1. Home
  2. Education
  3. African History
photo of Alistair Boddy-Evans

Alistair's African History Blog

By Alistair Boddy-Evans, About.com Guide to African History since 2001

Hieroglyphics decoded by Arabs 800 years before Champollion.

Sunday October 3, 2004
A report on the Guardian Unlimited website describes the claim by UCL's Institute of Archaeology researcher Dr Okasha El Daly that "Arabian scholars broke the code a thousand years ago." Dr El Daly, who scoured ancient Arabic manuscripts, discovered that an alchemist, Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Wahshiya, had worked out what hieroglyphs represented and was able to read ancient Egyptian texts back in the 9th century (AD).

Comments

No comments yet. Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment

Line and paragraph breaks are automatic. Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title="">, <b>, <i>, <strike>

Explore African History

About.com Special Features

A Smarter Future

Tips that will help finance your education, excel in the classroom, and advance your career. More >

How to Ace the GRE

Being well prepared is the first step; here are more essential suggestions. More >

  1. Home
  2. Education
  3. African History

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.