Editing Egyptian Revival architecture (section)

==== Hieroglyphics ====
Many notable works in Britain featured attempts by architects to translate and depict messages in [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Elliot|first=Chris|date=2013|title=Compositions in Egyptian Hierogylphs in Nineteenth Century England|journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology|volume=99|pages=171–189|doi=10.1177/030751331309900108 |s2cid=193273948 }}</ref> Although sincere attempts at compositions, understanding of hieroglyphic syntax and semantics has advanced since they were built and errors have been discovered in many of these works. Although both public and private buildings were built in Britain in the Egyptian Revival style, the vast majority of those with attempts at accurate inscriptions were public works or on entrances to public buildings.<ref name=":1" />

In 1824, French classical scholar and egyptologist [[Jean-François Champollion]] published ''Precis du systeme hieroglyphique des anciens Egyptiens'' in 1824, which spurred the first notable attempts to decipher the hieroglyphic language in Britain.<ref name=":1" /> [[Joseph Bonomi the Younger]]'s inscriptions in the entrance lodges to [[Abney Park Cemetery]] in 1840 was the first real recorded attempt to compose a legible text. An Egyptologist himself, Bonomi and other scholars such as [[Samuel Birch (Egyptologist)|Samuel Birch]], [[Samuel Sharpe (scholar)|Samuel Sharpe]], William Osburne, and others<ref name=":1" /> would compose texts for a variety of other British projects throughout the nineteenth century including [[Temple Works|Marshall's Mill]] in Leeds, an [[aedicula]] in the grounds of [[Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire]], and as part of an Egyptian exhibition in [[The Crystal Palace]] after it was re-erected in southeast London.<ref name=":1" />

The content of the inscriptions varied depending on the nature of their specific projects. The Crystal Palace exhibition features several different inscriptions, with the main inscription detailing the construction and content of the hall and proclaiming it as an educational asset to the community. It ends with a message to invoke good fortune, translated as 'let it be prosperous.<ref name=":1" />' Other smaller inscriptions on the cornice of the exhibit entrance feature the names of the builders and a message in Greek wishing for the health and well-being of [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale|Prince Albert]],<ref name=":1" /> members of the royal family. The main inscription is accompanied by an English translation, with the characters spaced to match the position of the English words. However, Chris Elliot notes that the translation overly relies on phonetic transliteration and features some unusual characters for words that were difficult to translate into hieroglyphs.<ref name=":1" />