Lettre à M. Dacier, ... relative à l'alphabet des hiéroglyphes phonétiques

9

The seventh character is an open hand, representing the T; but this hand is not found again in the word Ptolemy, where the second letter, the T, is expressed by a segment of a sphere, which nevertheless is also a T; for we shall see further below why these two hieroglyphic signs are homophones different signs representing the same sound.

The eighth sign of CLEOPATRA, which is a mouth viewed from the front, and which would be the R, is not found in the cartouche of Ptolemy, and should not be there either.

Finally, the ninth and last sign of the queen's name, which must be the vowel A, is indeed the hawk that we have already seen representing this vowel in the third syllable of the same name. This proper name is terminated by the two hieroglyphic signs of the feminine gender; that of Ptolemy is terminated by another sign which consists of a curved stroke, and which is equivalent to the Greek S original: "$Σ$", as we shall soon see.

The combined signs of these two cartouches, analyzed phonetically, thus already gave us twelve signs corresponding to eleven consonants and vowels or diphthongs of the Greek alphabet: A, AI, E, K, L, M, O, P, R, S, T.

The already very probable phonetic value of these twelve signs will become incontestable if, by applying these values to other cartouches or small circumscribed panels containing proper names and taken from Egyptian hieroglyphic monuments, one achieves without effort a regular reading, producing proper names of sovereigns who were foreign to the Egyptian language.