What Is the Rosetta Stone?
Each year, millions of visitors flock to the British Museum in London to catch a glimpse of the famous Rosetta stone behind a glass case. But why exactly did a broken stone slab become one of the most celebrated artifacts in the world? Let’s find out by unearthing this fascinating object’s history and legacy.
Written in 196 BCE, the Rosetta stone text features three different scripts: Egyptian hieroglyphics for priests, Egyptian Demotic for everyday people, and Ancient Greek for the ruling classes. Hieroglyphics 鈥� the writing system of ancient Egypt that used pictures called hieroglyphs to represent objects, concepts, or sounds 鈥� had been a mystery after falling out of use in the latter part of the 4th century CE. But the discovery of the Rosetta stone, which featured the same message written in all three scripts, led to the eventual translation of the hieroglyphics.听
The Rosetta stone features Egyptian hieroglyphics at the top, Egyptian Demotic in the middle, and Ancient Greek on the bottom.
The stone’s message (well, technically a decree) was written by a council of priests to praise the good deeds of King Ptolemy V of Egypt, such as lowering taxes and protecting the people from invasions. Although this message wasn’t significant or unique for its time, it went down in history for its ability to help scholars crack the code of hieroglyphics and better understand Egyptian history. Using their knowledge of Greek, scholars were able to unlock the meaning of hieroglyphics and ultimately get insights into Egypt’s social structure, religious texts, and administrative records.
听The History of the Rosetta Stone
A French soldier named Pierre-Fran莽ois Bouchard is credited for discovering the Rosetta stone in 1799 during Napoleon’s military campaign in Egypt. Bouchard found the stone near the town of Rashid (Rosetta), situated on the Nile Delta, and scholars quickly recognized its significance.听
After the French surrendered in 1801, following their defeat by British and Ottoman forces, the stone and other cultural artifacts were handed over to the British as part of the Treaty of Alexandria. The British then moved the stone to London, where it was put on display at the British Museum in 1802.听
Throughout the next several decades, French scholar and linguist Jean-Fran莽ois Champollion worked tirelessly to decipher the ancient script on the stone. English physicist Thomas Young was also fascinated by the stone and had created a foundation that paved the way for Champollion to decode the text. Champollion’s breakthrough came in 1822 when he successfully identified the phonetic components of the hieroglyphic system, proving that the script was not just composed of symbolic images but also contained sounds and letters. Champollion’s work was instrumental in helping scholars read and understand thousands of ancient Egyptian texts.
Today, the Rosetta stone remains one of the most famous artifacts in the British Museum and is known widely throughout the world. But debate remains about where it should actually be housed 鈥� notable Egyptian archaeologists have called for the Rosetta stone and other ancient artifacts to be returned to their original home in Egypt.
The stone, which is a broken part of a larger slab, measures about 45 inches tall, 28 inches wide, and 11 inches deep.
The Legacy of the Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta stone has had a profound impact on the field of Egyptology and the study of ancient civilizations. Prior to the Rosetta stone’s decoding, hieroglyphics were incomprehensible, making the culture and literature of ancient Egypt largely inaccessible to scholars. Champollion’s breakthrough paved the way for decoding all sorts of Egyptian texts, including religious manuscripts, royal decrees, historical records, and monumental inscriptions. These texts have provided invaluable insights into Egypt’s complex social, religious, and political systems.
The Rosetta stone also revolutionized the way we approach the study of languages. Its role in deciphering an ancient script demonstrates the power of language as a tool for understanding human history, and it underscores the importance of preserving linguistic diversity for future generations.
