The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1866-07-04
Remarkable Discovery IA Second Rosetta

Almost cvcrybod3wh reads has
heard of The famon Jpse,,a Stone. IL
was toun,!, Sk,Sssssssa k,sssssSsa < c6ntury age, near
Rosctt-, Il town on one Of the mouths of
the Nile IL was an ancient sculpturcd
monument, containing an inscription in
Egyptian llicroglyphics, and beneath a
/ translation in Greek. It's value may be
Iradiiy guessed when we state that the
crndltc world had long before given up
any hope Of reading the hieroglyphcal
writings Of The old Egyptians All a.
long the Nile, on temples aud in tombs,
existed mass Subscriptions in this char
actcr, but they were TO ihe learned like
sealed book. 1t was indeed provoking.
Here were, without any doubt, treas.
nrcs Of historical Information whc,,
would throw abundant light on the ear
y ages OF one the most venerable na :
tons of The earth. But nobody could
drciphcr I language in which they
were concealed. AT last the Rosetta
Stone afforded a clue to the mystery.
1t did not look very hopeful at first, for
The whole was not very large, and con.
tanned bnt a vo:y few lines. But mrE
Of patient research like Champollion in
France and Yonngin England, set them.
selves TO The task. With the aid of The
Greek translation they managed to revivi.
ly The old Egyptian language, TO study
out the system by which lis hieroglyph
les were arranged, and to ascertain and
classify its grammatical peculiaritcs
The temples and the tombs then began
to yield up their secrets. and Egyptian
history and Egyptian chronology be.
came something morc than mere guess
work. But the result was yet very M,
satisfactory. The characters on the Ro
srtia had been SO few, that when other
hieroglyphics were encountered there
was considerable doubt as 10 their
meaning. This led TO several disputes
among Psychologists, for NOBODY could
he absolutely certain that errors might
not have crcrt into tho linguistic sys.
TEN which had with snch infinite pa.
Licncr been built up on tic basis Of the
brief Rosetta Inscriptions.
Happily further aid has been obtained.
At the Egyptian town Of Port SAID are
mcancicnt ruins, which once formed
the foundations Of ciiliccs of u consilera.
bic SIZE. These remains arc now, how.
ever, in such a state of decay, that lit.
tie attention has hitherto been given o
them by anliquarics. Some few weeks
back portion of this Gtbyis gave way.
One ofll,c French engineers engaged III
the construction Of Snrz canal Glanced
somndays la'cr, tn pass byi and noticed
,hescorncr Of slab projecting from De
r'iincd pile, upon which u portion OF a
Greek inscription was visible Very
fortunately the Prnssian Lapsins, ono Of
the foremost Egyptian scholars of tho
day happened to beiin the country. He
was at once Informed ofthe discovery,
aad hastencd to tic spot. Laborers
were employed under his directions to
clcaraway the surrounding rubbish and
it was very soon found that a prize ol
far greater vnlue thauthe Rosetta Stone
had come to light. 1t was q bilingual
inscription, of which the Egyptian origi
nal comprised no less than thirty,sevcn
lines ofconsiderable lcngth, while the
Grock translation numbered seventy-six
lines. 1t is evident how important
these two texts, overy word Of which is
perfectly lcgiblc from beginning TO end,
lmust DO for l'eroglypIlical studies