Now, in No. 1, we can at once write down the values of all the signs, viz., P . I . L . A . T . R . A, which is obviously the Greek name Philotera. In No. 2 we only know some of the hieroglyphs, and we write the cartouche thus: [cartouche]. Now we know that [glyph] occurs in the name Berenice, and that it represents N, and that [glyph] is the last word of the transcript of the Greek title “Kaisaros,” and that it therefore represents some S sound. Some of the forms of the cartouche of Cleopatra begin with [glyph], and it is clear that its phonetic value must be K. Inserting these values in the above cartouche we have:
which is clearly meant to represent the name “Alexandros,” or Alexander. The position of the sign [glyph] shows that it represented some sound of E or A.
Returning to the signs [glyph] which we have assumed to represent the royal titles “ever-living, beloved of Ptah,” we have to decide whether this assumption be correct or not. It was known by tradition and from Coptic Vocabularies that the old Egyptian word for “life” or “living,” was “ānkh,” or “ōnkh,” and that it was represented by the symbol [glyph] which occurs several times in the inscriptions. It was therefore guessed that the next signs [glyph] meant “ever.” The Coptic Vocabularies state that one of the old Egyptian words for “ever, age, eternity,” was Djet, and as we already know that the phonetic value of the second sign in the word is T, we may assume that the value of [glyph] is DJ, or TJ. The third sign [glyph] is a “determinative,” and was not pronounced. Thus the first title [glyph] means “living ever,” or “ever-living.” Of the remaining signs [glyph] we know that the two first are P and T, i.e. the first two letters of the name of Ptah; the third sign [glyph] must then have the value of H or something like it. If the signs [glyph] form the name of Ptah, then the sign which follows them must mean “loving,” or “loved.” Here again the Coptic helped the early decipherers in assigning a phonetic value to [glyph], for the Coptic word for to love is “mere,” ϻϵρϵ, and they assumed that the value of the sign was “mer.” Now in the cartouche of Ptolemy on the Rosetta Stone after the name Ptah [glyph], we have the signs [glyph], and these are, clearly, a variant of [glyph]. We already know that [glyph] = I, and therefore [glyph] must be the equivalent of [glyph] and have the value of “mer.” By the comparison of texts containing variant forms, and by the skilful use of his knowledge of Coptic, Champollion succeeded in formulating the system of decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs that is, substantially, that in use at the present day.