heaven,
And humbly here its blessing we await,
Praying for peace and safety as is due,
That Love and Light and Spirit may be given
Our handiwork henceforth to consecrate,
That this the home may be a temple true !
On the twelfth of July, 1856, Lepsius with his own
hand wrote the following maxims in a new diary of his
wife's.
God's peace from Heaven
To this house be given.
Unless God's grace we gain
Our building is in vain.
Within this little book be you
To these, our house's mottoes, true.
The second motto was cut in stone, in Gothic
letters and surrounded by arabesques, over the broad
projecting window of the wife's room, on the side of
the building towards the street ; the first was over the
front door. The palms over the entrance gate were
intended to call to memory the Palm Sunday on
254 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
which Lepsius and his wife had been betrothed. The
wish expressed in the first motto was fulfilled, for
the house in Bendler Street was truly a temple of
peace, under the visible favor of God. Until the
growing city of Berlin laid claim to the broad extent of
the beautiful garden and Lepsius felt himself forced to
sell it, their house was the home of true love, intimate
family life, steadfast reverence for God — in the man
no less than in the wife, — and earnest, unwearied
labor, as well as cheerful song and music, and a happy
hospitality.
The father of Lepsius died before the house was
completed, but he was able to invite his mother to
come and live with him " at Berlin, in the country."
However, the beautiful outlook "towards the canal
and Schoneberg " was soon built up. The house was
constructed in the English Gothic style, which he had
learned to like in Great Britain, and which few under-
stood as well as he (see page 131). To his delight,
its pleasing appearance, with the slightly-pointed arches
over windows and doors, and the balcony, with its
Gothic parapet of sandstone, proved so attractive that,
as he wrote to his mother : " our neighbor has also built
in the Gothic style, and, indeed, two houses at once."
" I am to assist him with money," he continued, " for
the third, on the corner, and the man on the other
corner will also build a Gothic house. That makes a
whole Gothic quarter."
But how differently things turned out ! The stately
ibuilding which was to have been a home for remote
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 255
descendants has vanished from the earth, and only a
few traces remain of the Bendler Street Gothic.
During the first years after they moved into the new
house they improved every opportunity which offered
to exhibit the beauty of the chosen style of architecture.
When for example it was necessary, on account of any
festivity, to " illuminate," they lit up the whole front,
and especially the large balcony, with little lamps
which followed the lines of the arches.
The fine garden gave special pleasure to Lepsius.
After he had had tea at his writing table he always
took a walk there, in winter as well as in summer, and
whether the weather was good or bad. He felt a
" special interest in it, and knew it all by heart." The
trees which soon overshadowed it had been planted on
various happy occasions by dear guests and friends of
the household, in memory of the delightful hours which
they had passed under the roof of Lepsius, and as a
visible symbol and token of the friendship which bur-
geoned and blossomed anew with each year. Alex-
ander von Humboldt, Bunsen, the Grimms, Ehrenberg,
E. Curtius and many others had planted their trees,
and on each was a little tablet which bore the name of
him who had set it in the earth. Foreign friends too,
who could not come to Berlin and attend to the plant-
ing themselves, sent small trees to be set out. For ex-
ample, the Director of the museum at Leyden, already
mentioned several times, (see pages 123 and 245) sent
a variety of Betula which had been named after him
Betula Lemansiana, by a nursery gardener at War-
256 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
mond. As the trees which he first sent did not arrive
he despatched others, and these throve and long re-
minded the Lepsius family of their Dutch friend. The
garden was a living and shady temple of friendship,
and what beautiful festivals were celebrated there !
Plays and spectacular performances were often
given in the fine spacious apartments of this house on
the birthday of the head of the family, which occurred
shortly before Christmas. They were distinguished by
the same thoughtful intelligence which had given rise
to the tree-planting and laid the corner stone under
the living-room of the mistress of the house. The
ideas were usually furnished by Frau Elizabeth. Thus
a fable was once represented, interspersed with tableaux
vivants, which the children and their little friends un-
dertook to produce. The subject was the standard
alphabet (see page 104) of their father, which was per-
sonified as Miss Alphabeta Standarda, and represented
in the different stages of its development. The dia-
logue was both sprightly and well written, in the best
style of fable, and seasoned with many merry and sat-
irical allusions. At one time there were tableaux
vivants after antique personages and the pictures of
Flaxman, and then again the trees from the garden
made their appearance. Before this, the treasure-
house of Rhampsinitus had been represented accord-
ing to Platen. Similar performances, always original,
thoughtful, and excellently executed in detail, delighted
the guests, the children who usually had to take part
in them, and especially the host himself. When a ball
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 257
was given, too, they never failed to have particularly-
pretty and original cotillion figures, for which the poet
and faithful friend of the family, Abeken, composed the
verses.
On July the fourteenth, 1857, the third boy was
born, and at his baptism on the second of August, he
received the name of Reinhold. He was named after
the brother who had never been forgotten, and who
had expired in Rome, when twenty-nine years old, in
the arms of the godfather.
In September of the same year the Lepsiuses had
the great pleasure of welcoming Bunsen for the first
time in their own house. He had been invited by
Frederick William IV. to take part in the assembly of
the " Evangelical Alliance " which met at Berlin. The
King had indeed dropped him as a statesman, but the
letter of invitation which he sent to Heidelberg, where
the former ambassador then lived, was as cordial and
urgent as if the monarch had preserved his old friend-
ship for him whom he had " deserted." Bunsen must
come, wrote the King, firstly on account of the busi-
ness itself, secondly for the sake of his own (Bunsen's)
renown, and thirdly to please the King. The latter
wrote with great enthusiasm of the "Alliance." Fi-
nally, he added most cordially that Bunsen must not
refuse to let an old friend be his host and care for his
journey there and back and his entertainment in the
palace. On Bunsen's arrival the King embraced him
before the whole court, but only sent for him once after-
wards to converse with him. The Camarilla hated the
258 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
man of independent thought, and the King had already
accustomed himself to submit to it.
But on the other hand, Lepsius' delight at receiv-
ing his revered patron and fatherly friend in his own
home, and showing him his house, was unbounded,
and as great as it was heartfelt. " On Sunday," (Sep-
tember thirteenth, '57), writes Frau Elizabeth, " Bun-
sen was as lovely and splendid as ever. At table he
proposed our healths, with a little speech, in which he
first expressed his delight at being once more in Berlin,
where he had believed he could never come again, and
whither he had now been summoned in so honorable a
manner that he could return with pleasure. But to
find us so agreeably and excellently settled was one of
the brightest spots of his sojourn here. In the most
sincere and heartfelt manner he expressed his happiness
in our family fortunes, and wished that God would still
continue to bless us, and that ; ' Thy wife shall be as a
fruitful vine, thy children like olive-plants round about
thy table.' He reminded us, too, that his friendship
with Lepsius had now lasted for more than twenty
years, that he loved him like a son ; indeed the dear
man even included me (Frau Elizabeth) in the circle
of his affections; ' I love you like my own children.'
" How warmly and deeply were we touched by
this speech, of which I have here repeated only an im-
perfect fragment! If it were possible, I should be
fonder than ever of Bunsen. Where else, in a man of
such distinction, can one find such warmth and cordi-
ality of feeling, such sincere and faithful friendship ?"
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 259
Every leisure hour was spent by Bunsen in the
Lepsius' house, which at this time was the scene of a
great celebration. This was arranged in honor of the
beloved and revered guest, and some of the most dis-
tinguished members of the Alliance were invited to be
present at it. It is not necessary to say how pleasant
it must have been to the scholarly statesman to rind
assembled here Ehrenberg and Gerhard, J. Grimm,
whom he had not previously known, and with whom
lie conversed at length, Pertz, Peters, Pinder, Geff ken,
Schelling, Stiiler, Olfers, Abeken, the former chaplain
of his embassy, General Superintendent Hoffman, Dr.
Earth, the divine from Wurtemberg, and many other
leading men in science and in the evangelical church.
Lepsius was especially delighted just at that time by
once more meeting Lobstein, who had first invited him
in Bunsen's name to take up the study of Egyptology,
and who had since become French ambassador to
Sweden.
The members of the Alliance had assembled from
all parts of the world. They met in Berlin, held ses-
sions, and listened to many orators, but the great results
which had been anticipated from this congress failed to
manifest themselves, or were dissipated in smoke ; in-
deed, shortly before its close the stamp of absurdity
was set upon it by Krummacher of Westphalia, who
was a strictly orthodox pastor and the cousin of the
Berlin minister. At the last meeting but one this
zealot openly, and in a spirit of denunciation, expressed
his regret that the famous French preacher, Merle
260 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
d'Aubigne, had, on the steps of the railway station, em-
braced and kissed a man whose rationalism and Ro-
manism must be a terror to the assembly. The man
thus proscribed was no less a person than Bunsen.
Unfortunately this absurd attack was not disregarded,,
but called forth a most unpleasant controversy.
After these days of excitement life went on in its
accustomed course for the Lepsius household. The
hours of leisure were agreeably spent in the favorite
diversions of the husband, boccia in the garden, and
chess in the house. New guests were added to the
old. Among them were Wichern the founder of the
" reformatory for vagrant children " at Hamburg,
whose efforts filled Frau Elizabeth with enthusiasm,
von Putlitz the poet, and the charming Erdmann from
Halle, who seasoned many a meal for them with his
delightful humor. Humboldt, too, came occasionally,
and told them much of the mournful condition of the
King. The former was once conversing on serious
scientific subjects, and with the entire concurrence of
the monarch, but when Potsdam was spoken of, al-
though he was staying there at that time, the unhappy
sovereign could not remember where the place was.
At this time, (1852), Lepsius presented his Book of
Kings, which was then completed, to the Prince of
Prussia, (our Emperor.) The latter showed himself
full of interest in it, and after this audience the author
said he had been especially struck by the quiet, sim-
ple, benevolent nature of the Prince, in contrast to the
intellectually active, restless character of the King.
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 261
Mommsen had been summoned to Berlin in 1857,
and enjoyed meeting the family of Lepsius, but with
regard to scientific, and especially chronological, ques-
tions, there was many a dispute between these two
great scholars.
Lepsius worked much in the garden for the sake of
his health, and whatever this plot of ground yielded, in
the way of vegetables, fruit, eggs and milk, (they kept
chickens and a cow of their own), was named Hathor-
cabbage, Hathor-apples, etc. Hermann Grimm had
given this name to the special products of his friend's
place, and thus recalled the great goddess who at Den-
dera was styled the " dispenser of all the goods of
life," and to whom, as the feminine principle in nature,
pertained all the gifts which furnish sustenance and
pleasure to man.
In 1858 the brothers Schlagintweit also returned
from their successful journey through Asia. They
came to Berlin, and wished to sell their collections
there, but many things were unfavorable to this pro-
ject, and, altogether, they met with no good fortune in
the Prussian capital. Frau Lepsius relates that they
had succeeded in bringing a white ass from the Hima-
layas to Berlin, in good health and lively. When he
arrived his transport had already cost two thousand
thalers. It was necessary to take him from the rail-
way station to the zoological garden; but in going
through Potsdam Street he became refractory, and
would not follow his leader any farther. They put a
rope around his neck, to pull him forwards by force,
262 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
and the consequence was that the white ass from the
Himalayas choked, and met with an unforeseen death
at Berlin in Potsdam Street.
During the latter part of the summer of 1858 the
family again stayed at Ilsenburg in the Hartz, and in
December of the same year Frau Elizabeth presented
her husband with the fourth and last boy. He re-
ceived the name of Richard Ernest John, and amongst
the godfathers was the faithful college comrade of the
head of the family, A. Kreiss,* at that time a minister
at Strasburg, as well as E. Curtius, "our splendid,,
ideal friend." After the christening Frau Elizabeth
wrote : " May his name John ever remind me that it
is my great and sacred task to rear him to be a true
John ; one who loves his Lord and follows in his foot-
steps." This John has now became a divine, after
having produced several promising first works as a
philosopher and student of aesthetics.
In April, 1859, Lepsius traveled to Munich, for the
centennial anniversary of the Academy, and there
made the acquaintance of the excellent Thiersch, J. v.
Liebig, Riehl, E. Geibel and other scholars and artists.
He spent much time with his old friend, the celebrated
architect, v. Klenze, and he also visited Kaulbach in
his studio. In the summer of 1859 Lepsius refreshed
himself by an excursion to Rugen with his friend
Wiese, and late in the autumn he took a trip with his
wife and the oldest little girl to Saxon Switzerland and
Dresden, where they also made the acquaintance of
* See page 38.
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 263
Schnorr von Karolsfeld. " I looked up," wrote Fran
Elizabeth, " with a sort of devotion, to the old and thin
but fine and intellectually vivid face of this man,
whose compositions express such deep and fervent
Christian feeling." We also learn here that the famous
little castle of Souchay at Loschwitz on the Elbe is an
enlarged copy of the Lepsius house, which had especi-
ally pleased the owner of the castle and his architect
Arnold, in Berlin, whither they had gone to investigate
the different styles of house-building.
Lepsius and his wife were deeply distressed by the
death of Alexander v. Humboldt, on May sixth, 1859,
but in the following months they encountered other
losses by death which were still harder to bear. Soon
after their return home Jonas, the faithful, large-
hearted pastor of the household, died, and his depart-
ure filled the family with grief. Among those who
knew him, and his truly admirable, profound and in-
finitely lovable character, his memory must long be
cherished for the candor and courage with which, by
words and actions, he defended the freedom of re-
ligious conviction during the darkest days of church
life in Prussia. But yet another and more painful loss
was ordained for the family, for on the twenty-eighth
of November, i860, died Bunsen, the man to whom
Lepsius was most deeply indebted, and to whom he
had clung with the love of a son. Also on the third
of January, 1861, Frederick William IV. died, and the
reverential words respecting him with which the wife
filled many pages of her diary, are to be considered as.
264 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
an echo of the feelings with which the husband re-
garded this king, whose weaknesses he could not over-
look but whose great qualities he was glad to exalt in
order to give them grateful praise.
Among the old friends of the family were the Pin-
ders and Partheys, Erbkam, the Grimms, Trendelen-
burgs, Brandis, Olshausens, v. Sybel, Beselers, GefTken,
Duncker, v. Tiele, who was afterwards Assistant Secre-
tary of State, George v. Bunsen, the Wilmowskis,
Count Usedom, and the witty Strauss, who had trav-
eled through Palestine, Wichern, Meyer von Rinteln,
the amiable Mrs. Curtis, with whom we ourselves were
well acquainted, the publisher Hertz, Count Schlieffen,
Weidenbach, the Homeyers, the Balans and Salpius,
the Wieses, the two married couples of Peters and
Drakes, the traveler Robinson, Weiss, and so on. To
these was added Droysen, who had received an ap-
pointment at Berlin in 1859. But the highest place
among them all was held by " Uncle Abeken." There
is some ludicrous association with this able man, on
account of the passages regarding him which appear in
Busch's interesting book on " Count Bismarck and His
People." But Frau Elizabeth's diary shows us that he
had a deep and faithful nature, that his quick intelli-
gence apprehended and appreciated the poetical aspect
of every incident in life, that he was a good adviser
and ready in that capacity to render every service, and
also an indefatigable worker. Where duty demanded
it he knew how to keep silence as few men do, though
he was of a communicative disposition, and had made
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 265
himself so at home in every department of science that
Lepsius counted him one of the most learned men of
his time. If he was questioned about political affairs,
such as the restoration of the constitution of 1831 in
Hesse, the preparation of which had devolved upon
him, his only answer was : " I have not read the papers
to-day." He had been no less faithful to the Bunsens
than to the Lepsiuses, and his little failings will be
willingly overlooked by any one who knows with what
steadfast courage he stayed by the ambassador's wife
at Rome during the worst cholera season, and what
sacrifices he was ready to make for his friends in case
of need. One whom Prince Bismarck so trusted could
be no insignificant man. That in him which provoked
a smile was chiefly his low stature, his manner, which was
sometimes immoderately vivacious, and that sentimen-
tality which even to Frau Bunsen was not always
agreeable. Nevertheless this distinguished lady es-
teemed him very highly, ' though she occasionally
begged him to write her less about his feelings and
more about facts. But at least this sentimentality had
nothing artificial about it. It sprang from an ardent
spirit, which was perhaps only too tender and impres-
sible. — As long as he taught at Gottingen, the favor-
ite guest of the Lepsiuses was E. Curtius, and his recall
to Berlin afforded the greatest happiness to that house-
hold. Max M tiller too, when he came from Oxford,
was received with open arms, and the attachment
which Lepsius felt to him, may be discerned from the
journal of his wife, as well as from his letters to Bun-
266 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
sen. Amongst their younger friends George v. Bun-
sen had best known how to win the hearts of the
family.
Frau Elizabeth superintended the details of the
children's education with the greatest care and affec-
tion, and in so doing often fatigued herself to the
point of exhaustion. The father directed the plan ac-
cording to which he desired the training of the boys to
be conducted, but it was only in questions of moment
that he interposed and gave his decision. Two ladies
who were sisters of Hofmeyer the family physician, and
who had at one time conducted the principal school
for young ladies in Berlin, told Frau Lepsius at Easter,
1862, of a twelve year old orphan, of English descent
and good family, who was alone in the world and en-
tirely unprovided for. Frau Lepsius immediately de-
clared her willingness to adopt her, and receive her as
a seventh child among her own six. Her husband
quickly consented, and they never regretted this kind
act, for, to their delight, Ellen grew up to be a lovely
young girl. She was always treated in every respect
like one of the daughters of the house, and, like them,
she long since married.
After the accession of King William, Lepsius con-
tinued to observe the course of politics attentively, and
never neglected any of the duties of a citizen. In
1862 he was chosen as an elector of the first electoral
class for his district, and by the conservatives, although
he in no wise approved of their efforts. His views co-
incided with those of the party which at that time was
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 267
called " Old Liberal." His friend, Meyer von Rin-
teln, stood well at court, and was full of court anec-
dotes. He once told how the Elector of Hesse had
got in a passion, and hurt himself so seriously by
giving his valet a thrashing, that he had been obliged
to keep his bed. Thereupon Herman Grimm impro-
vised the following riddle.
"Had my whole been truly my second, he certainly would not
have been
Obliged to seek my first in bed, as we have recently seen. "*
Queen Augusta, Meyer reported, had correctly
guessed " Kurfurst."
Meyer was also a very talented poet, and he once
read his tragedy of " German Youth " at Lepsius'
home, in the presence of General v. Willisen, who had
had to oversee the Prussian execution at Hesse. The
tendency of the play was to show that only under the
Prussian imperial rule could Germany obtain tranquil-
ity, peace and new power. Frau Lepsius had long
before confided the same thought to her diary, and
Willisen agreed with it warmly.
The wife was as fond of traveling as the husband,
but during the first half of the summer he was kept at
home by his duties as professor, and she by her in-
terest in their own beautiful garden, and in the educa-
tion of the children. By midsummer Berlin became
unendurable to them both, and they were accustomed
* In " Kurfurst" (Elector) the first syllable means *' cure," and
the second " prince." — Trans.
268 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
to leave home usually in July with the children, who
then had their holidays. In the autumn of 1863 they
took a longer journey, to Cologne and the Swiss
Rhine, with their elder daughter Anna and Uncle Abe-
ken. Shortly before the master of the house com-
menced his lectures they returned to Berlin, where their
•delightful social life began anew. Frau Elizabeth suf-
fered from many physical ailments, especially "tic
douloureux" and had also assumed an almost oppres-
sive number of domestic, pedagogic, social and benevo-
lent duties. When she felt greatly in need of refresh-
ment she retreated for a few days to Sacrow, a pretty
and charmingly situated little village on the Havel
near Potsdam, and on returning home she would re-
sume with renewed strength the labors which awaited
her.
After the death of Jonas, the family pastor was first
Snethlage, who was then growing old, and afterwards
the vigorous and manly Court Chaplain Kogel. In
spite of his tendency to greater strictness, this latter
entirely filled the place to Frau Lepsius of the de-
ceased friend whom she so deeply lamented. After
one of his sermons (1865) she wrote in the diary: "To
be able to preach like Kogel ! I should think that the
highest earthly happiness. What a blessing for us !"
On the twenty-eighth of February, 1866, Lepsius
started on his second journey to Egypt, the details of
which are given on page 201. He was alone except
for the faithful draughtsman Weidenbach. While he
was on the way, Uncle Abeken became engaged to,
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 269
and subsequently married, Fraulein Helene von Olfers,
a daughter of the Director of the museum. The fear
lest the old friend of the house should change proved^
unfounded, for as a married man he still preserved his
old friendship for the Lepsiuses.
The master of the house returned home sooner
than he had been expected. He had given up the
journey to upper Egypt for several reasons, chief
among which was the great inundation of the Nile.
He was met at Berlin by the clang of arms. A civil
war appeared inevitable, and Bismarck was as little of
a favorite in Bendler street as in other constitutional
circles of the country, though the sagacity of Lepsius
and the information derived from Abeken, who always
regarded his chief with fervent admiration, had caused
the Lepsiuses to repose great confidence in him. At
court, too, he had many more bitter opponents and
enemies than friends, and when, shortly before the
war, Bismarck injured his foot, a gentleman who held
a situation near the Queen uttered the pointed bon-
mots, " His foot hurts him because he has gone too
far," and " The cloven hoof is showing."
But never did the feeling of a nation towards a
great man undergo such a sudden, universal and com-
plete revolution as that towards Bismarck during the
short months of the war of 1866. At that time Frau
Lepsius, with the ardent enthusiasm peculiar to herself
and with the assistance of her daughters, mande herself
most useful in the Hospital Association and still more
in the Elizabeth Hospital. The diary records the pre-
270 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
liminaries of peace with anxious interest,- and contains
the following anecdote, perhaps from the mouth of
Abeken : "At the negotiations for peace Benedetti
began to speak cautiously of slight enlargements of the
French boundaries, as Prussia was now so well rounded
out. Then Bismarck cried : * Give me that in writing !
To-morrow I must present a demand for a credit of
sixty millions for war expenses to the Chamber; with
this paper in my hand I can ask for double the sum.' "
Before the war many an angry word had been ut-
tered against Bismarck in Bendler Street, but when a
party of literati had assembled there on the twenty -
second of July, 1866, they soon began to talk of poli-
tics, and each one gave expression to the admiration
with which Bismarck's greatness inspired him. Even
Frau Lepsius praised the man whom she had previ-
ously judged none too mildly. (See page 245.) They
all agreed that it was now possible for the first time to
understand this great statesman's aims and mode of
action, and that as an envoy to the Diet he must un-
doubtedly have already grasped the idea which had
now been carried into execution in such a wonderful
manner. But Wichern thought he should have al-
lowed his great intentions to be perceived a little more
plainly, so that he might have been better understood
and not so much hated. Lepsius then rose, and re-
sponded to this opinion of the clever master of the
" reformatory," that it was the great characteristic of
Bismarck as a statesman that he knew how to keep
silence for years, and to pursue his aims quietly. A
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 271
few days before this the great Chancelor, on the occa-
sion of the celebration of victory at Kroll, had pro-
posed his beautiful toast to "The Children of Berlin,"
who were a little rash in word, but had head and
heart in the right place.
The wave of enthusiasm rolled high at that time.
Every Prussian heart beat full and quick for its King.
Lepsius had always greatly extolled his direct and
honest nature, and his clear intelligence, which could
never be confused. He was delighted therefore at the
Monarch's saying to him, " I myself proposed you,"
when he received the red order of the eagle of the
second class in 1867, on the annual celebration of the
founding of that order.
The Court Chaplain Snethlage, who had been a
faithful friend of the family, resigned his office in July,
1867, and the diary contains the following touching
anecdote : " On a certain day one of the men of his
parish comes to Snethlage, assures him of his fidelity
and reverence, and then says to him, ' But now I have
a request to make of you : Preach no more ; it will not
do any longer!' Thereupon the Court Chaplain held
his peace for a short time, and then said, 'You are
right, it will no longer do, and I will give up preach-
ing.' "
In September of the same year Lepsius went to
Paris and London with his daughters, and in the
autumn of 1869 he went to Egypt for the last time,
and chiefly on account of the celebration of the open-
ing of the Suez Canal.
272 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
When the war between Germany and France broke
out, in 1870, the oldest son, Richard, who was just ap-
proaching his examination previous to matriculation,
begged his parents to be allowed to take the field, and
both, with ardent patriotism, accorded him permission.
But he was rejected, as not yet sufficiently strong, and
therefore, after passing the examination, he visited the
arena of war but once, under the command of the
army chaplain at whose disposal he had placed him-
self. His mother meanwhile with restless zeal and the
practical ability characteristic of her, was working
for the wounded. To put herself in a prominent po-
sition was repugnant to her, her only object was to be
of real service to the hospital, and this she accom-
plished with the aid of her daughters and others upon
whom she was able to call. Many people brought
their donations to her and a large part of the linen and
clothing for the Berlin hospital, especially that for the
chief depot, was got together by her, and sewed and
made ready under her supervision. In doing this she
was able to furnish remunerative work for so many
poor women that she wrote in the diary : " That is the
only good thing about a war, that one can employ so
many needy women." She forgot that it is war which
plunges so many women into poverty.
Lepsius was always ready to give and to advise,
and delighted in all that his wife and daughters accom-
plished. The news from the seat of war was awaited
with feverish excitement, and the successes of the vic-
torious troops were celebrated with enthusiasm. The
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 273
inmates of the Lepsius house received news at first
hand from their many friends in high places. Amongst
these was now Dr. Stephan, the head of the post-office
department. The husband and wife also had a great
liking for the minister Frommel ; a divine whose ser-
mons Lepsius, who was no regular churchgoer, liked
because he " did not preach dogmatically but from and
of real life." These are Lepsius' own words, and he
esteemed Frommel not only as a divine, but as a
clever, well-informed and agreeable companion.
During the following years life flowed on more
quietly. One after the other the boys left school, and
made substantial progress in their professions. The
girls became mistresses of families and mothers, the
garden ceased to be the scene of the merry games of
childhood, the big house, deserted by many of its
younger inhabitants, became too large for those who
remained: but the old social life did not languish, and
the father, with undiminished energy, was still busied
in his work rooms. If a large number of friends was
assembled in the Lepsius salons among them was
usually the Minister of the American Republic. This
was at first the grey haired historian Bancroft, after-
wards the noble and accomplished poet, Bayard Tay-
lor, who successfully translated Faust into English,
and lastly Andrew White, the erudite and liberal-
minded promoter of science in the new world.
When Lepsius did not prefer to play chess, — often
four-handed chess, or, still better, with three players
and a dummy, — he devoted many evenings, as of old,
18
274 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
to the " Herrenkranzchen," or social club of learned
friends, in which he bore his part with pleasure, both
giving and receiving.
Lepsius belonged to the old or little " Griechheit "
during the first years of his marriage and before he
built his own house. Its members were: Lepsius, E.
Curtius, Gerhard, Abeken, Brandis, Wiese, and other
intimate friends. They read Greek classics, and so
kept up their familiarity with them and with the world
of ancient Hellas, but this was not the sole object of
the " Griechheit," which was rather intended to enable
friends of similar tastes and education to pass pleasant
and inspiring evenings together, where they might be
happy, unconstrained, and free from every sort of ped-
antry. After the reading and the discussion which
followed it, two chosen friends, the diplomat v. Schlo-
zer and the zoologist Peters, were admitted as so-called
" commensals," and they all went to supper. The
wife of the member at whose house the society met
presided at table, and often the friends remained till a
late hour over the merry meal, amidst the clinking of
glasses, and pleasant conversation.
With Abeken's late marriage in 1866, the little
" Griechheit," so dear to all its members, came to an
end, though its resurrection was celebrated some years
afterwards. But in its new form the more critical and
sharper spirit of the present learned society of Berlin
prevailed, instead of the inoffensive cheerful tone, and
the ideal humanistic thought of its predecessor. Mem-
bers of the various Faculties, Mommsen, the philoso-
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 275
pher Zeller, the mathematician Kronecker, H. Grimm,
Wattenbach, the lawyer Bruns, the archaeologist Schone,
v. Sybel, and Waitz took part in it, and among them,
as representatives of the older " Griechheit " were E.
Curtius and Lepsius. The English ambassador, Lord
Russel, the Greek ambassador, Rangabe, and George
v. Bunsen were also members.
The Wednesday or Literary Club had been
founded by Bethmann-Hollweg and Dorner, who was
also a friend of the Lepsiuses. The Berlin literati lived
at wide distances apart, and this club was begun with
the intention of enabling them to meet, and thus giving
an opportunity to those who were conducting re-
searches in the various domains of science to enrich
each other intellectually, through conversation, and
mutual communication of knowledge.
Each member was bound in turn to deliver a dis-
course upon some subject within his special department
of science. Another member had to provide the enter-
tainment, and thus the society met first at one house
and then at another. Of the old members many are
now dead; those who survive will recollect with satis-
faction the delightful evenings in which Lepsius partici-
pated with such pleasure.
To this society belonged Bethmann-Hollweg (the
president), Dorner, Braun the botanist, E. Curtius, Dun-
cker the historian, Beseler and Bruns the lawyers,
Miillenhof the student of German law, language and
history, Twesten the grey-haired and vigorous theo-
logian, Friedrichs the archaeologist, and also, for several
276 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
years, Wichern, and Bancroft the historian and Ameri-
can ambassador. Of the younger members we may
name the astronomer Forster and the geologist and
geographer v. Richthofen, who had returned from
China, bringing with him important scientific results.
After Hermann had made himself at home as president
of the Supreme Church Council in Berlin, Dorner im-
mediately inducted him into the " Wednesday Club.'*
The architect Adler also found admittance to this
select circle, which was no less attractive to Lepsius
than the " Griechheit," which met on Friday.
He scarcely went once a year to the Monday Club,
although he was a member of this very old society, to
which Nicolai had once belonged, It was composed
of officials of high rank, and a few scholars. When
there was any matter regarding which Lepsius wished
to have a personal interview with one of the former, he
was glad to go thither to find him and engage his at-
tention.
The Archaeological and Geographical Societies he
visited occasionally from scientific interest.
If we did not have Lepsius' own assurance that
nothing so refreshed him as the exhilarating intercourse
with superior men, it would be hard to understand how,
during the latter lustrums of his laborious life, he could
conduct such numerous and profound researches to
their conclusion, when we consider that he was quite
frequently bidden to the evening tea-drinkings in the
imperial palace, that even when chief librarian he was
never to be counted among the negligent members of
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 277
the Griechheit or of the Wednesday Club, and that in
addition to this he had official and social duties. But
his mind, cheered and invigorated, soon retrieved by
the active labors of the morning those evening hours
which had been spent at the " Clubs."
One after another the children had all flown from
the parental nest. A portion of the beautiful garden
had to be sold, when Hildebrand Street was made to
•connect Thiergarten Street with the grand canal. The
latter we used to know as a modest sheep pond, upon
which the green duck-weed floated like mould, and
across whose sandy shores a few isolated trees cast
their shadow. Lepsius yielded to the demands of the
growing city of Berlin, and the vigorous old man, ever
ready for new enterprises, decided to sell the dear old
house. In consequence of the great rise in its value it
had become too expensive a dwelling for its few in-
mates, especially as Lepsius had just at that time en-
countered heavy pecuniary losses. But neither he nor
his wife wished to leave the dear old home, and there-
fore they caused it to be moved, after they had found
a suitable lot of ground in Kleist Street on the borders
•of Charlottenburg, in the extreme western part of Ber-
lin. There it was once more reared, and anyone who
once knew the old house, and now seeks and finds the
new, will feel, as all of us of that generation must, that
he is under the power of a magic spell; for there
before him stands the old Lepsius homestead, just as it
was in Bendler Street. The interior too has undergone
no change, and it is not only that the new house re-
278 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
sembles the old, but, in a certain sense, it is the same,
for Lepsius did not sell the materials of which his first
dwelling-place had been constructed, and after the
new owner had torn down the scholar's home in Bend-
ler Street, in order to erect a large apartment house on
the site, Lepsius had it carried to Kleist Street, stone
by stone, door by door, and window by window, and
thus actually succeeded in living in the old house on
the new site. Unluckily, the good fortune which had
so long remained faithful to him did not follow him to
the new home. He there saw beloved members of his
family fall a prey to severe illness, and when he had
enjoyed the new dwelling for a short time he was him-
self attacked by the malignant disease which deprived
us of our revered Master, and his children of their dear
father.
But, on the other hand, the old house had fully and
completely fulfilled the destiny to which its builder had
consecrated it in a beautiful speech at the laying of the
corner-stone, August fifth, 1854. He then said, speak-
ing of his children and his wife : " This house is not
meant chiefly for us, but for our children. But for
them we should never have thought of building a
house. To them it will be the home of their parents,
where their youth will develop, therefore it shall give
them as large a portion of the fresh air of heaven and
of nature's green, as it is possible to obtain in a large
city. They will people every corner with their childish
phantasies, and throughout life their recollections will
cling to every tree and shrub."
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 279
Thus it happened; and the wife too, in the old
house, which then was new, took the very place which
he awarded her in the same speech ; " But besides the
children," he had said, " it is to the woman, to the mis-
tress of the house, that the house belongs. There in-
deed the man may often command or rebuke, but there
the woman rules. The husband will live there, but the
wife will work there, will govern and provide. Her
heart, her eye and her mouth are the true homes of
domestic peace, that beautiful jewel of a happy home.
As was said of old, she is the ' house honor; ' * that is,
upon her rests the honor of the house, and to her is due
the honor of the house. The proverb says ' Every
wise woman buildeth her house.' That has been a true
saying in this case, for many times has the whole plan
passed through the sieve of her wisdom, and each time
it has come out finer. Therefore it is just that we
should lay the foundation stone exactly here, under the
future room of the housewife, as the corner-stone of the
house's honor and the house's peace."
The children and friends were attracted to the new
home in Kleist Street as they had been to the old, and
it gave Lepsius special gratification to build a studio, as
an annex to the family dwelling, for his son Reinhold,
who had meanwhile developed into a very promising
portrait painter. In the evening of his days Lepsius saw
his two eldest sons lead home as brides the daughters
of two of his friends.
Grandchild after grandchild grew up beside the
* A German expression for housewife. — Trans.
280 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
pair who were now waxing old. The wife had many
things to attend to and to watch over, now here and
now there; during the last lustrum, too, she had to
care for her husband, whose vigorous body had been
spared by serious illness until the slight apoplectic at-
tack, already mentioned, impaired the use of his hand.
In November, 1883, when we last visited our revered
teacher and dear friend, we found him and his wife
animated and cheerful in spite of the many terrible
blows of destiny which they had encountered. His
letters, which, after the apoplectic attack, had been
written with a trembling hand, had long since exhibited
almost the same firm strokes of the pen as in earlier
days, and the writings which date from his latter years
show that his mind had retained its old elasticity and
depth. But soon after our farewell visit a disorder of
the stomach began to undermine his vigorous health,
and at the same time his mind was greatly disturbed
by the severe illness of his beloved wife.
At Easter, 1884, he felt a premonition of his ap-
proaching end and faced it with that serenity of mind
which had always distinguished him. At that time,
when, without being really ill, he began to feel weak,
he often spoke of his impending death. At Whitsun-
tide he was forced to take to his bed, and he now
steadfastly regarded his approaching departure, and
quietly prepared for it. He caused his children to be
summoned, and clearly and thoughtfully talked over
with them everything in his and their material affairs
which still required to be set in order. He made a
THE HOME OF LEPSIUS. 281
new will, as it had become necessary to change that
already in existence on account of the illness of the
faithful companion of his life, which was such as to
preclude any hope of recovery. After that he was a
little better again. The physicians believed that the
nicer of the stomach might heal, on account of the un-
usual vigor and soundness of the rest of the system :
but he did not share their hopes, although he allowed
his children to depart.
But soon afterwards the physicians became con-
vinced that the ulcer had developed into an incurable
cancer of the stomach. Nevertheless he would not
cease work, and his last efforts were devoted to his
science.
A polemic article against a Heidelberg colleague
had already been sent to press, and had been put in
type, in order that it might appear in the next number
of the Journal of Egyptian Language and Archaeology.
But before this occurred he felt the precursors of
death, and recalled the controversial paper and had
the type distributed, because he would not close his
scientific career " with a discord."
Then, while in bed, he himself corrected the last
pages of his " Linear Measures of the Ancients," and
with the same careful, indeed painful, accuracy which
had distinguished his work in the days of health. He
also directed to what persons this book should be sent.
Like a true German scholar, Lepsius died in the midst
of his labors. During the last three days he for the
first time occasionally lost his clearness of thought, in
282 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
consequence of bodily exhaustion, as for the five pre-
vious weeks he had been able to take very little nour-
ishment. His end was painless, and his failing eyes
looked round upon his children, to whom it was
granted to stand beside his deathbed. At the end he
tried to speak to his eldest son, but the brothers and
sisters could only distinguish the name " Richard."
Lepsius drew his last breath on the tenth of July,
at nine o'clock in the morning. With entire interest
and consciousness he, together with all his children,
had eight days before received the holy sacrament from
the faithful pastor of the family, the chief Court Chap-
lain, Kogel. The words spoken beside the coffin of
the deceased by that excellent divine were a model of
what a funeral discourse should be, and proved that it
had been given to Kogel to recognize fully those great
qualities of mind and heart which had ennobled the
departed.
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN.
The reader of this biography, who has followed
with us the development and the subsequent life of
Richard Lepsius, will think that he has learned in him
to know a character whose estimable and tranquil
nature needs no closer inspection. He will consider it
a simple one, and therefore of little interest. For al-
though he has followed the life of our hero step by
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN. 285
step from his school days to the climax of fame, from
childhood to an advanced old age, yet he has at no
time observed in it any noticeable alteration. The
reader has seen no great blows of destiny interrupt the
earthly existence of our friend, until a short time before
his death. Where obstacles have appeared in his path
they have been seen to sink of themselves, as if to be
the more readily surmounted. For this man Fortune
seemed to have changed her nature, fickleness to have
been transformed to fidelity, and treachery to truth.
But a perfectly happy life is like summer at the North
Pole where there is no night ; always bright, and with-
out timidity or terror. Yet, though strange, it is mo-
notonous, and therefore the longer the day endures the
more destitute is it of charm.
The great natural talents, and the fullness of years
granted to this man, were used by him wisely and pru-
dently. He left school and university with the highest
testimonials, and always fulfilled his duty with the
same active zeal and conscientious earnestness, whether
as a young scholar in Paris, Rome and London, as the
prudent chief of a great expedition which was crowned
with rare success, as the famous master and leader of a
progressive science, as a teacher at the university, as
the director of a museum, or as chief librarian. Every
honor which it was possible for him to attain fell to his
lot, and he conducted great undertakings to their con-
clusion with circumspection, energy and discernment.
From his youth up his superior character, as well as his
personal appearance and bearing, secured him esteem
284 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
and consideration, and where it was necessary for him
to lead he commanded wisely, justly, vigorously and
discreetly.
When he was six and thirty years old he found an
admirable consort, who loved him with all the warmth
of an ardent young heart, and never ceased to recog-
nize his superiority with happy pride and to honor his
great qualities. In his own home his wife ruled freely,
and yet he was ever the absolute master. Four fine
sons promised to maintain the honor of his famous
name, and his beloved daughters endowed him with
charming grandchildren. When he closed his eyes he
might say that his work, and with it his fame, would
endure as long as the science to which he had rendered
such great services. He presented his complete works
to his native town, Naumburg, that all which he had
accomplished might be preserved at his birthplace in
the Bibliotheca Lepsiana.
It is true that the story of this life shows few shad-
ows amid many lights, and he whom it presents to us
underwent no marked change during his years of ma-
turity. Nevertheless, he had not, from childhood up,
been this unimpassioned and prudent master of himself,
who knew how to control every quick impulse, that he
might follow or abandon it as his searching mind de-
cided on its worth or worthlessness. No ! for him, too,
there must have been a time when an honest man
could not have affirmed as he did to his wife in his six-
tieth year, that he never had anything to repent, be-
cause he always did that which he thought right.
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN. 285
He was considered by many to be essentially a cold
man of intellect, in whom feeling was overshadowed by
the fully developed and carefully polished mind. This
opinion sprang from his dispassionate prudence, the
well-bred reserve by which he knew how to hide the
weaker parts of his nature, the measured dignity with
which he met strangers, and the quiet and thoughtful
composure which came from his habit of always hold-
ing a dominating position and directing his own affairs
as well as those of others. To these were added the
Tmposing dignity of his figure, the clear symmetrical
outlines of his fine features, the natural grace of his
movements, the finished tones of his speech, and es-
pecially the earnest and utterly intolerant severity with
which he opposed all falsehood and injustice wherever
he encountered them. It w T as impossible to forget, too,
with what energy, wherever he held command, he
sought to reduce all that was disorderly to order, or
with what independence he, when an attempt was
made to depreciate his well won right to the director-
ship of the Museum, * unhesitatingly declared that he
would resign his professorship and leave Berlin if his
well-founded claims were not accorded to him.
Yet in spite of all this those who would deny him
warmth of soul are wrong, indeed we can maintain this
confidently, although even to his wife the qualities of
* After Lepsius had made the Egyptian collection in Berlin what
it now is, Humboldt, who was always most warmly interested in the
aspirations of talented young men, attempted to substitute as direc-
tor of the Museum, in the place of Lepsius, the young and highly
gifted H. Brugsch, who was at that time an open antagonist of Lep-
sius.
?S6
RICHARD LEPSIUS.
her husband's intellect were always more apparent than
those of his heart.
Let us hear the judgment which she pronounced
on him; not during the first ten years of marriage,
when, overflowing with love, she found in him some-
thing new to admire every day, but after she had
shared the pleasures and pains of life with him for
nearly a quarter of a century, and had come to feel with
bitterness that she would never succeed in leading him
to the same conception of a strictly Christian and con-
trite life which she had herself arrived at many years
before.
She had sought once more, on Christmas eve, 1869,
to win him over to the charms of that pious faith in
miracles which filled her own soul, and to lead him to
that fountain " whence alone flowed strength and hap-
piness for her." He answered her that she should not
desire impossibilities, and should hold to that which
was good in him, as he gladly contented himself with
the many things that were excellent in her. There-
upon she wrote, " Truth and uprightness are family-
virtues of the Lepsius race. They have usually serene
and well disposed natures, noble minds, which despise
everything that is trivial, and a strong sense of honor.
Richard adds to these a disposition to mediate and
reconcile which makes him greatly beloved. Intelli-
gence and clear sobriety of thought prevail among all
the brothers and sisters. Richard has attained self-
control and moderation amongst the manifold relations
of life, and to this his prudence and his knowledge
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN. 287
have added. Vain he is not; in short an homme
comme il faut. At every moment he does what he
thinks right, and therefore never has anything to repent
of, (he once told me so himself.)" She then calls his
character a well-regulated and symmetrical one, with a
prevailing intellectual tendency, and, (we repeat), she
exclaims after a married life of four and twenty years,
and speaking with irritation, " If there were even any
positive faults that I had to bear in Richard — but
there are no faults, he has none, it is only community
of faith which I miss."
In this analysis of his character there are certainly
many words of warm appreciation, and indeed his up-
rightness was such that every judgment, every expres-
sion of opinion which we hear him utter either publicly
or in writing to his acquaintances, corresponds exactly
to what is contained in confidential letters to his family,
and the memoranda intended for himself alone. But
his own wife sees in him only the well-meaning, fault-
less and stainless man of intellect, and forgets that for
him, too, there must have been a time when he had to
strive against those impulses and emotions to which
few men are strangers. Regarding this conflict he had
written to her in former years a beautiful and perfectly
unreserved letter.
In this document, which gives us a key to the un-
derstanding of both his intrinsic and his external quali-
ties, he writes : " I recognize an impulsive disposition
as an old fault in myself, and I think I have observed
it also in you. Impulsiveness is often beautiful and
288 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
charming, and often resembles, in a small way, that
which, on a large scale, is among the most splendid
products of human inspiration and noble self-sacrifice.
But it does not go deep, is not enduring in action, dis-
sipates itself for inferior aims, impedes the quiet and
blessed development of those tender and precious
germs of grace, resignation, cheerful peace, and ready-
receptivity for whatever is good in all things and men,
which slumber in every well-disposed nature. An im-
pulsive temperament shows itself in every quick emo-
tion which outruns kindness, in hasty judgment which
so easily becomes prejudice, in a variable temper, upon
which the blood should have no influence, in a ten-
dency to complaint, against oneself as well as against
others, and in love of criticism of oneself and others.
On this account the diaries which I have sometimes
kept have only helped me on the wrong way. The
best remedy for an impulsive nature, and one which
never fails in the long run, is a determination strength-
ened by religious conviction and faith to acknowledge
to ourselves every disagreeable, disturbing, passionate
impulse as wrong and unworthy of ourselves, and
simply to put it aside, without regret and without con-
sidering ourselves martyrs. Besides this, there is great
benefit in a regard for external forms, and refined,
gentle manners. These require for their outer clothing
freedom from passion, delicate and careful considera-
tion, and an upright endeavor to reach what is really
unattainable, and please all at once, except the wicked.
Jt is an enviable thing to please whether among cour-
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN. 289
tiers or in a students' tavern, and yet to be neither a
courtier nor rude. As you see, I say all these and a
great many more things like them to myself, but do not
follow them much in practice."
This beautiful monition from a rigorously truthful
man contains the confession that impulsiveness was an
old fault of his own. But it includes at the same time
a strong condemnation thereof, and a summons to
battle against it. The remedy which he here declared
to be efficacious he had tried on himself, and who
knows with what grievous struggles he arrived at that
dominion over the impulses of a strong nature, that re-
straint of external forms, and the practice of those re-
fined and well-bred manners, which already distin-
guished him when he came to Rome, and which
awakened the regard of Frau v. Bunsen (See page 98).
It was certainly his honest and firm will and his manly
strength, which led him to victory, but not these alone,
for through his admonition we can hear the echo of
Luther's " Nothing is done by our own- might, ....
may the Right Man aid us in the fight." His firm trust
in God, his simple but genuine Christianity, free from
every misinterpretation, self-torment and extravagance,
supported him in that hard conflict.
In the beginning of his twentieth year he had
already set before himself his ideal of life, and this, sup-
ported by the energy of his harmoniously constituted
nature, he pursued to the end, first with struggle and
conflict, and finally without any extraordinary effort,
and as if of his own free will.
19
290 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
In Paris, on the occasion of the unveiling of the
Vendome column (Page 61) he wrote: "What can
make a deeper impression than the strength of mind
which shows itself in a composed bearing and an ex-
pression of control, in contrast with the unbridled pas-
sions of "similar human minds." To win this " com-
posed bearing," to acquire perfect command over
unbridled impulses, was the aim of all his labor with
himself. No, the character of a Lepsius did not come
into the world as a thing completed, did not spring like
Pallas Athene from the head of Zeus : it was won by
hard, prolonged and repeated struggles.
In this campaign against an adversary who, how-
ever often he may be slain, continually wakens to new
life, he accustomed himself to consider impulsiveness
as an enemy, as a peace-breaker, as a disease of sound
human nature. This latter, to his eyes, could only be
truly great when ruled by calm self-control. Here we
find an explanation of the words which he wrote to
Bunsen when twenty-nine years old, and which must
appear paradoxical and startling to the uninitiated.
During his sojourn in England in 1839 his heart had
been won by a lovely maiden, but his material circum-
stances would not permit him to woo her. All this he
confessed to his sympathetic patron in reply to his en-
quiries, and added, " I hold every passion to be a de-
fect in love, and why shall I, at the very outset, declare
myself too weak to preserve the purity of true love, and
keep it from cooling into passion ?"
To all asceticism the healthy nature of this man,
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN. 29 1
with his keen enjoyment of life, was a stranger, but for
him the words "impulse" and "impulsiveness" had
come to embody everything which transgresses the
limits of an orderly and law-abiding life, everything
which compels the rider, who should seek to govern
his steed and guide it according to his will, to follow
the animal instead wherever it may bear him. He
at least knew how to compel the steed to submission.
In England he seems to have shed warm heart's blood
in his effort to obtain the mastery over himself. There,
where he found friendship, love, and the fullest inspira-
tion, we often see him dissatisfied with himself, and
hear him complain of " faint-heartedness and every
sort of bondage." (See page ioo). He chiefly means
here by " bondage " his faulty control over the power-
ful impulses of his nature, which he endeavors to sub-
due. Here he confesses to Bunsen (See page 127),
that he daily feels he has not yet passed beyond the
period of education.
His vivacious wife was astonished, when he was a
mature man, to behold him rule over himself with en-
tire and sovereign power, and guide the ship of his and
her life. She was often forced to give expression to
what she felt at this sight. " Richard," she says,
" always the same, I always depressed or excited."
On one occassion she compares herself with her hus-
band in a different way, and says : " It is very true that
it is better and makes one's path easier through life, to
be so passionless. One does not hope for too much,
one is not so timid, one is not so much troubled, one
292 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
does not have to struggle so much. But that is the
way I am made, and at the bottom, I would not even
care to be so self-poised ; if one has a harder struggle,
one has also more ardor and heartfelt delight."
But the nature of this man cannot be called so per-
fectly self-poised, for he was as much beloved as a
companion as he was esteemed as a scholar. He
never showed in his manner the least trace of ped-
antry, and, as she herself had previously acknowledged,
(See page 247) he gave himself up entirely and thor-
oughly to everything in which he engaged, whether it
was social pleasures or the most serious affairs.
The admirable method of life which he recom-
mends as a means of subduing unruly impulses, distin-
guished him to the end. It was his fortune to be
equally a welcome guest whether at the imperial court
or amidst the gay ringing of glasses in the friendly
circle, and this was because he was able to take part in
the sharpest exchange of opinions, and to experience
the heartiest pleasure, without exceeding the limits of
good breeding. He could play with his children and
knew how to establish himself in their youthful souls.
His student comrades remained the friends of his old
age, and his travelling companions, over whom he had
ruled as a leader, clung to him with affection until his
or their death. Who ever showed greater fidelity or
firmer friendship than he did towards those equals and
colleagues who had come into close relations with him
in scientific matters or in family intercourse? They
remained closely linked to him in the bonds of affec-
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN. 293
tion for decades. From his school-days on, he felt the
need of friendship, and when a youth in Paris he gave
expression to his thoughts on friendship, and wrote :
" A circle of four friends bears the same relation to one
of three that a four-legged table bears to a three-
legged. Thus two friends form a line and three a sur-
face." His choice of friends fell exclusively on men of
intellectual prominence, but the " intellectual " in its
modern, and especially in its Berlin, sense, was repug-
nant to him. Manfully did he defend the interests of
those whom he knew to be men of ability and of
whose labors he had availed himself. After the de-
signer Weidenbach had done him invaluable service in
Egypt and in the preparation of the great work on
monuments and the embellishment of the museum at
Berlin, he was left without employment. Lepsius
wished to procure him a permanent situation in the
museum, and with good right, for his best years had
been passed entirely in works ordered by the govern-
ment, and these he had executed in the best possible
manner and without regard to the more lucrative situ-
ations which were offered him. Nevertheless the Min-
ister, v. Raumer, coolly refused the petition for this very
deserving artist, with the remark that Weidenbach
might look for some other employment. Thereupon
Lepsius replied to the high official, who was a man of
strict piety but little human feeling, and whose ministry
has long been recognized as pernicious, " So you think
as Talleyrand did, who to the appeal of a suppliant
*" Mais ilfaut pourta?it que je vive" replied : " Je lien
294 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
vols pas la necessite" Lepsius knew how to procure
the desired situation for his protege, in spite of Raumer,
and Weidenbach filled it admirably to the end.
How is it conceivable the man lacked feeling who,
during his whole lifetime, was the object of the warmest
attachment from men of such tender feeling as Bunsen,
the Grimms, Carl Ritter, Ernest Curtius, Max Miiller,
and many others. Who can venture to accuse of
heartlessness the man who knew how to win the hearts
of the best men and women, as he did ? On October
17th, 1838, Frau v. Bunsen wrote to Abeken from
Llanover : " Lepsius has won the first place in the
heart of my mother, (a truly venerable old lady of
great experience) and is praised and admired in differ-
ent degrees by all." And from how many friends and
relations who did not live in Berlin do we hear that it
was a festival for them when they received a visit from
this great man, who, with all his personal dignity, was
most cheerful and sympathetic. His own mother had
died early (1819), but his father had married her
younger sister, and had found in her a worthy com-
panion for himself, and the most faithful, loving and
discreet care-taker and educator for his children that
could have been imagined. After the death of the
President of the Court the widow's share of his prop-
erty amounted to so much that Frau Julie's future ap-
peared to be assured. Nevertheless, her stepson
Richard, our Lepsius, with the cordial assent of his
noble wife, immediately declared himself ready to re-
nounce in her favor the not inconsiderable inheritance
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN. 295
which would fall to his own share. The old lady did
not accept this gift, but Richard appears to have been
always the favorite among her stepsons. Do I need
to recall the fatherly love and fidelity which he showed
to the adopted danghter, whom he brought up with his
own six children ?
Before us lies a large quarto volume beautifully
bound. It contains in forty-eight manuscript pages an
excellent description of Thebes. This is entitled : " A
cyclorama of Thebes, sent as a greeting from the dis-
tance to my dear parents on their silver wedding,
April, 1845."* The whole has the appearance of a
" festal congratulation," such as children offer to their
parents, and its beautiful penmanship evinces the most
loving care. Yet the author and writer was no less a
person than the celebrated leader of a great expedition
and was then four and thirty years old. The conclu-
sion of this " congratulation " runs thus :
"•We close to-day, with the week, both our sojourn
and our labors in the Memnonia of ancient Thebes.
They have kept us fully occupied for fourteen weeks.
To-morrow, as a farewell to our Theban capital, I in-
tend to celebrate a little festival, which I have privately
arranged. It will be on the top of our hill, where this
description was written. I am going to have a new
tent raised there and have it decked with green pen-
nons, and will share these pages with my travelling
companions, as a little celebration of your wedding
* The bride of the silver wedding was of course not the mother
but the stepmother (and also aunt) of our Lepsius. (See page 294.)
296 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
feast. They are accustomed to feel a friendly sym-
pathy in all that nearly concerns or moves me, and
therefore in you. Thus, in the immediate enjoyment
and observation of this beautiful and remarkable scene,
we will once more impress the principal points upon
our memories before our departure. We will remember
you and the large family circle, which, we hope, will
have gathered from the south and the north to sur-
round you in undisturbed happiness. But I shall think
of you most vividly, since I cannot myself hand to you
both this greeting from the Nile. But so much the
more impatiently do I hope to follow it in a few
months."
These words were written by a warm-hearted man,
and to them he appends the following significant
verses :
For science, though with effort strong we see
Her seek a lofty goal,
Though from its chains she wakes, and quick sets free,
The darkened soul,
Yet still has but a cold and borrowed light,
Like moonshine pale,
If the heart's breath of life be wanting quite,
If warm love fail !
We have already repeatedly shown the beautiful
and intimate relation which bound Lepsius to his
father, and pointed out how zealously he ever tried to
impart to his father everything that could please or in-
terest him. He never forgot what he owed to the
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN. 297
guide of his youth and childhood, — and it was not
little. Above all others, the gift which he had received
from his father was the strong love of truth and order
by which he was distinguished. It was not only that
this lightened his most difficult labors, but it rather made
many of them possible. Hand in hand with this went
the painstaking accuracy with which he worked. He
never laid aside anything which was not entirely com-
pleted and finished up to the last detail. Thence it
comes, for exampje, that the second and third volumes
of his chronology, announced in the preface, were
never* published. He had begun important prepara-
tory works for them, but as these were not entirely fin-
ished he only gave them to the press in detached
monographs, which he could regard as completed. If,
with the exception of the Decree of Canopus, and a
portion of the seventeenth chapter of the Book of the
Dead, we possess no continuous translation of hiero-
glyphic texts by him, this circumstance is also to be
explained by his dislike to letting anything leave his
hand and go to press which contained flaws or was not
perfectly completed and filled out. All that he trans-
lated from ancient Egyptian into German gives the
most sufficient evidence of his mastery of this branch
also, but the critical philologist never prevailed upon
himself to deliver a line which was only half known as
one that was known. The fragment of his translation
of the " Book of the Dead " which we have previously
mentioned, and which has for its basis a critical com-
parison of all the texts obtainable, shows much greater
298 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
ability than the translation of the entire " Book of the
Dead " which has recently been prematurely attempted
by a later Egyptologist.
It would be an error to call Lepsius a genius. He
lacked the strong imagination, the winged creative
power which achieves feats that soar beyond the con-
ception of men of pure understanding, as well as the in-
difference to the things of this world and the ardent tem-
perament of a genius. But he was a man of talent of
the first order, with wonderful intensity of intellect, and
the rarest strength of will and capability for learning
and work. Besides this he was not only, as his wife
said, an " homme comme il fant" that is, a man fitted
to appear in society, but also the model of a scholar,
and what is more, of a man. It is true that warm feel-
ing is necessary for the latter, and we remain true to
our conviction that he possessed this.
In his Parisian diary, which was intended for him-
self alone, he tells of the fall of a platform on the occa-
sion of a public festival. A boy, who was a stranger
to him, was injured by it ; he took him in his carriage,
and subsequently wrote : " I held him afterwards for a
long time in my arms, so that at least he should see
something of the unveiling of the statue." On the
25th of July, 1834, he wrote in the same journal: "A
disagreeable and entirely unfounded slander will per-
haps put an end to my Egyptian project," and imme-
diately afterwards : " Heap coals of fire on the head of
thy enemy."
This is what we call " kind-hearted," this is chris-
RICHARD LEPSIUS AS A MAN. 299
tian in the right sense of the word. He had absolute
control of the property and never restricted the benefi-
cence of his wife, half of whose life was devoted to the
care of the poor and the like occupations. Even such
sums as five hundred thalers he willingly gave away
when it was a question of saving a poor family. Just
as he visited me as a teacher, and gave me a portion
of his precious time, when a protracted illness prevented
my going out of the house, so did he seek out in the
hospital a needy scholar as soon as he heard of his
severe illness, and there extend to him the most cordial
assistance, though the young man had never been per-
sonally intimate with him, and had not been, like me,
recommended to him by a Grimm. And how many
such things, which never came to my knowledge, could
be told of him !
Although those who cling to the letter of the faith
would not approve his Christianity, yet his life was a
truly christian one. He ever made an open confes-
sion of faith in God and Christ, he took, whenever he
felt the need for it, the holy sacrament, he experienced
in himself the blessings which Christianity had brought
into the world, he recognized them in history, and he
allowed his children to be educated by his pious wife
without opposition. He declared to her, to Trumpp,
and to others, that the highest duty of human beings
was " to love God above all others, and one's neighbor
as oneself." The new conquests of natural science
had no power to shake his faith in God, although he
followed them with interest after two of his sons had
300 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
devoted themselves to such studies. When doubts
arose in him he imposed upon his own acute mental
powers the task of dissipating them, and an interesting
composition was found among his papers, in which he
attempts to subvert the two principal propositions in
an eloquent masterpiece of Bois-Reymond's * which
had disturbed his mind.
There has gone to the grave in Lepsius a true man,
a noble and admirable human being, and, (if we except
the last years of his life) a fortunate one ; a man who
was among the greatest, most zealous, and most suc-
cessful scholars of his time, and whose name and works
will outlast the centuries. We will close this biography
with the earnest and reverential words addressed to us
by G. Maspero, the greatest of living French Egyp-
tologists and the worthy successor of Mariette in the
guardianship of all the monuments and excavations in
Egypt, after he had received the intelligence of the de-
parture of our Senior Master.
"Lepsius" he says, "e'tait un des derniers survi-
vants. de notre dge heroique, et il avait ete pendant
longtemps notre maitre a tous. Je ne demande qu'une
chose pour mon compte : c'est que plus tard au mo-
ment ou Von en sera venu a dire pour moi ce que je
dis pour lui, on puis se affirmer que fai fait pour la sci-
ence la moi tie de ce qu 'il a fait pour elle."
# " On the Limits of Natural Knowledge." The conclusion to
which Lepsius came was that the true limits of the knowledge of
nature coincide with the limits of human capacity for knowledge in
general. Beyond these limits he finds, as we know from other utter-
ances, room for his living God.
3 oi
APPENDIX I.
THE GOTTINGEN INSURRECTION.
Gottingen, Dec. 8th~9th (1830),
About two o'clock at night.
I finally despatched the letter in which I wrote
you of the mutterings of the revolution ; it broke out
here at midday, with the striking of the twelve o'clock
bell. There was a great outcry on the streets.
" Revolution, Revolution !" they snouted ; we rushed
to the market-place, which was already filled with
citizens and students ; they stormed the town-hall and
occupied it; in a trice all the booths were torn down
and the goods packed up in the greatest haste. I hur-
ried to my friend Kreiss, the Frenchman, whose win-
dows look directly on the market-place and the town-
hall. It was a remarkable scene; above and below,
here, there, and everywhere, glittered sabres and rifles ;
guards were posted on the steps which led to the col-
onnade in front of the town-hall. Men in black, with
long green, blue and red sashes, bustled about under
the colonnade, and looked consequential ; one man
was carrying away a pole with a big piece of sail-cloth ;
they tore it from him and wanted to use it for a
banner, and there was a great deal of laughing and
joking. A number of details, to be seen and heard at
every step, I cannot mention here. More guns ap-
302 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
peared, sabres, broadswords, rapiers, muskets, rifles,
pistols, clubs ; every man armed himself and they all
rushed to the town-hall, to inscribe their names blindly
on the lists. These were presented to the citizens and
students by the chief revolutionists, especially a Dr. v.
Rauschenblatt, who had quarrelled publicly with Pro-
fessor Hugo, and had been forbidden to read with the
students. No one knew what he wanted, or what the
spectacle was for. Westphal, the superintendent of
police, immediately resigned his office, to prevent acts
of violence. As far as I could hear, the citizens par-
ticularly demanded a better observance of the constitu-
tion and its improvement. They wished that the
authorities should render an account of the revenues,
which they had neglected to do for a number of years,
that the high taxes should be reduced, and the excise
abolished. So said those who had anything at all to
say. V. Rauschenblatt with his aids had long since
been denounced by the burghers, and therefore sought
to win over the students. He made fiery revolutionary
speeches in the town-hall. "The rule of Liberalism,"
" Overthrow of Servilism throughout the land," and
such like general phrases appealing to the ear, were
constantly repeated, and it was plain to see that this
eccentric man in thus stirring up the people either had
no clear and rational grasp of the situation, or else was
pursuing his own egotistical aims. After a while none
but armed men were allowed to sign; all the shops
where swords were sold were bought out, there was no
one left without some sort of weapon. I should often
have been forced to laugh at all this hocus-pocus and
madness, if I had not been vexed at it, for so far I did
not believe that it would lead to any serious conse-
quences.
Then they marched in rank and file to v. Poten,
the commandant of the city, to demand that the mili-
APPENDIX.
3°3
tary, who had been ordered out for this evening,
should not be admitted, and that a National Guard
should be organized. This was conceded. The citi-
zens remained at the town-hall, the students went to
another spot, where v. Rauschenblatt divided them into
bands, and assigned them the senior members of the
societies for leaders. It was reported everywhere that
Professor Langenbeck would place himself at their
head, but there were still very few of them who knew
where, how or why. All the students actually as-
sembled in front of Langenbeck's house, and hurrahed
for him, with a frightful clamor and clashing of swords.
He showed himself at the window, and begged them
all to sign together. Meanwhile the gate had long
been closed and guarded, the soldiers had been dis-
missed, and were keeping quiet. When three hundred
had signed, (and I among them, as the sole object was
to keep peace and order,) v. Rauschenblatt came up
with some of his adherents, and assured everybody that
it was no longer necessary to sign : the only object was
to lead the people astray, and to make use of them
once more for the promotion of " Servilism." They
did not need court counsellors at their head to lead
them : every one who signed here was faithless to his
previous signing at the town-hall, and deserted the true
cause, and so on ; also no one must go at seven o'clock
to the Rohns, (an inn and n\eeting-hall) whither the
court counsellor Langenbeck had summoned us all.
By this time it was already dark, all the streets were
full of tumult. Heads were thick in the market-place.
At the town-hall stood the musicians and played the
Marseillaise, and then again God save the King, and
then Lutzow's hunting song, and the barcarolle, and
students' songs. The crowd continually hurrahed and
shouted and howled. I passed once over the piazza
before the town-hall, always with a broadsword of
304 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
course, for without it one could not get through any-
where. Rauschenblatt was standing above, and giving
one vivat after another for freedom and equality. It
was nearly seven o'clock. As I passed the demagogue
I asked him " which way," for we had heard of some
other place where the revolutionists were assembling.
" Only not to the Rohns," he said hastily, " we will
now march round the town." Then the music had to
go in front, and the whole crowd behind it. Wherever
they passed they cried, " Bring out the lights !" The
market-place had been already illuminated for a long
time. Meanwhile it snowed hard. Soldiers had sev-
eral times come before the gates, but because these
were locked, and Poten himself ordered them off, they
went away again. Then it struck seven, and I, always
a good citizen, hastened with my friends to the Rohns.
At first there were few there; the music had drawn
most of the people to the other side, but it filled up
more and more. I could already hear how the men
were dividing up into different parties, for it was easy
to understand that the revolutionists would disturb us.
Now came Langenbeck and summoned us to form a
national guard to maintain peace and order as they
had done in Leipsic. Then a couple of violent
brawlers took sides against him, and would hear
nothing of it; "We shall join the townspeople," they
cried, " Here we are citizens ! We don't want to be
nothing but academicians !" and so on. Langenbeck
became undecided in his utterances, he did not wish to
hear of any meddling with politics, they must let the
townsmen do as they liked, not oppose them and not
help them. But he had not presence of mind enough
to give his opinions positively and strongly. Then
Rauschenblatt pushed through the crowd, and Langen-
beck became much confused. They got into a violent
altercation, a fearful din was raised on all sides, we
APPENDIX. 305
hurrahed for Langenbeck and the other men for
Rauschenblatt, sabres and broadswords were drawn, so
that the whole hall clattered; an instantaneous reflec-
tion of it would have made a splendid picture. I will
not make you anxious by telling how I came forward
and expressed my opinion, but it must be remembered
that so far there had been no danger, as in the whole
town there was no longer any one for the rioters to
turn against, and therefore there was no bloody dis-
turbance of the peace to fear. Some shots which were
fired gave a little anxiety, but amounted to nothing.
Langenbeck then got up on the table, but did not stay
long on this platform and went away; he certainly
might have managed his affairs better. Rauschenblatt
now spoke much more forcibly and coherently — at
least it sounded so to the ear; at the same time he
brandished his pistols and talked of traitors, and then
he went away too. But a great many were still left.
They had not seen Langenbeck go out ; he was loudly
called for, for the men there were mostly his followers ;
the few revolutionists who remained only interrupted
at intervals the appropriate and forcible remarks of the
tutor, Goschen, who had now climbed on to the table
and continued to speak in the same strain as Langen-
beck. He bade them resolve above all to preserve
peace and order for this night. Meanwhile the seniors
of the societies had already come to an agreement, had
set a .main watch, and then sent out sentinels and
patrols. On the whole the temper of the students
seemed to have moderated, and our party to have in-
creased in comparison with the revolutionists, who had
at first been much more numerous. Then we went to
Goschen's (that is, some acquaintances and I) and eat
our supper. Afterwards we went again to Langenbeck,
who had meanwhile been to the main watch with the
tutor, to take him again to the Rohns, as had been de-
306 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
cided on. But this was not done, and we now set a
watch in Langenbeck's auditorium which is at the side
of his house, stationed a guard of twelve men round
his house, and took turns in patrolling through the
town. Who goes there? Patrol or sentinel of the
night watch, or this or that, was perpetually resounding
through the streets; a drunken citizen was escorted
home, we visited guards and gates, in short until two
o'clock I was constantly on my legs, and now I am
writing this to you immediately. But what I wish is
that you should have no anxiety about me, for indeed
I am not wanting in prudence ; besides the whole affair
up to now has not taken on any dangerous character,
because there is no object for it. To-morrow, or rather
early to-day, about nine o'clock we are to be at the
Rohns again.
Sunday, Midday,
About one o'clock.
Langenbeck's guard has long been removed. The
societies join the citizens under the seniors and Rau-
schenblatt. Langenbeck had still a large party at the
Rohns this morning at nine o'clock; he called dele-
gates from the societies into his house, where several
professors were assembled. The seniors who came,
(there were but few of them) seemed to have become
more moderate. Then Langenbeck went once more
to the town-hall. There were assembled in the senate
chamber the deputies of the town and other citizens
and students, who now played quite a role. We guarded
the door; Rauschenblatt, Dr. Schuster, Eyting and
other revolutionists were inside; Langenbeck wished
APPENDIX
3°7
to come to an understanding with them, and stayed in
there a long time, there was a very violent dispute, but
he came out again without having settled anything,
and he said himself that he must now withdraw, and
that his party had dissolved. I, and most of my
friends except Gravenhorst, will join nobody, not even
the societies. — At the same time a general revolution
has broken out all over Hanover. If it becomes more
serious here I will perhaps leave the town, but so far
there has been no danger; and perhaps the whole
revolution will pass over quietly. I will write to you
soon again, until then
Your Richard.
Among the letters to his father is the certificate
signed by General von dem Busche, which permitted
Lepsius to remain longer in Gottingen. For many
students this tempest in a tea-pot was to have very dis-
agreeable consequences, for a rescript from the King
dated January nth, 1831, commanded all Hanoverian
subjects studying in Gottingen to leave the town im-
mediately. Those who should remain in spite of this
were deprived of all right to any situation in the public
service of the King. The foreigners among the stu-
dents were also expelled, and could only obtain per-
mission for a longer stay by means of special interces-
sions. " Above all " the lectures were stopped until
Easter.
3 o8
APPENDIX II.
Lepsius' Report to the Berlin Royal Academy
of Sciences on the Commencement of his
Egyptological Studies.
Somewhat more than a year and a half ago I
began the study of Egyptian antiquity by the path
which had been substantially opened to modern science,
and firmly trodden by her, since Champollion's impor-
tant discoveries regarding phonetic hieroglyphs. I
did so with a generally diffused doubt as to the sound-
ness of the new doctrine which had been almost ex-
clusively founded and embraced by a French scholar.
The system of Champollion was a purely empirical
one, which had not yet been reduced to order. It
affirmed more than it proved, and appealed to me less
at the beginning, in proportion as I had become accus-
tomed in those of my previous studies which related
especially to philology, to seek organic coherence in
science, and only to admit as a foundation therefor
reasons of intrinsic worth. I began with the Precis
hieroglyphique, as the most comprehensive statement of
the new discovery, and found on every side assertions
which seemed to me undemonstrable, and evidence
which seemed to me imperfect. I reserved to myself
some doubts as to the reading of the names Ptolemy
and Berenice, which would need to be solved to satisfy
reasonable criticism. But in the phonetic hieroglyphs
the substitution of the vowels seemed to me too arbi-
trary, and the mixing of the phonetic with the figurative
APPENDIX. 309
and symbolical hieroglyphs, to represent one and the
same word, seemed quite inadmissable. In my earlier
palaeographic researches amongst occidental and orien-
tal writings I had always found the strictest economy
and a surprising significance in the original signs for
the sounds, united with an accuracy which has hitherto
been far too little regarded. But here I had to accus-
tom myself to a superfluity, I might say a prodigality,
of signs, which yet only imperfectly attained their
object, and therefore seemed so much the more to be
chosen arbitrarily and multiplied in a chaotic manner.
Nevertheless, I did not allow myself to be dis-
couraged from proceeding further, because at the same
time I saw plainly that there were many things which
were incontestably correct, and I also believed that I
had found a coherence in the system, and several iso-
lated proofs of it, which had escaped the discoverer
himself. Thence I began to believe that it was a ques-
tion of method, and that it was only necessary to sep-
arate the certain from the uncertain in order to make
clear the true condition of affairs, and the real extent
of what had so far been achieved on this field. Here
other workers had preceded me, some of whom sided
with and some against Champollion. More especially
since the French Expedition an immense literature
has begun to investigate, describe, and profit by every
aspect of Old and New Egypt. By making myself as
thoroughly as possible acquainted with this, I endeav-
ored to keep myself as free as possible from a one-sided
apprehension and criticism of hieroglyphics, and of
Egyptian learning in general, so far as it rests upon
native authorities.
A problem which was to be solved above all others
concerned the Coptic language. Even the purely his-
torical researches in the " Recherches sur la langue et
2a literature de Pligypte" by Etienne Quatremere had
3IO RICHARD LEPSIUS.
not been able to satisfy me regarding the identity of
this tongue with the ancient Egyptian, or, at least, its
direct descent therefrom. But on a closer acquaint-
ance with this language, and its application on the
hieroglyphic and demotic monuments, every doubt must
be dispelled as to its being the sole key to the ancient
language of the Egyptians, and the only one which
could lead to the end in view. I have since applied
myself chiefly to the study of the Coptic language, to
which I also felt myself especially attracted by my pre-
vious linguistic studies. Within a few days there have
arrived in Paris the last sheets of a Coptic lexicon which
has been prepared from the most copious sources by
Amadeo Peyron, and shows extensive learning. From
the first I have directed my labors on the Coptic tongue
to the end of preparing a grammar of that language,
especially intended to lighten the study of hiero-
glyphics, and in accordance with the philological sci-
ence of the present day.
In order to give you, most highly esteemed Herr
General Secretary, a comprehensive idea of the course
of my studies up to the present time in the department
in question, I must further mention two circumstances,
which were especially favorable to me. One was my
sojourn in Paris, which is the place altogether best
adapted to obtaining an initiation into Egyptian an-
tiquity. The first broad foundation for this science was
laid on the part of the French in the " Description de
VJigypte." A French scholar first procured access to
the native monuments of Egypt, and for a number of
years he was the center of Egyptian studies on account
of his admirable talent, which seemed made for the de-
ciphering of the Egyptian monuments. 1 need not say
that for these reasons there can • be no lack in Paris of
the most perfect aids to study, as regards both litera-
ture and monuments. But that to which I attribute
APPENDIX.
3"
yet greater weight is that there is always a large num-
ber of men assembled there who take the most lively
and direct interest in the discoveries of their country-
man, and are in a position to give thorough informa-
tion, generally directed by their own opinions, on all
the different parts and details. They were frequently
more instructive to me through their conversation than
any books could have been. I often felt there the
great value of the viva voce correction of many unavoid-
able errors in the judgment of persons, objects and
facts. These are of far greater importance in so young
a science than in one which has been long founded.
As a second favorable circumstance I would mention my
early acquaintance with a young, learned and talented
man, Francois Salvolini. For ten years he educated
himself exclusively for the study of hieroglyphics under
the personal direction of Champollion, he took copies
of the most important drawings and manuscript works
of his teacher, part of which are still inaccessible to the
public, and with the greatest liberality he opened to
me his important collections, and allowed me the freest
use of them. Under the auspices of the Sardinian
government he is occupying himself with a comprehen-
sive work on the Rosetta inscriptions, specimens of
which he communicated to me. He also gave me a
verbal explanation of the details. I thus became ac-
quainted in the most rapid and thorough manner with
the real value of the system of Champollion, and the
development which it has thus far attained. It is true
that the principal doubts which I had entertained were
not entirely removed, but I believed in the difficulties,
which still remained to see, not a refutation of the sys-
tem, but only a want of completeness. Especially I
became aware that many difficulties might be removed
when some other linguistic standpoint than that pre-
viously employed should be adopted.
312 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
At the same time it seemed to me of the greatest
importance to come to a positive opinion as to the re-
lation of the Egyptian language to the other civilized
languages of the ancient world, and to my great satis-
faction I have now arrived at the conviction that the
primitive Egyptian language is by no means so far re-
moved from the Semitic and Indo-Germanic as, on a
superficial examination, it has hitherto been almost uni-
versally considered. I believe that I shall not in all
subsequent investigations into Egyptian antiquity allow
myself to lose sight of this comparative point of view,
since the great interest which the history of Egyptian
civilization offers, as one of the most ancient of which
we have a general historical knowledge, is without
doubt greatly increased when we learn to know it also
in its original relation to other civilizations. It also
seems to me a worthy and useful task to draw the
Egyptian people within the circle of those great groups
of nations, whose most ancient history has in modern
times acquired an altogether different aspect by means
of the comparison of languages. 1 propose to preface
my Coptic grammar with a special chapter on the rela-
tion of the Egyptian to the Semitic and Indo-Germanic
primitive languages. I most respectfully beg you, Herr
General Secretary, to present to the most favorable
consideration of the very worshipful Academy two
treatises in which I have attempted to prove the lin-
guistic relationship of these two families of language.
These papers treat of distinct points which would find
no place in the Coptic Grammar. The first relates to
the numerical words, the second to the arrangement of
the alphabet, among the different nations.
Thus I have chiefly made use of my sojourn in
Paris to acquire a general knowledge of Egyptian
science, and am thereby placed in a position to adopt
a decided course for the future according to the needs
APPENDIX. 313
which seem to me most urgent, and to those abilities
of my own which I believe to have been best developed
by my previous studies. Therefore it now becomes a
matter of special importance, in order to arrive at the
best possible conclusions of my own, to procure correct
copies of the numerous Egyptian monuments scattered
about through the various French museums, and es-
pecially in Italy.
To undertake a journey to Italy for this purpose
must be all the more desirable for me since a corres-
ponding member of the Academy, whose name will
always be mentioned beside that of Champollion as
one of the most distinguished promoters of Egyptian
science, H. P. Rosellini of Pisa, has offered, with the
most noble disinterestedness, to reveal to me the rich
treasures which he has brought back from Egypt, and,
under his own invaluable guidance, to place them at
my service. *
Since I could not have been able to undertake this
journey on my own resources, I have to thank the
resolves of the most worshipful Academy alone, if I
can directly pursue the object which is the aim of my
scientific career. I must appreciate the more pro-
foundly the special encouragement which I have thus
received as up to the present time I have been able to
present no sort of security on my part to the most wor-
shipful Academy. For this reason I will make all the
more conscientious use of the appropriation granted me.
I will from time to time lay before the most worshipful
Academy an account of the expenditure thereof, and
seek to prove myself worthy of the confidence which
has been shown me by the greatest zeal in the promo-
tion of this most fruitful science, which has been so
little cultivated in our own country.
With the most distinguished esteem and respect.
Richard Lepsius.
3*4
APPENDIX III.
Extract from the Report addressed to the
Ministry, on the Acquisitions and Results
of the Expedition to Egypt under R. Lep-
sius.
Berlin, March 12, 1846.
The antiquarian Expedition to Egypt, Nubia and
the Peninsula of Sinai, ordered in the year 1842 by his
Majesty, our most gracious and illustrious King Fred-
erick William IV., and committed to my leadership, is
completed.
My reports, transmitted to your Excellency from
time to time, will have convinced you that it has been
executed entirely in accordance with the plans advised
by the Royal Academy of Sciences, most graciously
approved by his Majesty, and submitted to your Ex-
cellency before departure. You will also observe that
the annual sum of money appropriated at the beginning
has not been exceeded, and that it has also been
made to cover the important excavations, transporta-
tions and purchases, for which no special appropriation
had been made. The journey of two years has, how-
ever, extended itself to three and a half. My com-
panions were not able to return before the end of last
year, and I myself not till the 27th of January of this
year ; a possibility which had been already foreseen in
the advice of the Royal Academy.
With regard to the material welfare of its members
APPENDIX. 315
the Expedition may be called in every way a very
fortunate one, and especially favored by Providence.
The members were eight in number, with the ad-
dition of three others who joined as volunteers, and all
returned in good condition to European soil. The
painter Frey alone could not support the climate,
and on that account was obliged to return from
Lower Egypt to Europe, where he has since recov-
ered. As a contrast to this, the company of Pro-
fessor Ehrenberg lost nine members, in spite of the
greatest care. They were, however, under much more
unfavorable conditions, and through his advice we
profited by their experiences. It was still worse with
the English under Clapperton. The French Tuscan
expedition also lost both its leaders, besides many other
members, in consequence of the journey. As we did
not, like the expeditions mentioned, have a physician
with us, we were obliged to redouble our direct atten-
tion to ourselves, and I ascribe the fortunate result,
next to the protection of Providence, chiefly to the ex-
cellent conduct, mutual helpfulness and strict regard
for order of all the members. There was but one ex-
ception, the moulder Franke, whom I was forced to
dismiss on account of unseemly disturbances of this
order. This harmony and admirable disposition of the
members also greatly facilitated the management for
me, and I cannot but praise this spirit especially in our
architect, Herr Erbkam, who stood by me on every
occasion as a true and helpful friend.
As far as the scientific results are concerned, I must
first observe that scarcely any other expedition had
been undertaken under such favorable circumstances.
Amongst these circumstances I reckon chiefly the
definiteness of the tasks which were set before us, and
which we were able on this account to pursue with
perfect system. The expedition most immediately
316 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
comparable with ours was Champollion's, but that was
more a voyage of discovery, and necessarily suffered
from the very deficiencies which we were easily able to
supply. The advantages which he had as founder of
the science and from his incomparable ability as a stu-
dent of monuments, were for us more than counterbal-
anced by the firmer and broader foundations of the
science, the last results of which are now presented to
us in Bunsen's remarkable work on history. Added to
this was our greater previous knowledge of the interest-
ing localities which we had to investigate. From the
very beginning of the journey we could within wide
limits strive for completeness, without suffering from any
want of new, unexpected and most highly important
-discoveries. Especially had Champollion left behind
to us, practically uncommenced, the investigation of the
oldest Egyptian history, that is, the epoch of the first
Pharaonic kingdom from about 3000 to 1700 years
before Christ, which extends the history of the world
for almost 1500 years. He had only ascended the
valley of the Nile as far as the second cataract, beyond
which there still exist a great multitude of old Egyptian
monuments of all kinds, as yet entirely uninvestigated.
There the whole of Ethiopian antiquity, which cannot
be separated from the Egyptian, must find its interpre-
tation and, if I do not deceive myself, has done so
through us.
Thence it follows that our results are by far the
most important in chronology and history. The pyra-
mid fields of Memphis, whose importance had not been
recognized by Champollion, and which had therefore
scarcely been touched by him, have placed the Egyp-
tian civilization of those remote ages before us, in four
hundred large pictures. The representation which
they furnish must for all future time be regarded with
the highest interest and considered the beginning of in-
APPENDIX. 317
vestigable human history. Those earliest dynasties of
the Egyptian rulers now offer us more than a barren
succession of empty, unknown or doubtful names.
They have not only been raised beyond all reasonable
doubt and been critically arranged in order and accord-
ing to the correct periods of time, but through the con-
templation of the political, civil and artistic popular life
which bloomed under their reigns, they have pre-
served an intellectual and often very individual histori-
cal reality.
This is the greatest success of our journey and must
always be a convincing proof of the great and lasting
service rendered to science by our expedition and its
illustrious promoter. I pass over for the present the
details of the evidence, which can only be rightly esti-
mated by those co-workers on this field who shall make
later and more extensive investigations. But I will
mention that in Middle Egypt up to Thebes we found
eight separate places of sepulchre, belonging to the
Old Kingdom, which the French Tuscan expedition
had passed by without suspicion. Of some of these we
were the discoverers, and others we were the first to
recognize as belonging to that period, and to excavate.
We could not fail, also, to make a great number of
more or less substantial restorations, corrections and
additions to the history of the most flourishing period
of the New Empire, which was peculiarly the prime of
Thebes, as well as to that of the following dynasties.
Even those Ptolemies who were apparently completely
known in the light of Grecian history, have appeared
in a new aspect in their Egyptian representations
and inscriptions, and indeed have been recruited by
some individuals scarcely mentioned by the Greeks and
whose existence has hitherto been considered doubtful.
Finally the Roman emperors, in their character of
Egyptian rulers, have also appeared to us on the Egyp-
318 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
tian monuments in greater and almost perfect com-
pleteness. They have been carried down, from Cara-
calla, (who had till now been recognized as the last
whose name was written in hieroglyphics,) through two
later emperors to Decius. Thus the whole extent of
Egyptian monumental history has been increased at
the latter end also by a number of years.
Egyptian philology, too, has made no insignificant
advances during the journey. The lexicon has been
increased by the addition of some hundred signs or
groups, and the grammar has received manifold correc-
tions. Besides this a wealth of material has been
gathered, especially by means of the numerous paper
impressions of the most important inscriptions, the
gradual interpretation of which must lead to substantial
progress in the science. According to the great age
established for the earliest written monuments the his-
tory of the Egyptian language now embraces a period
of nearly five and a half thousand years, and thus ac-
quires an entirely new significance in relation to the
universal history of human language and writing. In
matters of detail one of the most important discoveries
on this field was two bi-lingual decrees, written in hiero-
glyphics and demotic, which were discovered in Philae.
One of these repeats the inscription of Rosetta, and
there is promise of important results from a comparison
between them. The news of this seemed so important
to the French that they resolved on sending out the
famous scholar Ampere, with an artist, expressly to
copy this one monument. I first became aware of
their intention through the publication and philological
exploration of that inscription, now just appearing in
print.
According to my opinion Egyptian mythology, in
spite of conntless works upon the subject, has hitherto
been without any firm foundation. I had almost aban-
APPENDIX.
3*9
doned the hope that our expedition would achieve any
actual advance for this science, when upon the return
journey I discovered in the Theban temples a series of
monuments which threw so much unexpected light
upon its essential nature and historical phases, that I
have come to the conclusion that upon this basis Egyp-
tian mythology may for the first time be presented ac-
cording to its true import and in its historical develop-
ment.
The history of art has never been worked out from
the present standpoint of Egyptology. To accomplish
this was necessarily one of the chief objects of our ex-
pedition and the advanced chronological knowledge of
the monuments conduced greatly to progress in this di-
rection. For the first time we have been able to trace
the various divisions of the history of art in the Old
Egyptian Empire, previous to the invasion of the
" Hyksos," and thus to extend it, as well as Egyptian
history in general, for about thirteen centuries upwards
and for some decades downwards. We were also
obliged to regard the history of art almost exclusively
in the selection of our collection of monuments, of
which I shall speak again hereafter. Amongst the
different branches of Egyptian art, architecture, which
had been entirely neglected by Champollion and Ro-
sellini, was especially well handled by our skillful and
industrious architect Erbkam. From him it received
the treatment befitting the important position of this
special branch, in which the artistic element of gran-
deur, bestowed upon the Egyptians above all other
nations, could be and was most highly developed.
The rendering of the sculpture and painting fell to the
other artists who accompanied us. They soon learned
to reproduce with praiseworthy skill the peculiar Egyp-
tian style, which in spite of all the childish constraint
that characterizes Egyptian art, yet contains an unmis-
320 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
takable and finely perfected ideal element. If the
Grecian genius had not received art from the Egyp-
tians as a child so severely, chastely and carefully
reared, it could never have given to it such a positive
character of blooming freedom. The chief task of the
history of Egyptian art is to show wherein consisted
this culture of art, which no ancient Asiatic nation
shares with the Egyptian. I will adduce as one of the
most important details belonging here, that we have
found three separate canons of the proportions of the
human figure, in numerous examples, upon uncom-
pleted monuments; one for the old Pharaonic king-
dom, another for the New Empire since the eighteenth
dynasty, and a third which first came into general use
shortly before the time of the Ptolemies. This latter
involved an entire change of the principle of distribu-
tion, and remained in force under the Roman em-
perors to the end. These discoveries are also of
decided importance in judging of the Greek canon.
Next to the history of art, however, a great part of
our time and attention was claimed by Egyptian arch-
aeology in its widest sense. This was a field which
had already been worked with success and industry,
especially by Wilkinson and Rosellini. It contains an
inexhaustible wealth of detached monuments of com-
mon life, and representations thereof of all kinds, far
exceeding in abundance all other remains of antiquity.
And on this account this branch of study needed much
more a vigorous prosecution of its aims and elevation
of its standard, than a farther accumulation of details.
Nevertheless these are continually coming in from all
sides and have been collected by ourselves in great
quantity as material.
Finally, geography and chorography, to which
travellers are always expected to make additions, de-
mand special attention. In Fayoum we have for the
APPENDIX. 321
first time thoroughly investigated the Labyrinth. It
lies beside Lake Moeris, which was discovered by
Linant, but is now dry. We have been able to assign
the Labyrinth its place in history through the discovery
of the founder's name. Our description of the ruined
cities and monuments of antiquity in the land of the
Nile, up to Senaar, will be more complete and exact
than any previously given. So also will be our account
of the rarely travelled dependencies of the dominion of
the Pharaohs, such as the Ethiopian countries, the east-
ern mountains between the Nile and the Red Sea, and
the colonies in the copper region of Mafkat (of the Pe-
ninsula of Sinai.) Only the oases of the western desert
we have unfortunately been obliged to leave unex-
plored. In more modern geography, which must
always accompany and correct the ancient, I have de-
voted special care to obtaining the Arabian names ac-
curately, in order to counteract as far as possible, at
least upon the region traversed by us, the intolerable
confusion of designations. I have prepared upon the
way accurate geographical maps of various parts of the
eastern mountains of Egypt and the Arabian copper
region. Respecting the border lands of Mahommed
Ali's dominion, towards Abyssinia, I have collected
and recorded graphically important geographical in-
formation from particularly well-informed people of
that region. On the Peninsula of Sinai I have not
only for the first time investigated more exactly the
ancient Egyptian copper mines, the working of which,
according to the pictures on the rocks and inscriptions,
preserved at Wadi-Magara, goes back to the time of
Cheops, about 3000 years before Christ, but I have
also traced out the route of the Israelites to Sinai. In
doing so I have come to the conclusion, which I have
sought to prove in a preliminary report to his Majesty,
that a tradition of comparatively late origin has
322 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
wrongly designated the mountain which the monks
call Gebel Musa as the Sinai of the Bible, and that
Horeb or Sinai, the Mount of God, corresponds rather
to the present Serbal, which lies some days' journey to
the north of Gebel Musa. A noteworthy contribution
has been made to the history of the physical conditions
of the Nile valley through the discovery of the nilo-
meter of Semneh in the region of the Nubian cataracts.
From this it is apparent that about 4000 years ago,
under the rule of Amenemha-Moeris, the Nile at that
place rose in average years twenty-two feet higher than
now, while in Egypt at about that time it stood at
least ten to fifteen feet lower, so that the Nile at the in-
tervening cataracts fell thirty-five feet farther than at
present. This gradual leveling of the bed of the
stream has had the most decisive influence on the cul-
tivation of the valley, and the history of its whole pop-
ulation, since the shore of the Nubian country lying
along the stream was made inaccessible to the natural
inundation by this great sinking of the water, and
thence became dry and unfruitful.
Besides all our acquisitions in the ancient Egyptian
language we have made some not unimportant gains for
the science of language in general. In the upper
countries of the Nile I have obtained three African
languages, the grammar and lexicon of which I have
made out and noted down from the communications of
the natives, with sufficient completeness to present a
clear idea of them. They are: 1. the Congara language,
a negro language of the interior, spoken in Darfur and
the adjoining countries : 2. the Nuba language, which
is spoken in two dialects in a portion of the valley of
the Nubian Nile, and in the neighboring districts to the
southwest. This appears, moreover, to be of primitive
African origin. It has never been written, and I have
collected for the first time a considerable quantity of
APPENDIX. 323
Nubian manuscript literature, by getting a Nubian sheik,
who was entire master of the Arabian language and
writing,, to translate from Arabian into Nubian, the
fables of Lokman, the Gospel of St. Mark, and a portion
of the Thousand and One Nights. I also had him write
down and translate into Arabian about twenty Nubian
songs, some in rhyme, and some only rythmical. In
doing this he displayed a wonderful talent for the cor-
rect comprehension of linguistic relations. 3. The
Bega language of the race of the Bishareen who are
widely scattered between the Red Sea and the Nubian
Nile. This appears to be a most important branch of
the original Asiatic-Caucasian family of languages, and
deserves our attention so much the more since it seems
that it can be historically proved to be the present
form of the ancient Egyptian language of Meroe. I
have also found in those countries, and in the pyramids
of Meroe, a great number of old Ethiopian inscriptions,
which are recorded in an alphabetical writing until now
entirely unknown. Subsequent inscriptions are in an
alphabet formed after the Greek, and they can probably
both be deciphered by the aid of the Bega language.
Finally we have also made the completest possible col-
lection of many hundreds of paper impressions from
Grecian inscriptions. These are now of great value as
a contribution to the knowledge of Grecian- Egyptian
antiquity, which has been industriously cultivated on
several sides. We have also made another collection
of the numerous so-called " Inscriptions of Sinai "
which were cut into the rocks by a Christian popula-
tion who lived on the Peninsula of Sinai in the first
centuries of our era. These have not yet been entirely
deciphered.
We have only been able to give occasional attention
to subjects pertaining to natural science. Yet I have
not neglected to collect specimens of stone and soil
324 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
from all important localities, especially during trips
into the remote mountain regions. A chemical investi-
gation and comparison of the specimens of Nile mud
collected from different spots and under different con-
ditions will perhaps be of interest. We have visited
the old alabaster quarry of El Bosra, opposite Sioot,
which has recently been discovered by the Bedouins
and is now worked by Selim Pasha. We found there
an inscription on the rock dating from the beginning of
the eighteenth dynasty. We have also visited the
(marries of granite and of " breccia verde " at Hara-
mamat, which have been in use since the most ancient
times, as well as the porphyry and granite quarries on
Gebel Duchan (Mons Claudianus, Mons Porphyrites,)
in the eastern mountains of Egypt, (see page 160)
which were celebrated in Roman times. We have
brought back specimens of rock from them all. The
most valuable blocks of " breccia verde" of every size,
lie directly on one of the finest and most convenient
desert highways, two days journey from the Nile, and
would be excellently adapted to removal and exporta-
tion. On account of our antiquarian aims we were es-
pecially interested in the opportunity of becoming ac-
quainted with the present world of animals and plants
in the southern regions of Nubia, which conspicuously
resembles the representations on the most ancient Egyp-
tian monuments. It scarcely appears possible to ac-
count for this except by the assumption of a universal
recession of the more highly developed forms of natural
life in the Nile valley from the north towards the south.
3 2 5
INDEX
TO THE WORKS OF RICHARD LEPSIUS.
I. De tabulis Eugubinis. Diss, philologica. Berolini,
.833. 8.
II. Dami au vainqueur, oenochoe (o\.vo X or,) a inscriptions.
Annales de VInstitut de corr. arch. 1833. V. p.
357"3 6 3-
III. Palaeographie a Is Mittel filr die Sprachforschung
zundchst am Sanskrit nachgewiesen. [Palaeog-
raphy as a Means of Philological Research, with
Special Reference to Sanskrit.] Berl. 1834. 8.
IV. Uber die np^ra o-roix^a in der Stelle bei Clemens
Alexandrinus uber die Schrift der Aegypter.
[On the npuTa o-roixeZa in the Passage from Clem-
ens Alexandrinus on the Writing of the Egyp-
tians.] Aus d. N.-Rhein. Museum fur Philolo-
gie, 1835. Vol. IV. p. 142-148. 8.
V. Uber die Anordnung und Verwandtschaft der semit-
ischen, indischen, altdgyptischen und dthiopischen
Alphabete. [On the Arrangement and Relation
of the Semitic, Hindoo, ancient Egyptian and
Ethiopian Alphabets.] Berlin. Abhdlg. d. Akad-
emie 1835.
VI. Uber den Ur sprung und die Verwandtschaft der
Zahlworter in der koptischen, semitischen und in-
dogermanischen Sprache. Berlin. Abhdlg. d.
Akademie 1836. Die Abhandlungen V und VI
326 RICHARD LEPSIUS,
zusammen sind noch im selben Jahre (\%^f>) im
Diimmler'schen Verlag zu Berlin als Buck er-
schienen. 8. [On the Origin and Relationship
of the Numerical Words in the Coptic, Semitic,
and Indo-Germanic Languages. Berlin, Trans-
actions of the Academy, 1836. The two papers,
V and VI, were published together as a book,
in the same year, by Dummler.J
Vl.a. Recension iiber Guarinfs valore della cifra
SEXS in un marmo di Pompeji. \Review of
GuarinPs valore della cifra SEXS in un marmo
di Pompejij • Bulletino deWinst. di corresp. ar-
cheol N. VII. 6. 1836. p. 126-128.
VII. Sarcofago etrusco. Bull. deWinst di corresp. ar-
cheol. Roma. Nr. IX e X, 1836. s. 147-49.
VIII. Sur la valeurde la lettre % dans V alphabet etrus-
que. Annali deWinst. archeol. 1837. Roma
Vol. VIII. p. 164-170.
IX. Recension von Arneth's synopsis numerorum. [Re-
view of Arneth's Synopsis Numerorum.] Bull.
deWinst. archeol. Roma. 1837. p. 111-112.
X. Notizie compendiate, ibid. 1837. p. 1 21-127. Nr.
VII e VIII.
XI. Monuments de JVahr el-Kelb pres Beirout, ibid.
1837. p. I34-I35-
XII. Observations sur un vase de fabrication £trusque
avec deux alphabets Grecs et sur une inscription
de la ville Pelasgique d'Agylla. Avec 1 planche.
Rome 1837. 8. A us den Annali deWinst. ar-
cheol. Roma. Vol. VIII. p. 186-203.
XIII. Lettre a Mr. le Professeur H. Rosellini sur V al-
phabet hieroglyph ique. Avec 2 planches. Rome
1837. 8. A us den Annali deWinst. archeol.
Roma. 1837. Vol. IX. Archeologica egiziana y
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 327
Primo articulo preliminario sulP alfabeto gero-
glifico, 1837. I. p. 5-100.
XIV. Statue di Todi. Bull. deWinst. etc. 1837. No.
III. p. 25-28.
XV. Notice sur deux statues Egyptiennes representant
Pune la mere du roi Ramses- Sesostris, P autre le
roi Amasis. Avec \ plane he, Rome, 1838.* 8.
Aus den Annali dell'inst. arch. Roma, 1837.
Vol. IX. p. 167-176.
XVI. Notice sur les bas-reliefs Egyptiens and Per sans
de Beirout en Syrie. Avec 1 planche, Rome,
1838. 8. Annali deWinst. arch. 1838. Vol. X.
p. 12 to 19.
XVII. Uber die beiden agyptischen Colossalstatuen der
Sammlung Drovetti im Museum zu Berlin*
[On the Two Colossal Egyptian Statues of the
Drovetti Collection in the Museum at Berlin.]
Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1838. 8.
XVIII. The same paper in French in the Bulletino
deW inst. arch. 1838. p. 37-46, under the title
Deux statues colossales egyptiennes de la collection
Drovetti qui se trouvent actuellement au musee
royal de Berlin.
XIX. Sur V ordre des colonnes-piliers en Iigypte et ses
rapports avec le second ordre egyptien et la colonne
grecque. Avec 2 .//. Rome 1838. 8. Aus den
Annali deWinst. archeol. Roma. 1837. Vol. II.
p. 65 a-
XX. Monuments de Beirout. Annali delVinst. arch.
Roma. 1838. p. 12-19.
XXa. Analise des inscriptions hieroglyphique (to No.
XV). Amiali delVinst. archeol. Roma. 1838.
Vol. X. p. 103.
* The 1838 on the title page is a misprint for 1837.
328 RICHARD LEPSIUS,
XXI. Lettre sur les inscriptions de la grande pyramide
de Gizeh, — in Sam. Birch, Eclairciss. sur le
cercueil du Roi Mycerinus, Berlin 1839. 4.
XXII. On the Obelisk of Philae. From The Literary
Gazette, London. 1839. No. 1163.
XXIII. Bassorilievo egizio presso di Smirna 1840.
Letter a a I Dottore E. Braun, Bull. delV inst.
archeol. Roma. 1840. p. 33-39.
XXIV. Uber das Basrelief, den Ramses- Sesostris dar-
stellend. [On the Bas-relief representing Ram-
ses-Sesostns.J Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1840. 8.
XXV. Bericht a?i die Akademie d. Wissensch. zu Berlin
uber den Erfolg seiner agyptischen Studien. [Re-
port to the Berlin Academy of Science on the
Results of his Egyptological Studies.] Berl.
Mon.-Ber. 1840. 8.
XXVI. Marchi et Tessiere, Laes grave del museo Kir-
cheriano. Recension i. d. Annali delV inst. arch.
Roma. 1841. p. 99-115.
XXVII. Uber die ausgedehnte Anwendung des Spitz-
bogens in Deutschland im 10 u?id 11 Jahrhun-
dert. A Is Einleitung zu der deutschen Uberset-
zung von Henry Gaily Knight's Entwickelung
der Architektur unter den Normannen. [On the
Extended Application of the Pointed Arch in
Germany in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries.
As an Introduction to the German Translation
of Henry Gaily Knight's Development of Ar-
chitecture under the Normans.] Lpzg. 1841.
gr. 8.
XXVIII. Inscriptions Umbricae et Oscae quotquot adhuc
repertae sunt omnes. Ad ectypa monumentorum
a se confecta edidit. Commentationes. Lps. 1841.
8. Tabulae ibid. eod. gr. Fol.
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 329
XXIX. Uber die Tyrrhenischen Pelasger in Etrurien
und iiber die Verbreitung des Italischen Miinz-
sy stems von Etrurien aus. [On the Tyrrhenian
Pelasgians in Etruria, and on the Diffusion of
the Italian System of Coins from Etruria.]
Lpzg. 1842. 8.
XXX. Auswahl der wichtigsten Urkunden des dgypti-
schen Alterthums, theils zum ersten Male, theils
nach den Denkmdlern berichtigt, herausgegeben
und erldutcrt. [Selection of the Most Important
Records of Egyptian Antiquity, Part of Which
are Published and Explained for the First Time,
and Part of Which are Corrected According to
the Monuments.] 23 Tafeln, Lpzg. 1842. gr.
Fol.
XXXI. Das Todtenbuch der Aegypter nach dem hier-
oglyphisehen Papyrus in Turin mit einem Vor-
wort zum ersten Male herausgegeben. [The
Egyptian Book of the Dead, Published for the
First Time According to the Hieroglyphic Pap-
yrus at Turin; with a Preface. [ 79 Tafeln,
Lpzg. 1842. 4.
XXXII. Uber den Ban der Pyramiden. [On the Con-
struction of the Pyramids.] Berl. Mon.-Ber.
1843.8.
XXXIII. Uber die Entdeckung des Labyrinths in
Aegypten. [On the Discovery of the Labyrinth
in Egypt.] Berl Mon.-Ber. 1843. 8.
XXXIV. Uber einen alten Nilmesser bei Semne in Nu-
bien. [On an old Nilometer at Semneh in
Nubia.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1844. 8.
XXXV. Uber Sprachen, Denkmaler, Lnschriften und
Civilisation der Aethiopier des Alterthums und
jetzt. [On the Language, Monuments, Inscrip-
tions and Civilization of the Ethiopians of An-
330 RICHARD LEPSIUS,
tiquity and of the Present Day.] Berl. Mon.-
Ber. 1844. 8.
XXXVI. Lettera sul suo viaggio in Egitto. Bull. deW
inst. archeoL Roma. 1845. p. 40-44. (Letter
from Philae of the fifteenth of September, 1844.)
XXXVII. On the Nile Alluvium of Nubia. Extract
of a Letter from Dr. Richard Lepsius, Chief of
the Prussian Scientific Commission in Egypt, to
Dr. L. G. Morton, relative to the Language of
the Bishareens of Nubia, and the Alluvial De-
posits of the Nile. With an Analysis of those
Deposits by Prof. W. R. Johnson : in " Pro-
ceedings of the Academy of National Sciences
of Philadelphia," Jan. 21. 1845. 8.
XXXVIII. Reise von Theben nach der Halbinsel des
Sinai vom 4 Marz bis 14 April, 1845. [Journey
from Thebes to the Peninsula of Sinai, from the
fourth of March to the fourteenth of April,
1845.] Mit Tafeln. Berl. 1845. 8. Out of
Print.-
XXXIX. English Translation of No. XXXVIII. by
Cottrell. London, 1846.
XL. General Map of the Peninsula of Sinai. 1845.
XLI. Special Map of the Ruins of the Monastery and
City of Faran. 1845.
XLI I. Oder das Felsenrelief zu Karabel. [On the
Relief upon the Rock at Karabel.] Archaolo-
gische Zeitung IV. 1846. p. 271-280.
XLI I a. Uber einige syntaktische Punkte der Hierogly-
phischen Sprache. [On some Points in the Syn-
tax of the Hieroglyphic Language.] Berl. Mon.-
Ber. 1846.
XLI 1 1. Voyage dans la Presqii tie du Sinai, etc. Lu
a la societe de Geographies seances du 2 1 Avril et
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 331
du 21 Mai. Extrait du Bulletin de la soc. de
ge'ogr. Juin. 1847. Paris. 8.
XLIV. Mittheilung uber die Republication des durch
den Stein von Rosette bekannten Priesterdekrets.
[Communication regarding the Republication of
the Ecclesiastical Decree promulgated on the
Rosetta Stone.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1847. 8.
XLIVa. Uber die in Philae aufgefundene Republication
des Dekretes von Rosette und die dgyptischen
Forschungen des H. de Saulcy. [On the Repub-
lication of the Decree of Rosetta Discovered
at Philae, and the Egyptian Researches of H.
de Saulcy.] Ztschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenldnd.
Gesellschaft. Leipzig. 1847. B. 1. S. 264-320.
XLIVb. Lettre de M. le Dr. R. Lepsius a M. Letronne
sur le decret bilingue de Philes dans son rapport
avec le decret de Rosette et sur V opinion de M. de
Saulcy. Revue archeologique. 15. Avr. 1847.
Annee IV.
XLV. Denkmdler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien {nach
den Zeichnungen der von Sr. Maj. gesendeten
Expedition .... herausgegeben und erlautert.)
[Monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia, Published
and Illustrated after the Drawings made by the
Expedition despatched by His Majesty.] 6 Ab-
theil. (894 Blatt.) Berlin. 1849-59. f°l- max.
XLVI. Die Chronologie der Aegypter. Einleitung und
Theil 1 : Kritik der Quellen. [The Chronology
of the Egyptians. Introduction and Part 1 :
Criticism of Authorities.] Berlin, London, Paris.
1849. 4.
XLVI I. Uber den ersten dgyptischen G'dtterkreis und
seine geschichtlich-mythologische Entstehung. [On
the First Egyptian Pantheon and its Historical-
Mythological Origin.] Mit 4 Tafeln. Berlin.
S3 2 RICHARD LEPSIUS,
Abhdlg. d. Akad. 185 1 4. Ah Buck bei W,
Hertz, Berl. 1851.
XLVIII. Brief e aus Aegypten, Aethiopien nnd der
Halbinsel des Sinai, geschrieben, 1 842-1 845.
[Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia and the Penin-
sula of Sinai, written from 1842 to 1845.] Mit
2 Tafeln und 1 Karte. Berlin. 1852. 8.
XL IX. Uber die 12. agyptische Konigsdynastie. [On
the Twelfth Egyptian Royal Dynasty.] Mit 3
Tafeln. Berl. Akad. Abhdlg. 1852. 4. Berl.
Mon.-Ber. 5 Jan. 1852.
L. Uber einige Ergebnisse der dgyptischen Denkmaler
fur die Kenntnis der Ptolemaergeschichte. [On
some Additions to our Knowledge of the His-
tory of the Ptolemies derived from the Egyptian
Monuments.] Berl. Akad. Abhdlg. 1852. 4.
LI. B enter kungen zu dem Reisebericht von Brugsch mit
Bezug auf das Verhaltnis der nen gefundenen
Apisdaten zu einer 25 jahrigen Apisperiode.
[Observations on the Report of the Journey of
Brugsch, with Reference to the Relation of the
Apis Date Lately Discovered to an Apis Period
of 25 years.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1853. 8.
LI a. Uber den Apiskreis. [On the Cycle of Apis.]
Ztschr. d. Deutschen morgenl. Gesellsch. 1853.
Bd. VII. S. 417-436.
LI I. Uber den chronologischen Werth einiger astrono-
mischen Angaben auf dgyptischen Denkmdlem.
[On the Chronological Value of some Astro-
nomical Designs on Egyptian Monuments.]
Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1854. 8.
LI II. Folgerungen aus Mariette's Mittheilungen fur
die Chronologie der 26. manethonishen Dynastie
und die Eroberung Aegyptens durch Cambyses.
[Inferences from the Communications of Mari-
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 333
ette, regarding the Chronology of the Twenty-
Sixth Dynasty of Manetho, and the Conquest of
Egypt by Cambyses.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1854. 8.
LIV. Uber eine hieroglyphische Inschrift am Tempel
von Edfu {Apollinopolis Magna.) [On a hiero-
glyphic Inscription on the Temple of Edfu/
Apollinopolis Magna. J Mit. 6 Tafeln, Berl. Ak.
Abhdlg. 1854. 4. Bei Diimmler in Berl. 1855.
LIVa. Die agpptischen Felsentafeln vom Nahr el-Kelb
in Syrien. [The Egyptian Stone Tablets from
Nahr el-Kelb in Syria.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. Juni
1854. 8.
LIVb. Der Artikel " Aegypten" in Hertzog's Real
Encyclopadie fur Theologie nnd Kirche, (1854.)
[The Article " Egypt " in Hertzog's Technical
Encyclopedia of Theology and the Church,
1854] Bd. 1. S. 166-178.
LV. K'onigliche Museen. Abtheilung der Aegyptischen
Alterthumer. Die Wandgemalde. 37 Tafeln
Nebst Erklarung von R. Lepsius. [Royal Mu-
seum. Department of Egyptian Antiquities. The
Mural Paintings. 37 Plates with an Exposition
by R. Lepsius.] Berl. 1855. 2. Aufl. 1870.
Fol. 3. Aufl. 1882. Qner. 4.
LVI. Beschreibung der Wandgemalde in der agyptischen
Abtheilung. Herausgegeben von der Generalver-
waltung. [Description of the Mural Paintings
in the Egyptian Department. Published by the
General Management.] Berl. 1855. 4. Aufl.
1879. 8. (No. LV. without Illustrations.)
LVI I. Konigliche Museen. Verzeichnis der agyptischen
Alterthumer und Gipsabgiisse von R. Lepsius.
Herausgegebe?i von der Generalverwaltung. [Roy-
al Museum. List of the Egyptian Antiquities
and Plaster Casts by R. Lepsius. Published by
334 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
the General Management.] Berl. 187 1. 4 Aufl.
1879. 5 Aufl. 1882. 8.
LVIII. Uber eine hieroglyphische Inschr. am Tempel
von Edfu ( Appollinopolis Magna) in welcher der
Besitz des Tempels an Landereien (13209-rV
Schoinia) unter der Regieru?ig Ptolemaeus XL
Alexander I. verzeichnet ist. [On a Hiero-
glyphic Inscription on the Temple of Edfu
(Apollinopolis Magna) in which are Recorded
the Possessions of the Temple in Landed Prop-
erty (13209 j^g Schoinia) under the Reign of
Ptolemy XL, Alexander L] Berl. Mon.-Ber.
15 Marz, 1855. 8.
LVIIIa. Uber den Namen der Io?iier auf den agypti-
schen Denkmalern. [On the Names of the
Ionians upon the Egyptian Monuments. | Berl.
Mon.-Ber. Juli 1885. 8.
LIX. Das allgemeine li?iguistische Alphabet. Grund-
sdtze der Ubertragung fremder Schriftsysteme
und bisher noch ungeschriebener Sprachen in
europaische Buchstaben. Berl. 1855. 8. S. a.
den Bericht uber das allgemeine linguistische
Alphabet. Berl. Mon.-Ber. 15. Febr. u. 20.
December 1885. ( Typenguss und fortschreitende
Verbreitung des linguistischen Alphabets). [The
Universal Linguistic Alphabet. Principles of
the Translation of Foreign Graphic Systems
and Languages Hitherto Unwritten into Euro-
pean Alphabetic Characters. Berl. 1855. 8.
See also the Report on the Universal Linguistic
Alphabet. Berl. Mon.-Ber. February 15, and
Dec. 20, 1855.] (Casting of the Type and
Increasing Diffusion of the Linguistic Alphabet.)
I ,X. Uber die 22. agyptische Konigsdynastie nebst einigen
Bemerkungen zu der 26. und andcrn Dynastieen
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 335
des neuen Reichs. [On the Twenty-Second
Egyptian Royal Dynasty, with Some Remarks
on the Twenty-Sixth and Other Dynasties of
the New Kingdom.] Mit 2 Tafeln, Berl. Ak.
Abhdlg. 1856. 4. Dazu LXIa.
LXa. No. LX Translated into English by Bell.
LXI. Uber die Goffer der vier Elemente bei den Aegypt-
ern. [On the Gods of the Four Elements Among
the Egyptians.] Berl. Ak. Abhdlg. 1856. 4.
Published as a Book by Dummler, Berl. 1856.
LXIa. Uber die XXII. Konigs-Dynastie der Aegypter.
Mit Bemerkungen uber die XXI XXIII. und
XXVI. Dynastie. [On the Twenty-Second
Royal Dynasty of the Egyptians. With Re-
marks on the Twenty-First, Twenty-Third and
Twenty-Sixth Dynasty.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. Juni
1856. 8. (LX.)
LXII. Uber einen false hen Palimpsest. [On a Spurious
Palimpsest.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1856. 8.
LXIII. Uber den falschen Uranios des Simonides. [On
the Spurious Uranios of Simonides.] Allgemeine
Augs burger Zeitung vom 11. Febr. 1856. Nr. 42,
Vossische Zeitung vom 8. Febr. 1856. Deutsche
allg. Zeitung vom 10. Febr. 1856.
LXlIIa. Entgegnung auf die Winne'schc Abhandlung
uber die chinesische Sprache. [Reply to the
Dissertation of Winne on the Chinese Lan-
guage.] Berl. 20. Mai. 1856.
LXIV. Uber die manethonische Bestimmung des Um-
fangs der dgyptischen Geschichte. [On the Limits
set by Manetho to the Compass of Egyptian
History.] Berl. Ak. Abhdlg. 1857. 4. (Dazu
Berl. Mon.-Ber. Aug. 1857).
LXIVa. Uber die 26. dgyptische Konigsdyfiastie und die
33^ RICHARD LEPSIUS.
Erobertmg Aegyptens durch Kambyses. [On the
Twenty-Sixth Royal Dynasty of Egypt and the
Conquest of Egypt by Cambyses.] Berl. Mon.-
Ber. 1857. 8.
LXV. Uber mehrere chronologische Punkte, die mit der
Einfuhrung des julianischen und alexandrin-
ischen Kalenders zusammenhdngen. [On Cer-
tain Chronological Points Connected with the
Introduction of the Julian and Alexandrian
Calendars.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. 11. Nov. 1858.8.
LXVa. Letter to Dr. Bell, " In Reply to the Strictures
Contained in H. von Gumpach's Papers on the
Reign of Menes." Transactions of the Roy.
Soc. etc. 1858.
LXVI. Konigsbuch der alien Aegypter. Abthlg. I. 169.
S. Text und 23 synoptische Tafeln der dgyp-
tischen Dynastien. Abthl. II: 73 hieroglyph-
ische Tafeln mit 987 Kdfiigschildern. [Book of
the Kings of Ancient Egypt. Part I, 169.
See Text and 23 Synoptic Tables of the Egyp-
tian Dynasties. Part II, 73 Hieroglyphic
Tablets with 987 Cartouches of Kings.] Berl.
1858. kl. Folio.
LXV I a. Uber einige Punkte der Herodotischen Chrono-
logie. [On Some Points in the Chronology of
Herodotus. An Unpublished Lecture.] An-
gekundigt i. d. Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1858. 8. Nicht
zur Veroffentlichtung gelangter Vortrag.
LXV 1 1. Uber einige Beruhrungspunkte der agyptischeu,
griechischen und romischen Chronologie. [On
Some Points of Contact in the Egyptian,
Grecian and Roman Chronology.] Berl. Ak.
Abhdlg. 1859. 4. (Dazu: Berl. Mon.-Ber.
Aug. 1858. 8.)
LXVI la. Mitthciluugcn 1. uber Einfiihrung des .Alex-
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 337
andrinischen Kalenders unter Augustus, 2. uber
Wiederherstellung des zur Zeit der Ptolemiier
aufgesttllten Dionysischen Kalefiders, 3. Wie-
derherstellung des Eudoxischen Kalenders u. s. w.
4. Wiederherstellung der Parapegmen der Aegyp-
ter, des Demokrit u. s. w. 5. Uber die Jahres-
und Tagesbestimmung der Eroberung Trojas u. s.
w. [Communications : 1, On the Introduction
of the Alexandrian Calendar under Augustus;
2. On the Restoration of the Dionysian Calen-
dar Adopted in the. Time of the Ptolemies;
3. Restoration of the Eudoxian Calendar, etc. ;
4. Restoration of the Parapegmen of the Egyp-
tians, of Democritus, etc ; 5, On Fixing the
Year and Day of the Conquest of Troy, etc.]
Berl. Mon.-Ber. 10. Eebr. 1859.
LXVIIb. Anzeige der Ubergabe der 15 letzten Liefer-
ungen des dgyptischen Denkmdlerwerkes, wel-
ches die Akademie von Sr. Maj. dem Konige
zum Geschenk erhalten hatte. [Announcement
of the Delivery of the Last Fifteen Numbers of
the Work on Egyptian Monuments, which the
Academy had Received as a Gift from His
Majesty the King.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. 3. Nov.
1859.
L XVIII. Uber die Umschrift und Lautverhdltnisse
einiger hinterasiatischcr Sprachen, namentlich
des Chinesischen und des Tibetischen. [On
the Transcription and Relations of the Sounds
of Some Remote Asiatic Languages, Especially
of the Chinese and the Tibetan. J Berl. Mon.-
Ber. 16. Eebr. und 5. Mdrz i860. 8. Ak. Abhdlg.
i860. 4.
LXIX. Ingil Jesil mesihni-lin, Margosin fdisin na-
gittd. [The Gospel According to St. Mark
Translated into the Nubian Language, i860. 8.
3$8 RICHARD LEPSIUS.
LXX. Uber die arabischen Sprachlaute und deren Utn-
schrift nebst einigen Erlauterungen uber den
harten i — Vokal in der tartarischen, slav-
ischen und der rumanischen Sprache. [On the
Sounds of the Arabian Spoken Language, and
Methods of Writing Them, With Some Com-
ments on the Hard Vowel i in the Tartar,
Slavonic and Roumanian Languages.] Berl.
Mon.-Ber. 2. Mai i86t. 8. Ak. Abhdlg. 1861. 4.
LXXI. Das ursprungliche Zendalphabet. [The Origi-
nal Zend Alphabet. I Mit 3 Tafeln. Berl.
Mon.-Ber. 31. Marz 1862. 8. Berl. Abhdlg.
1862. 4.
LXXIa. Was not Published, and is therefore indexed
without title.
LXXII. Litterae gutturales und Literae faucales. Zeit-
schrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung von
Kuhn. 1862. XI. p. 442. ff.
LXXI 1 1. Uber das Lantsystem der Persischen Keil-
schrift. I On the System of Sounds of the Per-
sian Cuneiform Writing. | Berl. Mon.-Ber. 3.
Apr. 1862. 8. Berl. Ak. Abhdlg. 1862. 4.
LXXIV. Standard Alphabet for Reducing Unwritten
Languages and Foreign Graphic Systems to a
Uniform Orthography in European Letters.
Second Edition. London and Berlin. 1863. 8.
(The first edition is the work published in 1855
in German on " The Universal Linguistic Al-
phabet." See No. LIX.*)
LXXV. Uber den Umfang und die Verse hiedenheit der
fnenschlichen Sprachlaute. [On the Compass and
Differences of the Sounds in Human Speech.]
Berl. Mon.-Ber. 1863. 8.
* No earlier English edition of the " Standard Alphabet " can be
found than that of 1863. and none is mentioned in Low's " English
Catalogue of Books."
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 339
LXXVI. Mittheilung iiber eitie von H. Dumichen zu
Abydos neuentdeckte Konigsliste. [Communi-
cation Concerning a List of Kings Lately Dis-
covered at Abydos by H. Dumichen. | Berl.
Mon.-Ber. 27. Oct. 1864. 8.
LXXVII. Die Sethostafel von Abydos. [The Tablet
of Sethos from Abydos.] Zeitschr. filr agypt-
ische Spracheund Alterthumskunde. 1864. £. 81.
LXXVIII. Texte des Todtenbuches a. d. alien Reiche.
[Text of the Book of the Dead of the Old King-
dom.] Zeitsch. f. dg. Spr. u. A. 1864. S> 83.
LXXIX. Die altdgyptische Elle und ihre Eintheilung.
[The Old Egyptian Ell and its Subdivisions.]
Mi/ 4. Tafeln. Berl. Ak. Abhdlg. 1865. 4. Ah
Buck bei Dummler. Berl. 1865. 4.
LXXX. Uber " rechts " und « links " im Hieroglyph-
ischen. [On "Right" and "Left" in the Hiero-
glyphic Language.] Zeitsch. f. dg. Spr. u. A.
1865. S. 12.
LXXXI. Supplement to the Same. Ibid. 1865. S. 22.
LXXXII. Uber die mit den Nomenlisten verbundenen
geographischen Nomenreihen. [On the Geo-
graphical Series of Nomes, Connected with the
Lists of Nomes.] Ibid. 1865. S. 38.
LXXXI 1 1. Uber die Zeichen O, ^ und tt in den
topographischen Listen. [On the Signs c>> _££)
and R- in the Topographical Lists.] Ibid. 1865.
S. 60.
LXXXI V. Uber die hieroglyphische Gruppe ^ V als
Orgyia von 4 Ellen oder 6 Fuss. [On the Hiero-
glyphic Group ^f as an Orgyia of Four Ells
or Six Feet. J Ibid. 1865. S. 10 1.
34° RICHARD LEPSIUS,
LXXXV. Die Regel in den hieroglyphische?i Bruchbe-
zeichnungen. [The Rule of the Hieroglyphic
Fractional Reckoning.] Ibid. 1865. S. 101.
LXXXVI. Al Fondatore deW Institute archeologico in
Roma Odoardo Gerhard nel cinquantesimo anno
della sua laurea dottorale. (Introduction to the
" Nuove memorie dell' inst. archeol.") Berl.
1865. Drawn up by Lepsius, in the Name of the
Institute and the Central Board of Directors,
(Abeken, Lepsius, Mommsen, Haupt, Due de
Luynes, Welcker, Kircher, Meineke and De
Witte.)
LXXXVI I. Das bilingue Dekret von Kanopus in der
Originalgrosse mii Ubersetzung beider Texte.
[The Original Decree of Canopus in the Origi-
nal Size, with a Translation of Both Texts.]
Thl. 1 mitS Tafeln. Berlin. 1866. fol.
LXXXVIII. Reisebericht aus Aegypten. [Report from
Egypt on the Journey.] Berl. Mon.-Ber. 17.
Mai 1866. 8.
LXXXIX. Entdeckung eines bilinguen Dekretes. [Dis-
covery of a Bilingual Decree.] Ztschr. f. dg.
Spr. u. A. 1866. S. 29.
XC. Das Dekret von Kanopus. Erklarung. [The
Decree of Canopus, Explanation.] Ibid. 1866.
S. 49-
XCI. Uber die Umsehrift des Hieroglyphischen. [On
the Transcription of the Hieroglyphic Writing.]
Ibid. 1866. S. 73. •
XCII. Uber den Obelisk in der Miinchener Glyptothek.
I On the Obelisk in the Munich Glyptotheca.]
Ibid. 1866. S. 95.
XCI 1 1. Zusatz iiber denselben. [Supplement to the
Last.] Ibid. 1867. S, 20.
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 341
XCIV. Recension uber "G. F. Unger, Chronologie des
Manetho." [Review of " G. F. Unger, On .the
Chronology of Manetho."] Literarisches Cen-
tralblatt von Zarncke. 1867. ,S. 1121.
XCV. Alteste Texte des Todtenbuchs nach Sarkophagen
des altdgyptischen Reichs im Berliner Museum.
[The Oldest Text of the Book of the Dead, Ac-
cording to Sarcophagi of the Old Egyptian
Kingdom in the Berlin Museum.] Berl. 1867.
Fol.
XCVI. Zu dem Artikel des Herrn Baillet (de la tran-
scription des hieroglyphes.) [Regarding the
Article of M. Baillet, " de la transcription des
hieroglyphes" Ztschr. f. dg. Spr. u. A. 1867.
S. 70.
XCVI I. Uber den chronologischeti Werth der assyr-
ischen Eponymen und einige Berilhrungspunkte
mit der agyptishen Chronologie. [On the Chro-
nological Value of the Assyrian Eponyms and
Some Points Which They Have in Common
with the Egyptian Chronology.] Berl. Ak.
Abhdlg. 1868. 4.
XCVIII. Uber die Atiwendung des lateinischen Univer-
sal Alphabets auf den chifiesischen Dialekt von
Canton und uber die Berufung auswartiger Ge-
lehrter a?i eine in Peking zu grilndende kaiserliche
Lehranstalt. [On the Application of the Latin
Universal Alphabet to the Chinese Dialect of
Canton, and On the Appointment of Foreign
Scholars in an Imperial Institute of Learning
to be Founded at Peking.] Berl. Mon.-Ber.
5. Marz 1868. 8.
XCIX. Das Sothisdatum im Dekret von Kanopus.
[The Sothis Date in the Decree Of Canopus.]
Ztschr. /. dg. Spr. u. A. 1868. S. 36.
342 RICHARD LEPSIUS,
C. Uber eine zu Pompeji gefundene hieroglyphische In-
schrift. [On a Hieroglyphic Inscription Found
at Pompeii. J Ibid. 1868. S. 85.
CI. Nachtrag zu dem Artikel von Brugsch : Uber die
vier Elemente. [Supplement to the Article by
Brugsch " On the Four Elements.] Ibid. 1868.
S. 127.
CI I. Grundplan des Grabes Konig Ramses' IV. in ein-
em Turiner Papyrus. [Ground plan of the Grave
of King Ramses IV. m a Turin Papyrus.] Mit
1 Tafel. Berl. Ak. Abhdlg. 1869. 4.
CI II. Die Kalenderreform im Dekret von Kanopus.
[The Reform of the Calendar in the Decree of
Canopus.J Zeitschr. f. ag. Spr. u. A. 1869. S.
77-
CIV Der letzte Kaiser in den hieroglyphischen Inschrif-
ten. [The Last Emperor in the Hieroglyphic
Inscriptions.] Ibid. 1870. 5". 25.
CV. Uber die Annahme eines sogenanmen prahistor-
ischen Steinalters in Aegypten. [On Admitting
a So-called Prehistoric Age of Stone 111 Egypt]
Ibid. 1870. S. 89 //. 113.
CVI. Uber die Papyrusinschrift mit dem doppelten
Kalender. [On the Papyrus Inscription with
the Double Calendar.] Ibid. 1870. .9. 167.
CVI I. Die Metalle in den hgyptischen Inschriften.
[The Metals in the Egyptian Inscriptions.]
Mit 2 Tafeln. Berl. Ak. Abhdlg. 1871. 4.
CVIIl. Ober einige dgyptische Kunstformen und ihre
Entwickelung. [On Some Egyptian Forms of
Art and Their Development.] BerJ. Ak. Abhdlg.
1 87 1. 4.
CVI I la. Uber die athiopischen Sprachen und Vb'lker
zwischen Aegypten , Abyssinieti und den Liindern
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 343
der Negervolker. [On the Ethiopian Languages
and Peoples between Egypt, Abyssinia and the
Lands of the Negro Races.) Berl. Ak. Abhdlg.
1872. 4.
CIX. Des Sesostris HeraklestJCorperldnge. [The Length
of the Body of the Sesostris Herakles.J Ztschr.
f. dg. Spr. u. A. 187 1. S. 52.
CX. Der Bogen in der Hieroglyphik. [The Arch in
Hieroglyphics.] ibid. 1872. S. 79.
CXI. Kupfer und Eisen. [Copper and Iron.] ibid,
1872. S. 113.
CXI I. Exhibition of Portraits of Deceased Scholars
and Artists of Berlin. Catalogue, 1873, 8.
This Exhibition was Opened from the Twenty-
first to the Thirtieth of March, 1873, to Aid in
Purchasing a Lodging House for Students.
CXIII. Royal Library. An Exhibition of all Writings
and Pictures Relating to the War 0^870-1871.
1873, 8. Open from the Ninth of October till
the Second of November, 1873, in the Central
Hall of the Royal Library.
CXIV. Vicomte E. de Rouge. Zeitschr. f. dg. Spr. u.
A. 1873. S. 23.
CXV. Hieroglyphische Inschriften in den Oasen von
Xdrigeh und Ddxikh. [Hieroglyphic Inscrip-
tions in the Oases of Xarigeh and Da^ileh.)
ibid. 1874. S. 73.
CXVI. Trinuthis und die dgyptischen Oasen. [Trinuthis
and the Egyptian Oases.] ibid. 1874. S. 80.
CXVI I. Die Inschrift des nubischen Konigs Silko. [The
Inscription of the Nubian King Silko.] BerL
Mon.-Ber. 5. Apr. 1875. 8.
CXVI la. Die griechische Inschrift des nubischen Konigs
Silko. [The Grecian Inscription of the Nubian
344 RICHARD LEPSIUS,
King Silko.] Hermes. 1875. Bd. X. S. 129-
144.
CXVIII. Liste der hieroglyphischefi Typen des Herrn
F. Theinhardt. [List of the Hieroglyphic Types
of Mr. F. Theinhardt.] Berlin. 1875. hi. Pol.
Anch als Beilage zu der Zeitschr. f. dg. Spr. u.
A. 1875.
CXIX. Vom ifiternalionalen Orien talis ten- Congress in
London. [Of the International Congress of
Orientalists in London.] Ztschr. f. dg. Spr. u.
A. 1875. S. 1.
CXX. tlber den Kalender des Papyrus Ebers nnd die
Geschichtlichkeit der dltesten JVach rich ten. [On
the Calendar of the Ebers Papyrus, and the
Historical Value of the Oldest Accounts.] ibid.
1875. S. 145.
CXX I. Recensioti fiber die von G. Ebers besorgte Publi-
cation des Papyrus Ebers. [Review of the Edi-
tion of the Ebers Papyrus made under the super-
vision of G. Ebers.] Literarisches Centralblatt v.
Zarncke. 1875. 5. 1582^
CXX II. Aufforderung (zu Mittheilungen von Seiten
derjenigen kleineren Museen oder Privatsa/n/n-
lungen, welche sich im Besitz von Todtenpapy-
rus befinden, fiber dieselben.) [Invitation for
Communications, From Such Smaller Museums
or Private Collections as are in Possession of
Funereal Papyri, Concerning the Same.] Ztsc/ir.
f. dg. Spr. u. A. 1876. S. 48.
CXX 1 1 1. Les me'taux dans les inscriptions egyptiennes.
Traduit par IV. Berend. Avec des additions de
F ante u r. Avec 2 planches. Paris. 1877. 4.
CXXIV. Die baby Ionise h-assyrisc hen Lafigefunassc nacJi
der Tafel von Senkereh. ['I he Babylonian- As-
syrian Linear Measure According to the Tablet
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 345
of Senkereh.] Mit i TafeL Berl. Ak. Abhdlg.
1877. 4.
CXXV. Das Stadium u?id die Gradmessung des Erat-
osthenes anf Grundlage der agyptischen Masse.
[The Stadium and the Measure of Degrees of
Eratosthenes on the Basis of the Egyptian
Measures.] Zeitschr. /. ag. Spr. u. A. 1877. S. 3.
CXXVI. Uber die widderkopfigen Gotter Ammon u.
Chnumis, in Beziehung anf die Ammonsoase und
die gehornten Kopfe auf griechischen Munzen.
[On the Ram-headed Gods, Ammon and Chnu-
mis, in Connection with the Oasis of Ammon
and the Horned Heads on Greek Coins.] ibid.
1878. S. 8.
CXXVII. Die babylonisch-assyrische Liingenmass-Tafel
von Senkereh. [The Babylonian-Assyrian Tablet
of Linear Measure from Senkereh.] ibid. 1877.
S. 49.
CXXV1II. Eine agyptisch-aramliische Stele. [An Egyp-
• tian-Aramaic Stela.] ibid. 1877. S. 127.
CXXIX. Weitere Erorterungen uber das babylonisch-
assyrische Ldnge?imasssystem. | Farther Discus-
sions of the Babylonian - Assyrian System of
Linear Measure.] BerL Mon.-Ber. 6. Dec. 1877
und \. Febr. 1878. 8.
CXXIXa. Uber die Sprachgruppen der afrikatiische?i
Volker. [On the Groups of Languages of the
African Tribes.] Berl. Ak. Abhdlg. 1879. 4.
CXXX. Nubische Grammatik 7nit einer Einleitung uber
die Volker und Sprachen Afrikas. | Nubian
Grammar, with an Introduction on the Tribes
and Languages of Africa.] Berl. 1880. 8.
CXXXI. Uber die Wiedererqffnung zweier agyptischer
Pyramiden nach Mittheilungen von Prof. Brugsch.
[On the Reopening of Two Egyptian Pyramids,
346 RICHARD LEPSIUS,
According to Communications from Professor
Brugsch.] Berl. Sitzungs-Ber. 1881. 8.
CXXXII. Bericht uber den Fortgang der von E. Navillc
unternommenen Heransgabe des Thebanischen Tod-
tcnbuchs. [Report on the Progress of the Edition
of the Theban Book of the Dead, Undertaken
by E. Naville.] Berl. Sitzungs-Ber. 1881. 8.
CXXXII I. Bemerkung (zu den neu geqffneten Pyra-
miden von Saqqara.) [Observations on the
Pyramids of Saccarah Recently Opened.]
Ztschr. f. tig. Spr. u. A.' 1881. S. 15.
CXXXIV. Die XXI. Manethonische Dynastie. [The
XXI Dynasty of Manetho.J Ztschr. f. dg. Spr.
u. A. 1882. S. 103 u. 151.
CXXXV. Eine Sphinx. [A Sphinx.] ibid. 1882. S.
117.
C XX XVI. "Die dgyptische Zdngenmasse" von Dorp-
feld beleuchtet von R. Lepsius. [" The Egyp-
tian Linear Measures " of Dorpfeld, Examined
by R. Lepsius.] Aus den Mittheilungen des
archiiologischen Instituts zu A then. 1883. VIII.
S. 227-245. 8.
( Dorpfeld 's Abhandlung, gegen welche diese Streit-
schrift sich richtet, ibid. S. 36 ff.
CXXXVII. Die Ldngenmasse der Alien. [The Lin-
ear Measures of the Ancients.] Berl. Sitzungs-
Ber. 1883. 8.
CXXXVIII. Uber die Lage von Bithom (Succoth) u.
Raemses ( Heroonpolis.) [On the site of Pithom
(Succoth) and Raemses (Heroonpolis).] Ztschr.
f. cig. Spr. u. A. 1883. S. 41.
CXXXIX. Ober die Masse im Felsengrabe Ramses' IV.
[On the Measures in the Rock Tomb of Ramses
IV. J Ztschr. f. dg. Spr. u. A. 1884. S. 1.
INDEX TO HIS WORKS. 347
CXL. Uber die 6 palmige grosse Elle von 7 kleinen
Jfalmen-Ldnge, in dem " Mathematischen Hand-
buche " von Eisenlohr. [On the Great Ell of Six
Palms, the Length of Seven Small Palms, in the
" Mathematical Handbook " of Eisenlohr.] ibid.
1884. S. 6.
CXLI. Die Langenmasse der Alien. [The Linear
Measures of the Ancients.] Berlin. W. Hertz.
1884.
CXLII. Der Artikel " Aegypten" in Brockhaus' Con-
versations-Lexicon. [The Article " Egypt " in
the " Conversations- Lexicon " of Brockhaus. I
THE END.
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