Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Akerblad, Jan David

AKERBLAD, Jan David (1760-1819), a learned Swede, distinguished for his researches in Runic, Coptic, Phœnician, and ancient Egyptian literature. He entered the diplomatic service as secretary to the Swedish embassy at Constantinople, and utilised the leisure which the situation afforded by visiting Jerusalem (1792) and the Troad (1797). After an interval spent at Göttingen, he was appointed ambassador to Paris. His last years were passed at Rome, where he enjoyed a pension from the Duchess of Devonshire. Akerblad was a diligent student of hieroglyphics; and though he failed to decipher the Rosetta stone, he arrived at certain conjectural conclusions with regard to the true method of interpretation, which were afterwards confirmed by Dr Young. His works include letters on the Coptish cursive writing and on the Rosetta inscription, both addressed to M. de Sacy; and a number of pamphlets on the interpretation of various Runic and Phœnician inscriptions.