The Father of Italian Egyptology

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T H E F A T H E R O F I T A L I A N E G Y P T O LO G Y

IppolitoRosellinibyFabrizioCalzia

The birth of a man of learning

IppolitoRosellini, the future father of Italian Egyptology, was born in Pisa on 13 August 1800 to a

family of tradesmen from Pescia. His parents were in no financial difficulty and Ippolito, a delicate

child, was able to devote himself immediately, and very profitably, to learning, the great passion of

his life.

Rosellini demonstrated an unusual intelligence and a natural vocation for study. His progress was

remarkably rapid and in 1817 he entered the University of Pisa, graduating in theology on 5 June

1821. He specialised in the Hebrew and Arabic languages, becoming professor of oriental languages

when he was just 24 years old. It was during this

period that he learned about French Egyptologist Jean François Champollion¶s great discovery of

how to decipher hieroglyphics (1822), based on his genial intuition of studying the Rosetta stone as

described in ³P récis du systèmehiéroglyphique des anciensEgyptiens´ published in 1824.

Rosellini meets Champollion

In summer 1825 Rosellini had the opportunity, in Florence, to meet Champollion. A deep and

genuine friendship grew up between them, nourished by mutual esteem and a common interest in



the study of hieroglyphics. They were a perfect complement to each other, with Champollion

contributing his intuition and ingeniousness, while the strength of Rosellini lay in his stubborn

analytical skills. The Frenchman, however, thanks to the standing of his discovery and France¶s

reputation in scientific circles, was always the teacher and Rosellini his disciple«

Nevertheless, it was Rosellini who taught the first official course in Europe, at the University of Pisa,

on the history, language and antiquities of Egypt. It was 1826 and Ippolito¶s ambitions went far

beyond the boundaries of the classroom. So much so that he asked the university for a year¶s

sabbatical to visit his friend Champollion in Paris, where he intended to do detailed research into

hieroglyphics. In Paris, while Rosellini and Champollion continued their work together, Ippolito met

and fell in love with his future wife Zenobia Cherubini, the daughter of famous musician Luigi

Cherubini, who was a friend of Gioacchino Rossini. And it was Rossini himself who finally convinced

Zenobia¶s strict father to let Ippolito marry his daughter«

The grand project

The two friends and men of learning set about organising the project of a lifetime, proposing that

their respective governments mount a scientific expedition to Egypt. Champollion had a very easy

task and the French government immediately granted him the amount he asked for. Rosellinipetitioned the grand duke of Tuscany, Leopoldo II, and there were grounds for hope as the grand

duke was an admirer of Rosellini and wished to be seen as a patron of the arts and man of culture.

Rosellini astutely pointed out to Leopoldo II that sending a Tuscan mission to accompany the French

expedition would bring honour to the Sovereign and the State«

The operation received the backing of Champollion, who gave Rosellini a letter for the grand duke in

which he explained the idea behind the undertaking and its scientific importance.

On 27 July 1827 Rosellini sent his petition to Leopoldo II through the Tuscan ambassador in Paris,

Daniele Berlinghieri. But he didn¶t stop there. In the petition he informed the grand duke that the

next day he would be setting off for Tuscany to illustrate to him in person ³the project of a Tuscan

association to the literary expedition to Egypt´.The operation was a success and Leopoldo II immediately gave his blessing the the project, with the

support and encouragement of ministers. There was a tradition of good trading relations between

Tuscany and Egypt and an initiative like this couldn¶t help but be good for trade. There was

absolutely no doubt about Rosellini¶s candidacy as the scientific director of the Tuscan mission: ³No-

one is more suited than Rosellini, in consideration of the confidence and esteem placed in him by

Champollion´.

The council of ministers took Rosellini¶s proposals still further, suggesting to Leopoldo II that a

naturalist should accompany the mission, charged with collecting for natural history museums and

botanical gardens ³any objects which they do not have and which could be purchased in Egypt at very

low cost´.The person chosen to perform this task was Giuseppe Raddi, from Florence, who had already

demonstrated his skills in Brazil. Leopoldo¶s ministers were fully aware of his capabilities and

reputation: ³The knowledge of this man, who displays the utmost modesty combined with a tireless

commitment to succeeding in all he undertakes, as well as always demonstrating the most

praiseworthy disinterest, could in many circumstances be profitable for the studies which

Champollion and his companions propose to undertake´.



On 1st September 1827 Rosellini received a letter containing the answer he expected, the go-ahead

for the Tuscan mission to Egypt.

The same letter went on to establish terms and conditions: Rosellini was allowed to join ³the highly

reputed Champollion to order, as the leader of a Tuscan mission, drawings to be made of Egyptian

monuments as yet unknown, or not illustrated, and to excavate those which remain buried in Egypt,

in such a way as to enrich the Museums of the State´.

Rosellini was to have three Tuscan draughtsmen in his charge: Alessandro Ricci from Siena (who, as

a doctor, also had the task of providing medical assistance), architect Gaetano Rosellini (Ippolito¶s

uncle) and the painter Angelelli.

However, the expedition was to last no longer than eighteen months and the total amount

established was 50,000 francs, inclusive of 18,000 for excavations to unearth monuments for the

State¶s museums. The budget also included three francs a day for each of the draughtsmen, in

addition to 3,500 francs to be paid to them during their stay in Egypt, plus salary for two servants,

supplies of paper, instruments, tools, medical supplies, etc., as well as gifts in the form of porcelain

and crystal, to take to the Pasha and to other local government officers.´ The seal of the mission had

to bear the wording ³Tuscan literary mission to Egypt´. And Rosellini himself? He received the extraordinary fee of eighty ³francesconi´ a month (equivalent

to about 450 francs), in addition to his salary as university professor.

Reports on the progress of the expedition were to be addressed to the grand duke and ³sent to his

excellency the minister of Foreign Affairs´.

The Franco-Tuscan expedition

By the end of October 1827, all preparations seemed complete and the expedition was ready to set

sail from Toulouse. However, the uncertain political situation in the Middle East (which became



critical after the battle of Navarrino sealed the fate of the Greeks on 20 October) made a

postponement advisable. It took almost an entire year for relations between Egypt and France to

settle down and only on 31 July 1828 were Champollion and Rosellini, both sailing on the corvette

³Eglè´, finally able to leave Toulouse for Egypt. The French and Tuscan missions travelled and

worked together in close collaboration, with Champollion acting as general and scientific

director. The French mission, in addition to its director, also

included Antoine Bibent (a young architect who soon abandoned the expedition for health reasons),

Alexandre Duchesne (draughtsman), Bertin (draughtsman), Nestor L¶Hôte (draughtsman), Lehoux

(draughtsman) and Salvador Cherubini (Zenobia¶s brother and Rosellini¶s brother-in-law was a

member of both missions). The Tuscan mission had seven members: IppolitoRosellini, Giuseppe

Angelelli (draughtsman), Alessandro Ricci (doctor and draughtsman), Gaetano Rosellini (engineer

and architect), Giuseppe Raddi (naturalist), Gaetano Galastri (assistant to Raddi) and Salvador

Cherubini.



On 18 August 1828 the expedition arrived in Alexandria. Their mission

lasted more than a year, taking them up the Nile as far as WadiHalfa or the second Cataract (31

December 1828): ³The banks of the Nile continue to be a delight thanks to the cultivations and

luxuriant vegetation covering them. Cotton, hemp and other plants flourish thanks to the irrigation

channels dug by the farmers and fed from the waters of the Nile. The tamarisk is very common, as is

the Nile mimosa, which has abundant small flowers like our gaggia (robiniapseudoacacia), but with a

more delicate fragrance. The Arabs call it sunth, which derives from the ancient Egyptian name

scionti«´ this was how Rosellini described the unusual ³cruise´ up the Nile during a moment of

relaxation« During their stay in Egypt, the Tuscan scientists made important drawings, produced a significant

amount of documentation and gathered ³rare monuments´. Raddi, in particular, ³dutifully

assembled a hoard of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, molluscs, plants, minerals and rocks, which

enriched the Museums of Pisa and Florence significantly´.

His mission, however, was to be the cause of his death. During the expedition he fell seriously ill and



was put in all haste on a ship sailing for home. Unfortunately he died during the voyage on 6

September 1829 at Rhodes. The consuls of Sardinia and Austria on the island saw that the important

objects gathered reached Tuscany.

Raddi wasn¶t the expedition¶s only victim. Alessandro Ricci, its doctor, suffered the same fate. Bitten

by a scorpion at Thebes and paralysed, he finally died in 1834 without ever fully recovering.

A n Egyptian Museum for Florence

From a purely scientific point of view, however, the expedition was a great success. When he

returned to Tuscany at the end of 1829, Rosellini brought 900 objects which were to form the core of

the Egyptian Museum in Florence, the second most important in Italy after Turin. One of these

objects, an Osortasen stone portraying the subjection of various Nubian districts to the rule of king

Senvorstret I from the XII dynasty, risked becoming a bone of contention between Champollion and

Rosellini. Rosellini had promised it to his French friend but Alessandro Ricci, unaware of the

agreement, had it loaded onto one of the Tuscan mission¶s ships. Champollion never brought the

matter up. In part because their main joint project continued to be the publication of the expedition¶s

findings. The two friends discussed it at length again in 1831 in Paris (the year Rosellini became the

father of a baby girl) and drew up plans for its publication together. However, only a short while lateron 4 March 1832, when he was just 42 years old, Champollion died of a fatal illness after an

apoplectic fit in December 1831. Rosellini decided not to abandon the project and complete it

himself.

³The monuments of Egypt and Nu bia´

Financed by Leopoldo II, ³The monuments of Egypt and Nubia´ was originally to have had ten

volumes divided into three parts. Rosellini managed to publish only eight of them. The ninth was

published posthumously: ³Historical Monuments´ (five volumes on Egyptian history), with an atlas

of 169 figures, 28 of which in colour; ³Civil Monuments´ (three volumes on everyday life), with an

atlas of 135 figures, 74 of which in colour; ³Religious Monuments´ (one volume on religion in Egypt),

with an atlas of 86 figures, eight of which in colour.The tenth volume has been lost forever. It should, however, be noted that the work as a whole

faithfully reflects the plans drawn up by Rosellini with his friend Champollion, bearing further

witness to Rosellini¶s loyalty.

Although his health was delicate, Rosellini devoted all his energy to the project. The first volumes

were quickly published, despite the opposition of numerous Frenchmen, including Champollion¶s

elder brother, who had already seized on the incident regarding the Osortasen stone to turn against

Rosellini. Rosellini worked in a rigorously scientific manner, providing only facts about the

monuments to avoid ³mixing the light of fact with the fog of hypothesis´. The first volume was

published in November 1832, with the second hard on its heels. Then, gradually, Rosellini¶s pace

flagged. His health wasn¶t good and there were also publishing problems, with advance orders failingto materialise and some booksellers going bankrupt before they had paid for the copies. Rosellini was

forced to ask Grand Duke Leopoldo II for an extension on his loan, and while this deferred his

problems, it did not solve them. In the meantime Rosellini¶s reputation grew. In 1835 the University

of Pisa appointed him to the position of University Librarian. Here too, working with unceasing

enthusiasm, he made a name for himself, opening three lit and heated reading rooms, establishing a

free loan scheme and encouraging the purchase of new volumes.



His death

Rosellini was unable to keep up with all his commitments: his university professorship, the faculty

presidency, the library, his publication and his family (he was now the father of three children after

the premature death of his first born daughter Ida). His illness, however, continued unabated and

Rosellini decided to retire to the country to concentrate on his lifetime¶s work. One which was in any

case destined to remain uncompleted.Rosellini saw the eighth volume published, but only managed

to complete, but not print, the ninth.

1843 was a year of suffering for Rosellini. He entered a coma on the night between the 16 and 17 of

May and died on 4 June.

His remains are buried in Pisa¶s CamposantoVecchio, near the Cathedral, and the tomb of the father

of Italian Egyptology can still be visited today.

160 years after his death, IppolitoRosellini remains a very contemporary figure. His literary work

represents not only a historical testimony of the French-Tuscan expedition of 1828-29, but a

fundamental object of study for scientists and Egyptologists.

Recommended readings

The Monuments of Egypt and Nubia

by IppolitoRosellini

Egyptian Diaries: How One Man Unveiled the Mysteries of the Nile

by Jean-François Champollion, P eter Clayton

Lettresetjournauxécrits pendant le voyage d'Egypte

by Jean-François Champollion

DictionnaireEgyptien

by Jean-François Champollion

Documents

The Father of Italian Egyptology