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The Discovery of the Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone, which is currently housed in the British Museum in London, is one of the most important artifacts of Ancient Egypt. The value of the Rosetta Stone is in how it helps modern day scholars interpret hieroglyphs.

Discovered by Accident

Soldiers of Napoleon's army came across the Rosetta Stone by chance in 1799. It was discovered near a town called el-Rashid, which is also known as Rosetta in the West. The Rosetta Stone was handed over to the British after they had defeated the French in Egypt. The terms of the subsequent Treaty of Alexandria, in 1801, meant that France was also compelled to hand over other Ancient Egyptian artifacts to the British.

Two Crucial Men

Two men were crucial in realizing the significance of the Rosetta Stone as an archaeological find. It was English physicist Thomas Young who deciphered the name of Ptolemy V on the Rosetta Stone. Ptolemy V was a king of Egypt while still a child, and came to power around two hundred years before the birth of Christ. French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion made an even more important discovery. He realized that being able to understand hieroglyphs would be the same as trying to understand the meanings of words in a foreign language. Being able to understand hieroglyphs would also speed up the process of understanding more about Egyptian culture and history.

On the Rosetta Stone is an inscription, which is a decree. Passed by priests, the decree tells of its confirmation and recognition of Ptolemy as a royal cult. The decree was made relating to the boy-king Ptolemy at the time of his first anniversary as King of Egypt. Priests and the King relied on the goodwill of each other to thrive.

Three Languages

Helpful in deciphering the Rosetta Stone is also the fact that it doesn't just consist of hieroglyphs. As well as being inscribed in hieroglyphic, and the native Egyptian demotic script, it is also inscribed in Greek. The Greek language was used for administrative purposes at this time in Ancient Egypt, and the Ptolemaic dynasty had Greek ancestry. Because Greek was a familiar language, the task of deciphering the hieroglyphs was made significantly easier when it was discovered.

The Rosetta Stone was brought back to the British Museum, where it has remained since 1802, apart from one brief period. During World War One, the Rosetta Stone was removed from the Museum, and then hidden fifty feet beneath a London railway station for two years.

Copyright © Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.

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