Rosetta stone: the discovery of the relic and the years of its decoding
In March 1798, the French Commission of Natural Sciences and Arts was created from among mathematicians, astronomers, engineers, naturalists, geographers, architects, artists, sculptors and philologists.
Its members joined the expeditionary army of Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt to work at the "Institute of Egypt," whose main task was to collect and systematize data about Egypt and inform about the activities of the French occupation forces.
On July 15, 1799, during the fortification of Fort Saint-Julien, a few kilometers to the north-east of the Egyptian port city of Rosetta in the Nile delta (modern Rashid, Egypt), among the dismantled old building soldiers found an unusual plate.
Lieutenant Pierre-François Bouchard found unusual inscriptions on it and reported the discovery to General Jacques-François Menou, who ordered her to be delivered to the Institute of Egypt in Cairo.
According to the engineer Michel Lancre, who prepared the first report on the Rosetta stone on July 19, 1799, he was a "stone of black granite with three inscriptions - hieroglyphics, in Egyptian and Greek languages" weighing 760 kg and measuring 114.4x72.3x27.9 cm.
After the defeat of the French at the Battle of Alexandria in August 1801, the Rosetta Stone became the property of the British. He was taken to London, where from 1802 he was practically continuously shown in the British Museum.
As further research has shown, the Rosetta Stone is a fragment of a large stele and because of its damage none of the three texts is absolutely complete: Greek contains 54 lines, demotic - 32 lines, hieroglyphic - only the last 14 lines.
It was quickly established that on the plate the gratitude of the priests to the king of Egypt Ptolemy V Epifan, made in 196 BC, was recorded. e.
Deciphering the texts of the Rosetta Stone lasted for decades to come, and only in the 1840s-50s were the full translations of demotic and hieroglyphic texts.
Its members joined the expeditionary army of Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt to work at the "Institute of Egypt," whose main task was to collect and systematize data about Egypt and inform about the activities of the French occupation forces.
On July 15, 1799, during the fortification of Fort Saint-Julien, a few kilometers to the north-east of the Egyptian port city of Rosetta in the Nile delta (modern Rashid, Egypt), among the dismantled old building soldiers found an unusual plate.
Lieutenant Pierre-François Bouchard found unusual inscriptions on it and reported the discovery to General Jacques-François Menou, who ordered her to be delivered to the Institute of Egypt in Cairo.
Photo © jnsm.com.ua
According to the engineer Michel Lancre, who prepared the first report on the Rosetta stone on July 19, 1799, he was a "stone of black granite with three inscriptions - hieroglyphics, in Egyptian and Greek languages" weighing 760 kg and measuring 114.4x72.3x27.9 cm.
After the defeat of the French at the Battle of Alexandria in August 1801, the Rosetta Stone became the property of the British. He was taken to London, where from 1802 he was practically continuously shown in the British Museum.
As further research has shown, the Rosetta Stone is a fragment of a large stele and because of its damage none of the three texts is absolutely complete: Greek contains 54 lines, demotic - 32 lines, hieroglyphic - only the last 14 lines.
It was quickly established that on the plate the gratitude of the priests to the king of Egypt Ptolemy V Epifan, made in 196 BC, was recorded. e.
Deciphering the texts of the Rosetta Stone lasted for decades to come, and only in the 1840s-50s were the full translations of demotic and hieroglyphic texts.
