Clue: Flower area's dry, turning to stone (7)
Answer: ROSETTA
Explanation: Definition: stone
**ROSE** ("flower) + **<=A TT** (area and "dry" (TT = teetotal)) 
*The Rosetta Stone, rediscovered in 1799, is a 2nd century stele with inscriptions in three languages that allowed scholars to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics.