Champollion vs Young: who unlocked the hieroglyphs?

I gave the hieroglyphs their voice, Doctor - I proved they carry sound, not mere pictures, and I read the names of pharaohs no one had spoken in millennia.

But it was I who first cracked the cartouche of Ptolemy, who saw the demotic and the sacred script were kin - you built your temple on my foundation.

A foundation, perhaps, but a man may lay bricks without knowing he stands on sand - you guessed at symbols; I learned the living grammar of a dead tongue.

Then guess who saw the door first, Monsieur - I turned the key a quarter, and you merely had the patience to finish the turn.