Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1894-05-05
THE TREASURE KEY.
a Discovery That Opened the Riches of
Eastern Literature.


Eastern Literature.
1t is not fairy tale that am going
TO tell you, though / do take you far
away to tho orient, to the land of the
lotus flower, the land of the pyramids,
of the obelisks and the Nile, but story
true in word and fact.
1t is the story of key, before which
vast treasure houses, impenetrable for
ages, opened their doors. And when the
portals We're thrown wide the searchers
gazed upon vistas containing riches Of
which their widest imaginings had
never dreamed.
1t Is not a key of gold, though its
value is more than its weight in that
precious metal, nor is it shaped like 4
key at all And the wealth it unlocked
Is not only for its finders, but for all
that desire to partalle of it, for all pos
terity, for you and for me. Ispeak OF TIE
Rosetta stone, which is now i'll the Brit
ish museum.
Many ages ago Ptoleny Epiphenes,
king of Egypt, paid the arrears OF taxes
and other debts of the priesthood Of
Egypt, and in thanks and to show their
respect for his consideration the priest
hood, at synod held in Memphis, passed
decree COMMUNICATING it. The decree
was cut into stone, rs that was themode
of preserving record of historical
events This happened about 1915 years
before the Christian era.
You must know that the Egyptians
had different mode of writing from
ours. They used hieroglypmcs or picture
writing and this, after great research,
has been discovered to be the written III
depreciation of sounds.
That record of Epiphenes' deed
might not be lost the Egyptians had the
decree written in three different Ian
guages, the hieroglyphic, the demotic
and the Greek This was done as pre-
caution, because, as the country had
many dialects language once i'll use
was likely to die out i'll time. So by
making this trilingual copy of the event,
each q translation of the other, it was
likely to be preserved.
Years passed, and the dust of ages
buried from view the stone that was DIES
tined to play so important a part in
throwing light upon the shadowy con-
ceptions of modern thinkers regarding
the past life and manners and customs
of the Egyptians.
This is the origin of the Rosetta stone,
but no one in the modern world knew of
its existence until the time Of Napoleon.
He carried his conQuering arms all over
Europe, and not content with his VIC
tories there he invaded Egypt, where he
fought the brilliant Egyptian campaign.
While stationed near Rosetta, III lower
Egypt, some of the soldiers with the
French engineer, NJ Boussard, found,
while excavating in the historical soil,
block of stone of black basalt, about
81 feet in length and Il little more than
21sfeet in width On it they saw strange
and unintelligible Writing or drawings.
II was the Rosetta stone, so called from
the name of the place where 1t was
found, but they did not dream how pre-
cious their discovery would prove.
And it was not until about IS years
had passed that even one word was
translated. DR.. Young in 1915 made
out the word Ptolemy, and he 1t was
who discovered that the writing was
phonetic and not Geographic, as had
been supposed. But the key had not yet
done its work, for, like Aladdin and his
lamp, the talisman had not yet been
conquered
Dr.. Young, continuing his research,
deciphered the word Berenice among
the pictorial writings of the frescoes at
Karnak. But it is to Champolion that
most of the credit is due, for he contin-
ued the research unremittingly, and
finally his labors were crowned with vic
tory. The translation of the Rosetta
stone was completed-that is to say, so
far as the stone itself is complete, for
one part of it is broken off.
1t was not an easy task to conquer,
but one well worth the attempt, and
honor will ever rebound to the men that
undertook and succeeded in opening up
the broad field of the literature of the
east, the field that glows with glorious
deeds and vast achievements, and that
for ages baff1ed the wisest.-Philadel-
piha Times