Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1901-03-01
KEY TO THE PYRAMIDS.
II IL tho "Rosstta stone. In . aal-
lery of the british M1seHm.

There are many historic and famous
stones in the world, but few Of them pos
sess the value and interest Of the piece Of !;
black basalt called the Rosetta stone" !
mounted in the west gallery OF the British
museum. Had 1t not been for the Rosetta
stone our linguists would have boon abso-
lutely at loss to decipher the Egyptian
records. The hieroglyphio characters I,
would have been meaningless tracings.
This stone, however, proved the key to the
language of Egypt, and the Importance OF
the work accomplished through this
knowledge is very great indeed. For IN
stance, many points of dispute have been
cleared up, and in some instances impor-
tant passages of the Bible-especially re-
lating to the period OF time when the He
brews dwelt in the land of Egypt"-hnye
been Calculated.
The manners, customs and religious
rites of the Egyptians have been brought
to light, and through this stone We are
now enabled to obtain an insight into the
early history Of this wonderful people.
With farseeing sagaoity, the mind which
directed the cutting of the inscriptions
upon the Rosetta stone had 1t done IN
three different languages, no doubt with
view to making the hieroglyphic char
acters understood by the clever Greeks,
the most intellectual people in the world
ut that time.
The Rosetta stone is written in three
languages-the hieroglyphic, or language
known only to the priest caste; the de-
motto, or enchorial, the common speech
Of the people, and the Greek. Had 1T not
been for the use of Greek 1t Is doubtful II
the Rosetta stone would ever have been
deciphered.
OF course every classical scholar has .
knowledge of Greek. By this knowledge
the inscriptions in Egyptian language on
the other parts Of the stone We're easily
made out, and BY use Of the key thus afford
ed the whole Of the characters of Egypt,
1 which arc picture words, became very
easy to read, just as one may decipher the
+ most difficult OF cryptograms If he be pos
sessed of key. The stone in question ID
of black basalt, as has been said. It is
feet z inches long and 9 feet 8 inches wide,
! containing one-third Of the hieroglyphic
i and nearly all OF the Greek portions, the
/ upper part and some of the sides having
| been broken away. The inscriptions on
! the stone pertain to decree in honor d
/ Ptolemy Ep.phanes by the priests Of
/ Egypt, assembled at synod at Memphis
The synod was convened on account o.
| bis remission OF the arrears Of taxes and
! dues owed by the sacerdotal body. 30 Il
seems, even in those early days, the "sacer
dotal body" was ready to convoke synodi
on the slightsst provooation, especially II
| regard to their "dues and taxes"
This in itself Is an instructive lesson
| which shows us that the world 10 abou
the same today as it was In B. O. 100
when the stone was set up. The Rosett.
stone In the British museum IL the onl,
discovered specimen Of the numerous In
scriptions Of similar nature set up at tn
same time.
The stone was found in 1899 by n
Boussard French officer Of engineers
during the French occupation Of Egypt
II was unearthed in an excavation mad
ct Fort Julien, near Rosetta, city 9
Egypt on the west bank Of the old Boil
bitic Nile The name Rosetta" is deriN
cd from an old Egyptian word. "rousat
l a -