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History of the Rosetta Stone

Friday, May 01, 2009
Related Tags: rosetta | stone | egyptian | ancient | greek
 

Instructions

What Is the Rosetta Stone?

  • Step 1:
    The Rosetta stone is a large stone tablet found in Egypt that is covered with three languages: classical Greek, and both hieroglyphic and demotic ancient Egyptian. The exact same piece of text is written in each language.

History

  • Step 1:
    The Rosetta stone was discovered in Egypt in 1799 by the army of Napoleon, who was campaigning there at the time. After the French surrendered to the British in Cairo in 1801, the stone eventually made its way to the British Museum, where it remains.

Characteristics

  • Step 1:
    The Rosetta stone dates to 196 B.C., and measures 45 inches high, 28 inches wide, and 11 inches thick. It has the same text repeated in classical Greek and demotic and hieroglyphic ancient Egyptian.

Translation

  • Step 1:
    The Rosetta stone was translated by British scientist Thomas Young and French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion.

Significance

  • Step 1:
    The Rosetta stone is so important because it allowed for successive generations to understand ancient Egyptian text. As the scholars already understood classical Greek, they were able to compare it with the Egyptian scripts and decipher the ancient hieroglyphics, opening up the world of Egyptian history.

Photo/Video Credit

Photo courtesy Wikipedia Commons, liscenced for use in the public domain.

History of the Rosetta Stone Provided by eHow.com
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