Question

Read the excerpt from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Giblin. Some of these scholars made otherwise significant contributions to the world's knowledge of ancient Egypt. A German priest of the 1600s, Athanasius Kircher, wrote the first grammar and vocabulary of Coptic, the language of Christian Egypt. These books were to prove of great value when the hieroglyphs were eventually deciphered. But Kircher's ideas about the hieroglyphs themselves were even farther off the mark than those of Horapollo. Looking at a certain group of symbols—which actually stood for the name of a pharaoh—Kircher let his imagination run wild. Without any evidence to support him, he said that the hieroglyphs meant "The blessings of the god Osiris are to be procured by means of sacred ceremonies, in order that the benefits of the river Nile may be obtained." From 1650 onward, Kircher produced several volumes of such nonsense. It earned him a reputation for being an expert on the hieroglyphs—a

Answer 1

B

Step-by-step explanation:

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Answer 2

B). 'A German priest of the 1600s, Athanasius Kircher, wrote the first grammar and vocabulary of Coptic, the language of Christian Egypt.'

Step-by-step explanation:

In the given excerpt from 'The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone,' the central claim of Giblin is the 'notable contributions made by various scholars to add to the world's knowledge of ancient Egypt.' This claim is substantiated through the detail of the 'German priest, Athanasius Kircher, who is accredited for writing the first Coptic grammar and vocabulary.' This detail helps in validating the truth of the assertion logically and persuade the readers to believe in it. Thus, option B is the correct answer.