Of the nine symbols, Champollion already knew numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8. When he lined up all the numbers and put the corresponding letters beneath them, he got the following arrangement:

Question

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A L _S E _T R _

Immediately Champollion thought of the one Greek leader whose name might be identified with this particular combination of letters. It was Alexander the Great, spelled "Alexandros" in Greek, and apparently represented as "Alksentrs" in hieroglyphs.

Champollion filled in the gaps in the arrange­ment:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
AL K S ENTR S

—The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone,
James Cross Giblin

What type of reasoning is shown in the final part of the passage?

moving from the big picture of knowing the name to figuring out the details of the letters
moving from the detail of knowing the name to figuring out the big picture of the letters
moving from the big picture of knowing some letters to figuring out the name
moving from the details of knowing some letters to figuring out the name

Answer 1

The reasoning shown in the final part of the passage is: moving from the details of knowing some letters to figuring out the name.

Champollion had a partial arrangement of letters and used that detail to deduce the complete name "Alksentrs," which corresponds to "Alexander the Great."