Egypt Ancient, CHAMPOLLION, Jean-Francois(1790-1832) and the Rosetta Stone Ancient Egypt, CHAMPOLLION, Jean-Francois (1790-1832) and the Rosetta Stone The interesting thing about the Rosetta Stone is that the writing is repeated three times in different alphabets: 196 BC: Rosetta Stone engraved In the ninth year of the reign of Egyptian King Ptolemy V Epiphanes, the temple priests recorded the events of his kingship on a black basalt stone. Discovered in 1799 by Napoleon's army in Rashid, or Rosetta, Egypt, this stone provided the key to the oldest and most difficult Egyptian writing system, hieroglyphics. The usefulness of the Rosetta Stone was in the repetition of text in three writing systems: hieroglyphics; demotic script, a later form of hieroglyphics that was used in everyday documents "for the people," as its name means; and ancient Greek.

The deciphering of the stone was the work of British physician and physicist Thomas Young, who determined the direction in which certain symbols were to be read, and the French linguist Jean-Francois Champollion, who worked on the stone in 1821 and 1822. Their work enabled scholars to understand all forms of Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Rosetta stone is an irregularly shaped stone of black basalt that was found near the town of Rashid, or Rosetta, Egypt, in 1799. It bears inscriptions in the two ancient languages of Greek and Egyptian. Jean-Francois Champollion used this stone to figure out, for the first time, the meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphics. In addition to his role in translating this ancient picture language, he was the founder of scientific Egyptology and a brilliant historian and linguist. Champollion was born in Figeac, France, on Dec. 23, 1790. By the age of 16 he had mastered six ancient Middle Eastern languages as well as Latin and Greek. When only 19 he was named professor of history at the Lyceum of Grenoble.

His constant preoccupation became the deciphering of hieroglyphics. He succeeded at this difficult task because the Rosetta stone is inscribed with known Greek equivalents of the ancient Egyptian writing. He published his first papers on hieroglyphics in 1821 and 1822 and established a list of the signs and their Greek translations. In 1826 Champollion became director of the Egyptian collection at the Louvre museum in Paris, and two years later he conducted an archaeological expedition to Egypt. In 1831 he was given the professorship of Egyptian antiquities, which had been created especially for him, at the College of France. His published works included an Egyptian grammar and dictionary, the 'Primer of the Hieroglyphic System', and a book entitled 'Egyptian Pantheon'. 1822: Rosetta Stone deciphered Visitors to the British Museum in London can inspect a piece of black basalt measuring 45 inches (114 centimeters) by 28.5 inches (72 centimeters) upon which are inscribed ancient Egyptian and Greek texts. This chunk of basalt is one of the most valuable archaeological finds ever made.

It was found near Rash d (or Rosetta), Egypt, in 1799 by a Frenchman named Bouchard, after Napoleon's invasion of Egypt. When the French were forced to surrender their conquest to England in 1801, the Rosetta Stone fell into British hands and found its way to the British Museum. When experts were allowed to examine the stone, they noted that it had inscriptions in hieroglyphics, demotic script (derived from hieroglyphics), and ancient Greek. It was the presence of Greek that provided Thomas Young of England and Jean-Francois Champollion of France with the key to translating the inscriptions. Champollion began publishing the results of his work in 1821-22. He and Young laid the foundation for translation of all later Egyptian hieroglyphic texts. Home Page The Rosetta Stone | ARCHAEOLOGY OF ANCIENT EGYPT ARCHAEOLOGY OF ANCIENT EGYPT by spruithi I chose to talk about the Rosetta Stone today, because before this week’s class, I had no idea the history behind it. To me, the Rosetta Stone was the tapes you get to learn a new language!

Boy, was I surprised to find out that it was THE key discovery in the quest to decipher hieroglyphics. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone is thanks to a group of French soldiers in 1799, while in a small village in the Delta called Rosetta (Rashid). The stone was originally carved in 196 BC. Engraved on the stone are two languages (Egyptian and Greek), and three scripts (Hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Greek). It is said to have been written in three distinct scripts because all were being used in Egypt at the time. The first, hieroglyphics, was the script used for important religious documents. The second was Demotic, which was the common script of Egypt at the time. Last, but not least, was Greek. This was included in the engraving because it was the language used by the rulers of Egypt. It is said to have been written in all three scripts so that the government officials, priests, and rulers of Egypt could read what it said. Almost two thousand years went by, after the stone was engraved, before Jean-Francois Champollion finally was able to decipher hieroglyphics (1822).

He could already read Greek and Coptic, so it was just a matter of matching and deciphering the meaning of the hieroglyphics. With this discovery, provided the first real opportunity to actually study ancient Egypt, rather than just speculate what happened. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone, is the point at which the academic field of Egyptology was formed. As talked about in lecture, this was the key that allowed a transformation of Egyptian history and archaeology to an academic discipline, rather than something restricted to the “ultra rich”. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported . Share this: This entry was posted in Student Blog Posts by spruithi . Bookmark the permalink . 3 thoughts on “The Rosetta Stone” kendella on September 23, 2012 at 2:57 pm said: Before this week’s lecture, I too had no idea of the historic relevance of the Rosetta Stone. It is astounding to think that this stone was created as a means to provide literary access to a wide array of citizens and because of its varied translations became a monumental find within the field of Egyptian Archaeology.

When the stone was originally transcribed there was no way of predicting that some day it would become the key to deciphering an ancient and for a long time cryptic language, hyieroglyphics. This leads me to ponder how much longer it would have taken archaeologists to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs had the Rosetta Stone not been discovered. As you say in your post, and as Ethan mentioned in lecture, “[the Rosetta Stone] was the key that allowed a transformation of Egyptian history and archaeology to an academic discipline, rather than something restricted to the ‘ultra rich’”. I believe that the Rosetta Stone is a superb example of what the field of Egyptian Archaeology is capable of. This single archaeological find demonstrates the importance of uncovering and deciphering the past, and also reveals the major contributions of the field of archaeology and its relevance to historic interpretation and understanding. The Rosetta Stone provides a unique perspective on the relationship between Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology. As Egyptology focuses primarily on the language and texts of ancient Egypt, the Rosetta Stone falls well within the purview of this field and actually provided the foundation for the development of the field of Egyptology.

The Rosetta Stone is also of interest from an Egyptian Archaeological perspective because the stone is an artifact of material culture left behind by ancient Egyptians, thus the stone has allowed for more accurate and historically based interpretations of the archaeological record henceforth. September 25, 2012 at 10:48 am said: Without the Rosetta Stone, perhaps another translation of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs would have been found, but as it happened, this discovery was at an opportune moment for European willingness and ability to use it to interpret hieroglyphs. I was surprised to learn earlier in this class that hieroglyphics were phonetic rather than character-based, similar to Chinese. In considering the looting and exporting of so many Egyptian artifacts, I note the possible benefit in this case of allowing European linguists easier access to the Rosetta Stone. Although its possession by the English during this time period would have limited French access to some extent, more scholars were perhaps able to work on the Rosetta Stone translation than would have been possible if it was kept in Egypt.

The Rosetta Stone allowed Egyptology to flourese, but it also contributed to Dynastic Egyptian Archaeology by allowing translation of historic documents and permitting cross-dating of Byzantine and other Levant rulers. Its value is truly incalculable. ryderori on September 25, 2012 at 1:40 pm said: The first time I heard about the Rosetta Stone, I immediately thought about the language tapes as well haha. But it kind of makes sense to me now how these tapes got its name by being used as a tool to help learn and interpret a different language. And you’re right the Rosetta Stone was definitely an important piece in history not just for the ancient Egyptians but for other cultures as well. We have been discussing in class this week about social interaction between the ancient Egyptians and other societies. The Rosetta Stone would be a product of this intermingling of diverse populations, portraying the different languages being used in Egypt and the advancement of this ancient country. It even brought about a new academic discipline helping scholars learn more about this fascinating culture. While reading your blog I learned that it was the rulers, priests, and government officials that were able to read these texts.

This made me realize that this knowledge was made for those of a high status. Then I began to wonder if the ordinary ancient Egyptian was able to decipher and understand how to write these texts. If those of higher status were the only ones able to use this knowledge, they would have much more power then the lower class individuals. Napoleon and the Scientific Expedition to Egypt | Linda Hall Library The complete Rosetta Stone complied from three separate plates in the Description de lÉgypte Antiquités Inset of the Rosetta Stone, from Description de lÉgypte Antiquités The Rosetta stone is a dark grey granite slab three feet tall with a pink vein running through the top left corner, and it is carved with writing in three scripts: Greek, Egyptian demotic, and Egyptian hieroglyphic. Because the text of each of the Egyptian scripts is the same as the Greek text, which scholars were able to translate quickly after discovery of the monument, the Rosetta Stone became the key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is the most famous discovery made by the French forces in Egypt.

When it was taken to Cairo and given over to the scholars of the Institute of Egypt , they recognized immediately that it was the single most important object in their care. The stone was discovered in July 1799, one year after the French had arrived in Egypt. Captain François-Xavier Bouchard, an engineer and officer in Napoleons Egyptian army, was in charge of the demolition of an ancient wall in the city of Rosetta on a branch of the Nile, a few miles from the sea. The Rosetta Stone was built into the wall, but Bouchard recognized that the stone might make it possible to decipher hieroglyphics. So he saved it, and the stone was taken to the scientists in Cairo in mid-August 1799. The text, for most people, is not particularly interesting, apart from its use in breaking the code of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. The inscription is a priestly decree and it is only a fragment, since the original stele was at least twice as large as the piece that we call the Rosetta Stone.

The decree was issued at Memphis, the principal city of ancient Egypt, and it concerns the young Ptolemy V Epiphanes, king of all Egypt (205-180 BC). It is the very last sentence of the Greek inscription that, when translated, confirmed to scholars that the stone preserved the same text in three different languages. The last sentence read: This decree shall be inscribed on a stele of hard stone in sacred [i.e., hieroglyphic] and native [i.e., demotic] and Greek characters and set up in each of the first, second and third  [rank] temples beside the image of the ever-living king. The original site where the stone was erected is unknown, but it was certainly not Rosetta. The land where it was found is built up from sedimentation that had accumulated only after the time of the stones creation. Scholars surmise that the stele was moved with other blocks as building material from a site further inland, and that it was probably already broken when it was moved to Rosetta. Attempts to find additional fragments of the stone at Rosetta have all been in vain.

The original edges of the stone are preserved on the left, right and bottom sides, and the original shape of the complete stele is thought to have been generally rectangular, but slightly wider at the base and with an arched top, much like a tombstone. The original shape is shown in the last line of the hieroglyphs. Although the French savants copied thousands of hieroglyphs and bas reliefs faithfully by hand for publication in the Description de lÉgypte, copying the Rosetta Stones slight incisions by hand proved difficult. The director of the Institutes printing house suggested that the stone itself be used as a printing block. The surface was washed, brushed and dried, with all of the incisions left moist so that they would not take up any ink that was applied to the surface. A dampened sheet of paper was pressed onto the stone in contact with the raised surface and, in a kind of lithographic printing process, a reverse image of the writing was successfully produced with white letters on a black background. It could be read from the back side, or in a mirror. Detail of the Rosetta Stone, showing the cartouche containing hieroglyphs for Ptolemy.

The elongated ovals, or cartouches, in the hieroglyphic section always contain a royal name; in this case, Ptolemy, from Description de lÉgypte Antiquités, v. 5 Detail of the Rosetta Stone, showing an image of the original stele on last line, from Description de lÉgypte Antiquités,v. 5 Nicolas-Jacques Conté , already known for his inventive skills, used the stone in the manner of a copper plate engraving to produce an image of the text by a different printing method. Ink was applied to the whole surface, including the incisions, and then the ink was cleaned off all of the raised surfaces. The resulting print, also in reverse, showed an image of the text in black letters on a white background. Copies of the prints reached Paris by the autumn of 1800, and additional prints were widely distributed throughout Europe in the early years of the nineteenth century. The significance of the Rosetta Stone as key to hieroglyphs was clearly realized.

The full-sized reproductions of the text eventually appeared on three plates in the Description de lÉgypte, in volume 5 of the Antiquités, published in 1822. Even using the largest size paper available for printing, the stone was too large to reproduce on a single sheet. A sulfur cast of the Rosetta Stone made by Arien Raffeneau-Delile in Egypt was used to make the engravings in the Description de lÉgypte of the demotic (middle) and Greek (lower) sections. The upper part of the stone with the hieroglyphics was reproduced from a plaster cast. It was made in London by Edme Jomard, editor in chief of the Description de lÉgypte, who traveled to England in 1815 to study the stone, which was by then in the British Museum. The Rosetta Stone came to London and to the British Museum (where it remains) in 1802, after the French surrender to the British forces in Egypt. Though defeated, the French were reluctant to surrender the stone.

The scientists of the Institute of Egypt held their final meeting in Cairo on March 22, 1801, and then moved to Alexandria. The Rosetta Stone went with them. Under the terms of the treaty, however, all of the Egyptian antiquities that had been collected by the French, including the Rosetta Stone, were to be handed over to the British forces. All arguments and attempts by the French to keep the stone out of British hands failed and it finally left Egypt on board an English ship bound for Portsmouth, where it arrived in February 1802. By the time the engravings of the Rosetta Stone were published in the Description de lÉgypte in 1822, scholars had already spent years on the problem of decipherment. Among these, Thomas Young in England and Jean-François Champollion in France were the leading figures, not to say rivals. Ultimately it was Champollion who unlocked the code that allowed the hieroglyphs to be read, publishing a short report of his research in 1822 and a full exposition in 1824 that was the decisive analysis for decipherment.

He did this without ever having seen the stone itself, and instead worked with a copy from the Description. In 1824, Champollion made a brief trip to England and to the British Museum. It was the only time he ever saw the Rosetta Stone itself. View of Rosetta, from Description de lÉgypte État moderne, v. 1 The Discovery of the Rosetta Stone The Discovery of the Rosetta Stone An Oriental Expedition Bonaparte returned to Paris in December 1797 following his successful first Italian campaign and the Peace of Campo Formio as a public hero. He received many distinctions, one of which was his election to the National Institute, an exclusive body of scientists and men of letters. In this unstable period, the Directory employed Bonaparte in a plan to make a direct invasion of England. After a review of these plans, he suggested that an effort be made against her possessions in India might be more successful than a channel crossing. Plans were drawn up to capture Malta and then Egypt in the hopes that the latter occupation would give France control of the lucrative trade routes to the east.

The Directory also instructed Bonaparte to build a canal through the Isthmus of Suez and improve the situation of the local population. As Egypt was a nominal Turkish possession, foreign minister Talleyrand was to be sent to Constantinople to explain French plans, but in the end he never met with the Sultan. Swiss gold helped finance the enterprise. Twenty-one demi-brigades marched toward the ports of Toulon, Marseilles, Genoa, Ajaccio, and Civita Vecchia. Admiral Brueys would command the fleet of 300 ships, and Bonaparte would lead the expedition. In keeping with France's hopes to advance the ideals of the revolution, bring prosperity to Egypt (for their own gain as well as the population's), and unlock the secrets of that ancient land, a large number of civilians would also take part, including many men of letters and science, carefully selected by Bonaparte, General Cafarelli, and the scientist Berthollet. They set sail on 19 April 1798. The convoy eluded the Royal Navy, took possession of Malta, continued on and made a landing at Marabout (just west of Alexandria) on 1 July.

Arrival in Egypt The French occupied Alexandria on 2 July. Murad Bey, the Mameluke leader and governor of Egypt, fought and lost to the French at the Battle of the Pyramids on 21 July, and Bonaparte entered the capital of Egypt on 24 July 1798. The Institute of Egypt was established on August 22, organizing the scholars, and was divided into four sections: Mathematics, Physics, Political Economy, and Literature and Arts, headed by Gaspard Monge. There were many improvements made. Hospitals were established in Alexandria, Cairo, Damietta and Rosetta. Disease was studied, and sanitary regulations and quarantines reduced epidemics. Streetlights were installed on the main thoroughfares of Cairo. Citizens were disarmed. Taxation was reorganized. Two printing plants had been brought from France and the first book was printed in Egypt: Exercises In Literary Arabic Extracted From The Koran, For The Use Of Those Who Are Studying That Language. A private printer established a weekly newspaper: Le Courrier de l'Egypte, and the literary and scientific journal of the Institute: La Décade Égyptienne came into being.

Studies were made of zoology, botany and agriculture. The results of these labors were eventually collected in a twenty-four volume work: Description de l'Egypte published between 1809 and 1828. Discovery of the Stone Rosetta Stone Two particular areas of study resulted in significant and long-lasting discoveries or achievements. The savants traveled with the army and the geography was charted and a map of Egypt was drawn (completed in 1806) that remained classified until the end of Napoleon's reign. The great monuments were examined and the science of Egyptology was founded. One of the most important discoveries in that field was the Rosetta Stone. The Stone is a block of basalt with engravings made on its polished surface. It was named after the village where it was found, Rashid (known as Rosetta to Europeans) located a few miles from the sea in the western delta of the Nile. It measures 3'9" (114 cm) in height, 2'4-1/2" (72cm) in width and 11" (28cm) in thickness. It weighs just under a ton (762kg).

It is somewhat damaged, missing a large part of the upper left-hand corner, and a smaller part of its lower right corner. The chiseled inscriptions are in two languages, Greek and Egyptian, but three scripts. The first of the Egyptian scripts is Hieroglyphs, used 3,000 years ago at the time of the First Dynasty. The second was later determined to be Demotic, a cursive language that evolved from Hieroglyphs and dating from 643 B.C. The Stone was discovered in mid-July 1799, but the circumstances are unclear. Some say it was found just lying on the ground. Others claim that it was part of an old wall which was ordered demolished by French soldiers in order to extend Fort Julien. This claim is supported by the Institute's Egyptian map which indicates the fort being on the west bank of the Nile in the area of Rosetta. The Stone was discovered by Captain (or Lieutenant, sources differ) of Engineers, Pierre François Xavier Bouchard, who headed the demolition team. Scholars immediately recognized that this stone contained the key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian language.

This was because it appeared that the Stone's message was repeated in the three scripts, and because Greek could be read, over time it might be used to decipher the other two. General Jacques-François Menou, military governor of Rosetta, quickly arranged to have the Greek characters translated in order to determine the nature of the text. The discovery of the Stone was not made public until September 1799, in an article printed in the Courrier de l'Egypte. It was shipped to Cairo in mid-August, and became an object of study at the Institute. Jean-Joseph Marcel and Remi Raige were able to identify the unknown cursive script, Demotic, but they were unable to read it. Copies of the scripts were made by the lithographers Marcel and A. Galland, who covered the Stone's surface with printer's ink and lay sheets of paper over it and used rollers to obtain an impression. Several sheets were sent to scholars throughout Europe, and two copies were presented to citizen Du Theil of the Institute Nationale de Paris by General Charles-François-Joseph Dugua (former Commandant of Cairo) on his return from Egypt.

A French translation of the text was made by Du Theil, revealing that the Stone "was a monument to the gratitude of some priests of Alexandria, or some neighboring place, towards Ptolemy Epiphanes." A Latin translation was made in 1801, and English in 1802. Deciphering the Stone In 1802, a French Orientalist, A.I. Sylvestre de Sacy began to decipher the Demotic text. Equivalents for proper names found in the Greek section were identified in Demotic. Working at the same time, the Swedish diplomat, J.D. Åkerblad recognized the words: 'temples,' and 'Greeks.' Later in 1814 the Englishman Thomas Young discovered that Demonic words were not always alphabetically written, and closely compared the Hieroglyphic and Demonic scripts. He made many advances, identifying eighty-six signs. He studied the repetition of Greek words and looked for the same number of repeated signs in the Demonic script.

In this way he identified the words 'and' as well as 'king,' 'Ptolemy,' and 'Egypt.' He was hampered by the missing parts of the Stone and the fact that the Greek and Demonic sections were not literal translations of one another. He later identified the word 'Ptolemy' in Hieroglyphics and in 1816, he determined that some hieroglyphs were not only word symbols, but at least in some cases were phonetic values. The French scholar Jean François Champollion, working at the same time, reached similar conclusions. Each worked with the Stone scripts and with other script discoveries, such as an Hieroglyphic inscription found at Karnak and a bilingual inscription on an obelisk discovered at Philae in 1815 to advance understanding of the ancient Egyptian language. In September 1822 Champollion presented his: Lettre À M. Dacier Relative À l'Alphabet Des Hieroglyphes Phonéntiques, which deciphered the hieroglyph forms for many of the Roman Emperors of Egypt. Young was unable to make further progress, but Champollion continued making great strides.

He classified many hieroglyphs, formulating a system of grammar and general decipherment. He was greatly aided by his use of Coptic, a language of the Christian descendants of the Egyptians. He is now looked upon as the "Father of the Decipherment of Hieroglyphs." Fate of the Expedition Following the Royal Navy's defeat of the French Fleet at Aboukir Bay on 1 August 1798 (the Battle Of The Nile), the expedition found itself cut off from France and under blockade. Relations between Paris and Constantinople deteriorated, and news of Nelson's victory may have had a direct affect on the formation of the Second Coalition. Turkey, Naples, Russia and Austria joined Great Britain and Portugal between September 1798 and 1799, all in opposition to France. These events did not immediately affect the expedition, but in the long term, doomed it to failure. French military setbacks in Germany and Italy later provided Bonaparte with a political opportunity to return to Paris and overturn the Directory.

When the blockading fleet left Egyptian waters, he sailed for France on August 22 with a select group which included his secretary Bourienne, his stepson Eugène Beauharnais, the generals Berthier, Lannes, Murat, Bessieres, and Marmont as well as the savants Monge, Berthollet and Denon. The capable General Jean-Baptiste Kléber was left in command of the remaining French forces in Egypt with orders to hold out until a peace was concluded. When he was assassinated on 14 June 1800, Kléber was succeeded by General Jacques-François (Abdallah) Menou, who declared Egypt to be a French territory. Turkish and British forces landed and maneuvered against the French in October 1800. Menou was defeated by Sir Ralph Abercromby in the night battle of Aboukir on 21 March 1801. He retreated and was besieged in Alexandria. When Cairo was threatened, the savants left the capital for the safety of Alexandria, taking their documents, specimens and collected antiquities, among them the Rosetta Stone.

Cairo surrendered on 27 June, and the French forces there marched by agreement to Rosetta where they embarked for France. Alexandria held out until the end of August, but capitulated under similar terms as Cairo. The remaining French forces marched to Aboukir and embarked for France on 14 September 1801 ending French ambitions in the Orient. Dispute over Collections General John Hely Hutchinson succeeded Abercromby after the latter's death. He claimed the savant's collections and several antiquities, including the Rosetta Stone under Article XVI of the treaty of capitulation. The scholars, led by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire refused to surrender their work, and insisted on accompanying their collections to England rather than surrender them. Menou begrudgingly agreed to this, but himself refused to surrender the Stone, claiming it to be his private property. Hutchinson allowed the savants to keep their collections but insisted on the Rosetta Stone, which Menou was forced to relinquish. 'You want it, Monsieur le Général?' he wrote.

"You can have it, since you are the stronger of us two...You may pick it up whenever you please." A Colonel Turner came to claim the Stone, which had been stored in a warehouse in Alexandria beside Menou's personal baggage, protected by a double matting and cloth cover. Apparently it was turned over by a French officer in the streets of Alexandria, accompanied by a member of the Institute and witnessed by three British antiquarians including Edward Clarke who recorded the incident. The French officer threatened that the Stone should be removed from the city before the French troops discovered what had happened, and it was taken away under a British military escort. The Rosetta Stone was shipped to England on HMS l'Égyptienne (a 44-gun vessel captured from the French in Alexandria harbor on 2 Sept 1801), and arrived in Portsmouth on February 1802. It was delivered to The Society of Antiquaries in London where the inscriptions were studied by Oriental and Greek scholars. Four plaster casts were made for the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Trinity College, Dublin. Copies of the Greek text were sent to Universities, Libraries, Academies and Societies throughout Europe.

Near the end of 1802, the Stone was transferred to the British Museum in London, where it is still on display for the general public. Andrews, Carol. The Rosetta Stone British Museum Press, London; 1981. Bernard, J.F. Tallyrand: A Biography Putnam's Sons, New York; 1973. Pages 203-204. Chandler, David. The Campaigns of Napoleon Macmillan, New York; 1966. Pages 205-219. Esposito, Vincent J., and Elting, John. A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars Praeger, New York; 1964. Haythornthwaite, Philip J.Who Was Who In The Napoleonic Wars Arms & Armor Press, London; 1998 Herold, J. Christopher. Bonaparte In Egypt Harper & Row, New York; 1962. Pivka, Otto von. Navies of the Napoleonic Era Hippocrene Books; 1980.

The Discovery and Decipherment of the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum The Discovery and Decipherment of the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum by Adrienne Naquin Figure 1. The Rosetta Stone Located in a display case on the ground floor of the British Museum in London, usually surrounded by a crowd of people, is a large slab of black basalt known as the Rosetta Stone (figure 1). It is the main focus of the museum's Egyptian collection and is viewed by millions of visitors each year (Edwardes). This stone weighs three quarters of a ton and is 114.4 cm in height, 72.3 cm in length, and 27.9 cm in width ("The Rosetta Stone"). It is partly damaged, with a large part of the upper left-hand corner and a smaller part of its lower right corner missing (Sewell). On its face three different forms of writing are inscribed. It is the three inscriptions that make this object so important because it was the decipherment of these texts that was essential for the translation of hieroglyphics. Figure 2, 3. Detail of Hieroglyphic Script; Detail of Greek Inscription.

The Rosetta Stone is now known to have been a commemorative stela, or decorated slab, originally from an Egyptian temple (Sandison 19). The inscriptions, which date back to 196 B.C., are decrees passed by a council of priests in Memphis. The passages summarize the glories of the rule of Ptolemy V Epiphanes who ruled from 205-180 B.C. The decree is inscribed on the stone three times: in hieroglyphic, the sacred characters of the priesthood; demotic, the script used daily by Egyptians; and Greek, the administrative language (figures 2 and 3). It begins by praising Ptolemy and then includes an account of the siege of Lycopolis, a town in the Delta. It also includes a litany of the good deeds the king had performed at the Egyptian temples.

The final part of the text describes the cult of the king, which is the decree's main message: ...King PTOLEMY, THE EVER-LIVING, THE BELOVED OF PTAH, THE GOD EPIPHANES EUCHARISTOS, likewise those of his parents the Gods Philopatores, and of his ancestors, the Gods Euergetai and the Gods Adelphoi and the Gods Soteres and to set up in the most prominent place of every temple an image of the EVER-LIVING King PTOLEMY, THE BELOVED OF PTAH, THE GOD EPIPHANES EUCHARISTOS, an image which shall be called that of 'PTOLEMY, the defender of Egypt', beside which will stand the principal god of the temple, handing him the weapon of victory, all of which shall be manufactured (in the Egyptian) fashion; and that the priests shall pay homage to the images three times a day, and put upon them the sacred garments, and perform the other usual honours such as given to the other gods in the Egyptian festivals...("The Greek Section of the Rosetta Stone," numbers 37-41).

It specifies how the priests were to pay homage to the king, how shrines were to be established, and how and when festivals were to be celebrated and concludes stating that the instructions were to be displayed in stone in the three scripts found on the Rosetta Stone. The stone also includes quotations from the king who commented on the bad condition of Egypt. He referred to debt, banditry, civil war, abandoned fields, and neglected irrigation systems (Young 222). The information about Ptolemy inscribed on the stone and from other primary sources was only available to scholars after the stone was discovered and deciphered. The discovery occurred during the summer of 1798 when Napoleon Bonaparte took his troops to Egypt from Toulon to try and defeat the British by attacking Egypt and thereby control the rich food supply from along the Nile River (Strachan and Roetzel). Roughly one thousand civilians, including a team of scientists, historians, and artists who were skilled draftsmen, accompanied him, hoping to advance the revolution and to unlock the secrets of this ancient country.

Since Egyptian culture was largely unknown to most of Western Europe, many prominent intellectuals including geographers, geologists, botanists, and linguists accompanied the armed forces (Young 221). Figure 4. Rashid (Rosetta) Egypt: Where the Rosetta Stone was discovered. In July 1799 a troop of Napoleon's soldiers was stationed at Fort Julien near the city of el-Rashid or Rosetta (figure 4). They were tearing down an ancient wall to extend the fort. A young French officer named Pierre François Xavier Bouchard in charge of demolition found a block of black basalt stone built into the wall (Sewell). In September 1799 this discovery was made public in an article printed in the Courrier de l'Egypte (Sewell). The Rosetta Stone, as it came to be known, with its three distinct types of writing, seemed comparable to a dictionary (Singh). In mid-August, the stone was sent to Cairo where studies began at the Institute of Egypt, which was established one year earlier. Before the scholars could begin any significant research, however, there were disputes over who would take possession of the Rosetta Stone.

In 1801 English General John Hely Hutchinson demanded that French General Jacques-François Menou hand the stone over to the British along with other antiquities (Sewell). The terms were part of what became known as the Treaty of Alexandria. One year later, the Rosetta Stone was housed in the British Museum where it has remained ever since. The inscriptions were deciphered to unlock the secrets of Egypt. The translation proved crucial because hieroglyphs were complex and were used for inscriptions on the walls of royal monuments and temples. However, Egyptian writing was abandoned when the ruling family of the Ptolemies, the 32nd dynasty, lost control of parts of Egypt. The Roman Empire filled the vacuum and became increasingly involved in the region. During the Ptolemic dynasty, Egyptian and Greek languages were used until the Roman Governorship and Latin was used along with Greek (Strachan and Roetzel). The rise of Christianity contributed to the disappearance of Egyptian script. The use of hieroglyphics was prohibited in hope of minimizing Egypt's pagan past. The ancient Egyptian script was replaced with Coptic, a script made up of twenty-four letters from the Greek alphabet.

Coptic script was combined with six demotic characters (employed for Egyptian sounds that were not spoken in Greek). Thus the ancient Egyptian language evolved into what became known as the Coptic language. During the Middle Ages the Coptic language was supplanted by Arabic (Singh). Within one hundred years after Arabic became popular, Egyptian hieroglyphs were no longer used or understood by anyone. It was truly a dead language (the language that had been used to record the history of the pharaohs was lost). Prior to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, scholars trying to read hieroglyphics made several errors. There was the misguided belief that the hieroglyphics were symbolic and secret while in reality hieroglyphics were a form of everyday writing (Sandison). They also believed that hieroglyphic writing was nothing more than primitive picture writing and that decipherment relied on a translation of the pictorial images. In truth, the late hieroglyphic script is phonetic. Just like the letters of the English alphabet, the characters represent distinct sounds (Singh). Once scholars had the Rosetta Stone at their disposal, they were able to translate the Greek inscriptions.

If the other two scripts recorded the same text, then the stone could be used to crack the hieroglyphs. The problem of pronunciation remained. The Greek inscriptions revealed what the hieroglyphics meant, but the ancient Egyptian language had not been spoken for approximately eight centuries. Because of this, it was impossible to establish the sounds of the Egyptian words and this led to many errors in translation. Without knowledge of how Egyptian words were pronounced, scholars could not figure out the phonetic values of hieroglyphics (Singh). Figures 5, 6. Thomas Young, Jean-François Champollion In 1814 the first breakthrough came with an English physicist named Thomas Young (figure 5). When he first heard about the Rosetta Stone, he thought it presented an overwhelming challenge. During his annual holiday to Worthing, he brought along a copy of the inscriptions. Like many scholars before him, Young had been convinced that the script was picture writing. He focused on a set of hieroglyphs enclosed in an oval, known as a cartouche.

He presumed these circled hieroglyphs stood for something important, possibly the name of the pharaoh Ptolemy, who was mentioned in the Greek text. If this were the case, it would allow Young to learn the phonetics of hieroglyphics since a pharaoh's name is pronounced nearly the same, regardless of the language (Singh). Young compared the letters for the name Ptolemy with the other hieroglyphs and succeeded in assigning phonetic values to many of the symbols (Singh). By comparing hieroglyphic and demotic writing, he discovered that demotic words were not always written using the alphabet. He identified eighty-six additional signs by studying the Greek words and looking for the same number of repeated signs in the demotic script. The words he identified included "and," "king," "Ptolemy," and "Egypt" (Sewell). As soon as he seemed to be on the right track, he suddenly stopped. He had lost interest in hieroglyphics, calling his achievements "the amusements of a few leisure hours." He brought his work to an end and summarized his findings in an article for the Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1819 (Singh).

Credit for the complete translation has been given to the French scholar Jean-François Champollion (figure 6) who is now known as the "Father of the Decipherment of Hieroglyphics" (Singh). Champollion's fascination with hieroglyphs began when, as a ten-year-old, he saw an assortment of Egyptian antiquities covered with strange inscriptions. After being told that no one could understand the writing, he promised to solve the mystery. Working at the same time as Young, Champollion reached similar conclusions. However, as Young was unable to continue his work, Champollion made great progress. His knowledge of the Coptic language, a language used by the Christian descendants of the Egyptians, was greatly beneficial (Sewell). By focusing on the cartouches Champollion began to develop an accurate phonetic alphabet that had been employed before Ptolemy. He disproved the theory that hieroglyphs were used to write only foreign names phonetically after he saw cartouches old enough to include traditional Egyptian names that were written phonetically. By deciphering the name Rameses, Champollion realized that all of the hieroglyphs were phonetic.

Upon this discovery, he ran into his brother's office proclaiming, "I've got it!" (Singh). He also correctly identified the names of Cleopatra and Alexander and confirmed the spelling of Ptolemy, the pharaoh Young had identified (Strachan and Roetzel). In July 1828 Champollion set out on his first voyage to Egypt where he went to record and to translate hieroglyphics. He had achieved his childhood dream (Singh). The Rosetta Stone is proudly displayed in the British Museum with information noting the role of Young as well as that of Champollion. Indeed, the museum gives equal credit to Young and Champollion. It is obvious that Britons are proud of the scholarly contribution made by Young. Nevertheless, Britain's claim to the Rosetta Stone has been challenged. Although the Rosetta Stone has been in Britain for the past 200 years, the Egyptian Government is currently demanding the stone's return. Perhaps the Egyptians are following the example of the Greeks who have asked for the return of the Elgin Marbles. In any event, Egypt is threatening to pursue its case aggressively if the Rosetta Stone is not returned (Edwardes).

On July 15, 2003 in a speech at the British Museum, Zahi Hawass, one of the world's leading Egyptologists and director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo, made a request for the return of the Rosetta Stone to Cairo. According to Hawass: If the British want to be remembered, if they want to restore their reputation, they should volunteer to return the Rosetta Stone because it is the icon of our Egyptian identity. I don't want to fight anyone now, but if the British Museum doesn't act, we will have to employ a more aggressive approach with the Government. I don't care if people know my strategy; the artifacts stolen from Egypt must come back (Edwardes). Vivian Davies, caretaker of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the museum, has said that the voluntary return of the stone is unlikely. He stated, "We are working with our Egyptian colleagues to preserve the heritage of today rather than concentrate on problems - or issues, perhaps I should say - that are very old" ("Egypt Demands Return of Ancient Rosetta Stone"). A three month loan of the stone with the museum is being considered. Dr.

Hawass observed, "More immediately, we are prepared to accept it peacefully on a temporary loan and we are in discussions about that right now. That is a short-term solution, however. Ideally, we would like the stone to come back for good" (Edwardes). Davies responded, "Whilst we are always willing to discuss new ways of cooperating with them on joint projects, we are clear, as are they, that the Rosetta Stone will stay in London" (Bailey). Perhaps the controversy has added to the Rosetta Stone's popularity. During my first visit to the British Museum, I was amazed at the crowds that gathered around it. Even from a great distance, before I was sure that I had located the Rosetta Stone, the large number of people surrounding the display case made it clear that the visitors thought they were viewing an object of great importance. As I first looked at the stone, I remembered learning about it in my History 101 course and I was thrilled to see the actual artifact. However, the textbook did not provide much detail about its importance for Egyptian history.

Not once was Thomas Young or Jean-François Champollion ever mentioned, even though they both helped to make the Rosetta Stone significant for the study of Egyptian history. Before researching this paper, the only thing I really knew about the Rosetta Stone was that it was used for the decipherment of hieroglyphics. However, I was not aware that there were two translators or that there were three inscriptions on the stone. Additional research and study has provided a great wealth of information regarding this basalt stone. As a visitor to the museum I was also impressed by the large size of the Rosetta Stone and its physical makeup. Whereas the front with the inscriptions was incredibly smooth, the back was partially carved, but for the most part was rough and untreated. Any questions one might have about the physical condition of the stone are answered in a sign found next to it. The museum placard states: The Rosetta Stone/196 BC originally from Sais/This fragment of a dark hard-stone stela has recently been conserved, with a patch at the lower left corner being left uncleansed showing layers of wax and white infill designed to make the text more legible.

The Stone was for many years fitted into a metal cradle for display, the marks from which can still be seen on the sides. The front of the stela is inscribed in three scripts, but the back is only roughly worked and would have been placed against a wall. The curators also acknowledge the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and discuss the decipherment of the inscriptions by Young and Champollion noting that their efforts benefited archaeologists, Egyptologists, and students of Egyptian history. The stone is presented as essential for the subsequent translation of writing found in the Egyptian temples and tombs. The Rosetta Stone proved that the paintings, carvings, and inscriptions covering the walls, floors and ceilings of Egyptian monuments, as beautiful as they are, are not just decorations. They tell the history of ancient Egypt including the great adventures, triumphs and disasters; they provide information about the gods and goddesses, and the pharaohs and priests (Sandison 19). All that was needed for the modern world to more fully appreciate the history of ancient Egypt was a key for the decipherment of the hieroglyphs. The Rosetta Stone provided the key and deserves to have a prominent place in a world class museum collection.

Works Cited Adkins, Lesley and Roy. The Keys of Egypt: The Race to Read the Hieroglyphics. Great Britain: Harper Collins Publishers, 2000. Bailey, Martin. "The Rosetta Stone Will Stay in London, Say Trustees." (May 23, 2004). Edwardes, Charlotte and Milner, Catherine. "Egypt Wants Rosetta Stone Back from British Museum". (July 21, 2003 ). (May 23, 2004). "Egypt Demands Return of Ancient Rosetta Stone". (July 21, 2003) (May 23, 2004) "The Greek Section of the Rosetta Stone." 27, 2004). Discover the Code-Breaking History of the Rosetta Stone Pictures of the Rosetta Stone | Rosetta Stone Profile What Is the Rosetta Stone? The Rosetta Stone, which is housed in the British Museum, is a black, possibly basalt slab with three languages on it (Greek, demotic and hieroglyphs) each saying the same thing.

Because the words are translated into the other languages, it provided Jean-Francois Champollion the key to the mystery of Egyptian hieroglyphs . Discovery of the Rosetta Stone Discovered at Rosette (Raschid) [see map of Nile Delta ] in 1799, by Napoleon's army, the Rosetta Stone proved the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs . The person who found it was Pierre Francois-Xavier Bouchards, a French officer of engineers. It was sent to the Institut d'Egypte in Cairo and then taken to London in 1802. Rosetta Stone Content The British Museum describes the Rosetta Stone as a priestly decree affirming the cult of 13-year-old Ptolemy V. The Rosetta Stone tells of an agreement between Egyptian priests and the pharaoh on March 27, 196 B.C. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance It names honors bestowed on Macedonian Pharaoh Ptolemy V Epiphanes. After praising the pharaoh for his generosity, it describes the siege of Lycopolis and the king's good deeds for the temple.

The text continues with its main purpose: establishing a cult for the king. Related Meaning for the Term Rosetta Stone The name Rosetta Stone is now applied to just about any type of key used to unlock a mystery. Even more familiar may be a popular series of computer-based language-learning programs using the term Rosetta Stone as a registered trademark. Among its growing list of languages is Arabic, but, alas, no hieroglyphs. Physical Description of the Rosetta Stone From the Ptolemaic Period, 196 B.C. Height: 114.400 cm (max.) Weight: about 760 kilograms (1,676 lb.). Location of the Rosetta Stone Napoleon's army found the Rosetta Stone, but they surrendered it to the British who, led by Admiral Nelson , had defeated the French at the Battle of the Nile . The French capitulated to the British at Alexandria in 1801 and as terms of their surrender, handed over the artifacts they had unearthed, chiefly the Rosetta Stone and a sarcophagus traditionally (but subject to dispute) attributed to Alexander the Great (source: Chugg).

The British Museum has housed the Rosetta Stone since 1802, except for the years 1917-1919 when it was temporarily moved underground to prevent possible bomb damage. Prior to its discovery in 1799, it had been in the town of el-Rashid (Rosetta), in Egypt. "The Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great?," by Andrew Chugg; Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Apr., 2002), pp. 8-26 Languages of the Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is inscribed in 3 languages: Demotic (the everyday script, used to write documents), Greek (the language of Ionian Greeks , an administrative script), and Hieroglyphs (for priestly business). Deciphering the Rosetta Stone No one could read hieroglyphs at the time of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, but scholars soon pieced out a few phonetic characters in the demotic section, which, by comparison with the Greek, were identified as proper names. Soon proper names in the hieroglyphic section were identified because they were circled.

These circled names are called cartouches. Jean-Francois Champollion (1790-1832) was said to have learned enough Greek and Latin by the time he was 9-years-old to read Homer and Vergil (Virgil). He studied Persian, Ethiopic, Sanskrit, Zend, Pahlevi and Arabic, and worked on a Coptic dictionary by the time he was 19. Champollion finally found the key to translating the Rosetta Stone in 1822, published in 'Lettre à M. Dacier.' The Rosetta Stone | Ancient Egypt (article) | Khan Academy The Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone, 196 B.C.E., Ptolemaic Period, 112.3 x 75.7 x 28.4 cm, Egypt © Trustees of the British Museum. The Rosetta Stone was discovered in Egypt, at Fort St Julien in el-Rashid, known as Rosetta.

The key to translating hieroglyphics The Rosetta Stone is one of the most important objects in the British Museum as it holds the key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphs—a script made up of small pictures that was used originally in ancient Egypt for religious texts. Hieroglyphic writing died out in Egypt in the fourth century C.E.. Over time the knowledge of how to read hieroglyphs was lost, until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 and its subsequent decipherment. The Stone is a tablet of black rock called granodiorite. It is part of a larger inscribed stone that would have stood some 2 meters high. The top part of the stone has broken off at an angle—in line with a band of pink granite whose crystalline structure glints a little in the light. The back of the Rosetta stone is rough, where it has been hewn into shape, but the front face is smooth and crammed with text, inscribed in three different scripts. These form three distinct bands of writing.

The Rosetta Stone, 196 B.C.E., Ptolemaic Period, 112.3 x 75.7 x 28.4 cm, Egypt © Trustees of the British Museum. Part of grey and pink granodiorite stela bearing priestly decree concerning Ptolemy V in three blocks of text: Hieroglyphic (14 lines), Demotic (32 lines) and Greek (53 lines). The Rosetta Stone, 196 B.C.E., Ptolemaic Period, 112.3 x 75.7 x 28.4 cm, Egypt © Trustees of the British Museum. Part of grey and pink granodiorite stela bearing priestly decree concerning Ptolemy V in three blocks of text: Hieroglyphic (14 lines), Demotic (32 lines) and Greek (53 lines). Three translations of the same decree The inscriptions are three translations of the same decree, passed by a council of priests, that affirms the royal cult of the thirteen-year-old Ptolemy V on the first anniversary of his coronation.

The decree is inscribed on the stone three times, in hieroglyphic (suitable for a priestly decree), demotic (the native script used for daily purposes), and Greek (the language of the administration). The importance of this to Egyptology is immense. In the early years of the nineteenth century, scholars were able to use the Greek inscription on this stone as the key to deciphering the others. Opposition to the Ptolemies In previous years the family of the Ptolemies had lost control of certain parts of the country. It had taken their armies some time to put down opposition in the Delta, and parts of southern Upper Egypt, particularly Thebes, were not yet back under the government's control. Before the Ptolemaic era (that is before about 332 B.C.E.), decrees in hieroglyphs such as this were usually set up by the king. It shows how much things had changed from Pharaonic times that the priests, the only people who had kept the knowledge of writing hieroglyphs, were now issuing such decrees. The list of good deeds done by the king for the temples hints at the way in which the support of the priests was ensured.

The end of hieroglyphics Soon after the end of the fourth century C.E., when hieroglyphs had gone out of use, the knowledge of how to read and write them disappeared. In the early years of the nineteenth century, some 1400 years later, scholars were able to use the Greek inscription on this stone as the key to decipher them. The discovery Thomas Young, an English physicist, was the first to show that some of the hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone wrote the sounds of a royal name, that of Ptolemy. The French scholar Jean-François Champollion then realized that hieroglyphs recorded the sound of the Egyptian language and laid the foundations of our knowledge of ancient Egyptian language and culture. Soldiers in Napoleon's army discovered the Rosetta Stone in 1799 while digging the foundations of an addition to a fort near the town of el-Rashid (Rosetta). On Napoleon's defeat, the stone became the property of the British under the terms of the Treaty of Alexandria (1801) along with other antiquities that the French had found. The Rosetta Stone has been exhibited in the British Museum since 1802, with only one break.

Towards the end of the First World War, in 1917, when the Museum was concerned about heavy bombing in London, they moved it to safety along with other, portable, 'important' objects. The Rosetta Stone spent the next two years in a station on the Postal Tube Railway 50 feet below the ground at Holborn. Translation of the demotic text [Year 9, Xandikos day 4], which is equivalent to the Egyptian month, second month of Peret, day 18, of the King "The Youth who has appeared as King in the place of his Father," the Lord of the Uraei "Whose might is great, who has established Egypt, causing it to prosper, whose heart is beneficial before the gods..." Read the rest of the Rosetta Stone translation here Additional resources: A.K. Bowman, Egypt after the Pharaohs: 332 BC–AD 642; From Alexander to the Arab Conquest (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1996). C.A.R. Andrews, The Rosetta Stone (London, The British Museum Press, 1982). C.A.R. Andrews and S.

Quirke, The Rosetta Stone: facsimile drawing (London, The British Museum Press, 1988). D.J. Thompson, "Literacy and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt," Literacy and Power in the Ancient World(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 67–83. D.J. Thompson, The Ptolemies and Egypt in Andrew Erkine (ed.), A Companion to the Hellenistic World (Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2003), pp. 105–20. G.A. Hölbl, History of the Ptolemaic Empire (London, Routledge, 2000). R. Parkinson, The Rosetta Stone (London, British Museum Press, 2005). R. Parkinson, Cracking codes: the Rosetta Stone and decipherment (London, The British Museum Press, 1999). R.S. Simpson, Demotic grammar in the Ptolemaic Sacerdotal Decrees(Oxford, Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, 1996).

The British Museum logo Mystery of the Rosetta Stone Mystery of the Rosetta Stone Without the Rosetta stone, we would know nothing of the ancient Egyptians Beginning with the conquest of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, Greek was the language of the governing elite in Egypt. These Greek rulers could neither speak the language of the people nor read hieroglyphs, and this fueled resentment amongst the population. By Ptolemy V’s reign in 205 BC the country was in open revolt and the Rosetta stone was one of many that Ptolemy commissioned as a piece of political propaganda in 196 BC, to state publicly his claim to be the rightful pharaoh of Egypt. Without the Rosetta stone, we would know nothing of the ancient Egyptians, and the details of their three thousand years of history would remain a mystery. It was discovered by a French captain named Pierre Bouchard in AD 1799, during the Napoleonic wars. Captain Bouchard was supervising the restoration of an old fort near the town of Rosetta when he found a block of basalt 3 ft 9 in. (114 cm) high and 2 ft 4½ in.

(72 cm) wide inscribed with three different types of writing. The Rosetta stone is written in two languages; Egyptian and Greek and three writing systems; hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek. Captain Bouchard immediately realized its importance to the scholars who had accompanied the French army to Egypt. In fact the Rosetta Stone is probably the most important archaeological artifact in the world today. After the French surrender of Egypt in 1801, it passed into British hands and is now in the British Museum. The content of the inscriptions is not what makes the stone important; the text is simply a decree listing benefits bestowed on Egypt by King Ptolemy V. But so that all the people could read and understand its content it was written in two languages, Egyptian and Greek. It was also written in three writing systems, hieroglyphic, demotic, and the Greek alphabet and this is what makes the Rosetta stone such an vital discovery. Since we have never lost our understanding of ancient Greek, the Greek inscriptions provided a key to decoding their Egyptian equivalents.

The last sentence of the Greek text says, “Written in sacred and native and Greek characters.” Scholars were quick to figure out that this meant that the same text was set down in three scripts, and that the “sacred” referred to the hieroglyphic system, while the “native” referred to the demotic script of the ordinary Egyptians. Deciphering the stone was largely the work of two people, Thomas Young of England and Jean-François Champollion of France. Young was a physician, physicist, and all-around genius. He was the first to give the word “energy” its scientific meaning, and is remembered mainly for his study of light. Egyptology was one of his hobbies and he began studying the texts of the Rosetta stone in AD 1814. He correctly identified the cartouche, the oval loop containing hieroglyphs, as the name of King Ptolemy, by finding the corresponding name written in Greek. From this he determined which hieroglyphs spelled the name of Ptolemy.

This, in turn, gave him the key to the hieroglyphs for p, t, m, y, and s; and, by examining the orientation of the Egyptians’ bird and animal characters, he also figured out the direction in which the hieroglyphs should be read. Mystery of the Rosetta Stone Young’s work was invaluable but he had many other projects on his vigorous mind, and it became clear that the job of cracking the hieroglyphic code called for someone who could focus entirely on the task. That person was Jean-François Champollion, the founder of scientific Egyptology. An historian and brilliant linguist, by the age of sixteen Champollion had mastered not only Latin and Greek but six ancient Oriental languages, including Coptic, the late form of ancient Egyptian that was written phonetically in Greek. In AD 1821, Champollion started where Young left off, and eventually established an entire list of Egyptian symbols with their Greek equivalents. He was the first Egyptologist to realize that the symbols were not only alphabetic but syllabic, and in some cases determinative, meaning that they depicted the meaning of the word itself.

He also established that the hieroglyphic text of the Rosetta stone was a translation from the Greek, not, as had been thought, a translation from Egyptian into Greek. But more importantly, because he understood Coptic he was able to translate the meaning of the ancient Egyptian words. Story The Rosetta Stone What is the Rosetta Stone? The Rosetta Stone is a stone with writing on it in two languages (Egyptian and Greek), using three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek). Why is it in three different scripts? The Rosetta Stone is written in three scripts because when it was written, there were three scripts being used in Egypt. The first was hieroglyphic which was the script used for important or religious documents. Detail of hieroglyphic and demotic script on the Rosetta Stone The second was demotic which was the common script of Egypt. The third was Greek which was the language of the rulers of Egypt at that time. The Rosetta Stone was written in all three scripts so that the priests, government officials and rulers of Egypt could read what it said. When was the Rosetta Stone made? The Rosetta Stone was carved in 196 B.C..

When was the Rosetta Stone found? The Rosetta Stone was found in 1799. Who found the Rosetta Stone? The Rosetta Stone was found by French soldiers who were rebuilding a fort in Egypt. Where was the Rosetta Stone found? The Rosetta Stone was found in a small village in the Delta called Rosetta (Rashid). Why is it called the Rosetta Stone? It is called the Rosetta Stone because it was discovered in a town called Rosetta (Rashid). What does the Rosetta Stone say? The Rosetta Stone is a text written by a group of priests in Egypt to honour the Egyptian pharaoh. It lists all of the things that the pharaoh has done that are good for the priests and the people of Egypt. Who deciphered hieroglyphs? Many people worked on deciphering hieroglyphs over several hundred years. However, the structure of the script was very difficult to work out. After many years of studying the Rosetta Stone and other examples of ancient Egyptian writing, Jean-François Champollion deciphered hieroglyphs in 1822. How did Champollion decipher hieroglyphs? Champollion could read both Greek and coptic.

He was able to figure out what the seven demotic signs in coptic were. By looking at how these signs were used in coptic he was able to work out what they stood for. Then he began tracing these demotic signs back to hieroglyphic signs. By working out what some hieroglyphs stood for, he could make educated guesses about what the other hieroglyphs stood for. Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing numbers the Rosetta stone Check Out Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing “No limit may be set to art, neither is there any craftsman that is fully master of his craft” The Instruction of Ptahhotep Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic writing, numerals and mathematical problems using the ancient numbers and the Rosetta stone. Champollion & Hieroglyphs Ancient Egyptian history covers a continuous period of over three thousand years. To put this in perspective – most modern countries count their histories in hundreds of years. Only modern China can come anywhere near this in terms of historical continuity. Egyptian culture declined and disappeared nearly two thousand years ago. The last vestiges of the living culture ceased to exist in AD 391 when the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I closed all pagan temples throughout the Roman Empire.

It was not until Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 that the wonderful artefacts of the Egyptians were seen in Europe and their ancient culture began to awaken from its long slumber. In 1799 a French captain named Pierre Bouchard discovered the Rosetta Stone which was carved with the same text in two languages, Egyptian and Greek, and three writing systems, hieroglyphic, demotic, and the Greek alphabet. This was a tremendous piece of luck because it enabled scholars to unlock the hieroglyphic code and without the stone, we would know nothing of the ancient Egyptians, and the details of their three thousand years of history would remain a mystery. The man who did more than any other to recover the words of the ancient Egyptians was Jean-François Champollion. He was an historian and brilliant linguist and by the age of sixteen had mastered not only Latin and Greek but six ancient Oriental languages, including Coptic, which was the late form of ancient Egyptian. Champollion had a unique advantage over others in the task of cracking the hieroglyphic code. Because he understood Coptic he was able to translate the meanings of the ancient Egyptian words.

In the 1820s, Champollion established an entire list of Egyptian symbols with their Greek equivalents and was the first Egyptologist to realize that the symbols were not only alphabetic but syllabic, and in some cases determinative, meaning that they depicted the meaning of the word itself.

Question: What is the name of the engraved stone, discovered in 1799, that provided a key to deciphering the languages of ancient Egypt?
Answer: Rosetta Stone