Gustav Seyffarth

In 1840, on his initiative, a sarcophagus was purchased that was to become the centerpiece of the future Ägyptisches Museum der Universität Leipzig. In 1856 he came to America and became a professor of church history and archæology at Concordia College, St. From 1859 he resided in New York City, where he conducted research at the Astor Library. Seyffarth was an earnest student of Egyptology, but wrongly held that the hieroglyphic characters, with scarcely an exception, were pure phonograms. His method of deciphering hieroglyphics was fundamentally different to that of Jean-François Champollion — with Seyffarth asserting that the hieroglyphs designated the consonant elements of a syllable and Champollion teaching that the hieroglyphs were symbols standing for definite letters of the alphabet.

Gustav Seyffarth studied at Leipzig University. The recorded working language is German, Latin and English. The field of work recorded is archaeology, Egyptology and church history. Places of work recorded in the authority are Leipzig. Employment is recorded with Leipzig University.

• "De lingua et literis veterum Aegyptiorum: cum permultis tabulis lithographicis", 1825 (with Friedrich August Wilhelm Spohn). • "Rudimenta Hieroglyphices", 1826. • Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Literatur, Kunst, Mythologie und Geschichte des alten Aegypten, (1826–1840, 7 parts). • "Systema astronomiae aegyptiacae quadripartitum", 1833. • Unser alphabet ein abbild des thierkreises, 1834. • "Alphabeta Genuina Aegyptiorum", 1840. • Die Grundsätze der Mythologie und der alten Religionsgeschichte 1843. • "Grammatica aegyptiaca", 1855. • "Summary of recent discoveries in Biblical chronology, universal history and Egyptian archæology; with special reference to Dr. Abbott's Egyptian museum in New-York. Together with a translation of the first sacred book of the ancient Egyptians", 1857. • "An Astronomical Inscription Concerning the Year 1722 B.C.", 1859. • "The hieroglyphic tablet of Pompeium, grammatically translated and commented on", 1881. • "The Literary Life of Gustavus Seyffarth...: An Autobiographical Sketch" (with Karl Knortz), 1886.