Oedipus aegyptiacus
Oedipus Aegyptiacus is the most important work of the universal scholar Athanasius Kirchers on Egyptology .
The three-volume book, full of elaborate illustrations and diagrams, was published in Rome between 1652 and 1654. Kircher claimed that his sources for Oedipus Aegyptiacus were Chaldean astrology , Hebrew Kabbalah , Greek mythology , Pythagorean mathematics , Arabic alchemy, and Latin philology . Like Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and Marsilio Ficino before him, Kircher also sought to establish knowledge of pre-Christian cultures in the Catholic world.
The 3rd book by Oedipus Aegyptiacus deals exclusively with Kircher's attempts to translate the Egyptian hieroglyphs . The primary source for Kircher's studies was the Isiaca cafeteria , also known as the Bembo tablet , after it was acquired by Cardinal Pietro Bembo shortly after the sack of Rome in 1527. The Bembo tablet is made of bronze and niello , measures 126 × 75 cm and shows various items Egyptian deities . In the center of the board sits Isis , who resides "the polymorphic all-inclusive Universal Idea".
Kircher's Oedipus Aegyptiacus is a classic example of syncretic and eclectic scholarship in the late Renaissance . It is representative of the baroque extravagance in the imaginations of hermetic- influenced scholars prior to the modern era of science. His interpretations of hieroglyphic texts tend to be wordy and ominous.
Kircher was respected in the 17th century for his studies of Egyptian hieroglyphics; his exact contemporary Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682) recognized him as an Egyptologist and for his studies of hieroglyphics:
"But no man is likely to profound the Ocean of that Doctrine, beyond that eminent example of industrious Learning, Kircherus."
"But no man is more grounded in the ocean of this doctrine than the venerable example of diligent study, Kircher."
In fact, however, Kircher was unable to decipher the true meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphs; it was not until the French Jean-François Champollion finally succeeded in deciphering the riddle by studying the Rosetta Stone between 1822 and 1824.
Web links
- Digitized version of the first volume at the Heidelberg University Library
- Parts of Oedipus Aegyptiacus as PDF file (English)
- Photo of the Bembo plaque with details
