Heinrich Karl BrugschBorn 18 Feb 1827; died 9 Sep 1894 at age 67.German Egyptologist who pioneered in deciphering demotic, the simplified script of the later Egyptian periods. As a boy he visited the Berlin Museum and became fascinated with its Egyptian artifacts, an interest fostered by Guiseppe Passalacqua, the Museum's curator of the Egyptian collection. On visiting Egypt 1853 as consul for the Prussian government, he joined the French archaeologist August Mariette in his excavations at Memphis. He was director of the School of Egyptology in Cairo (1870-79). His greatest strength was the ancient Egyptian language, and a pioneer in the study of demotic. Brugsch recognized the Semitic side of Egyptian grammar, thus enabling a far more comprehensive and systematic understanding of hieroglyphs. |
