Where Was the Rosetta Stone Found?

The Rosetta Stone is one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time. Without the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, scholars might never have decoded Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Discovery

The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799, near the town of el-Rashid, Egypt. El-Rashid roughly translates as "Rosetta."

The French in North Africa

The man who discovered the Rosetta Stone was a French army engineer named Pierre Francois Bouchard. The exact circumstances surrounding the discovery are unknown, though Bouchard may have found it while overseeing digging for a foundation meant to expand Fort St. Julien near el-Rashid. At the time, he was serving in Egypt with Napoleon´s Armee d´Orient. Napoleon had come to North Africa in hopes of disrupting British colonial interests on the continent and trade routes to India. He brought nearly 200 scholars and scientists with his army. These men took care of the Rosetta Stone throughout the campaign.

Further History

After Napoleon was defeated by the British and Ottoman Turks, the Rosetta Stone and other artifacts were confiscated under the Treaty of Alexandria in 1801. The Rosetta Stone was transferred to the British Museum in London in 1802.

Inscription

The Rosetta Stone displays a text written in three languages: hieroglyphics, Egyptian demotic (an Ancient Egyptian script used by common people) and Greek. The text itself is a decree affirming the rule of Pharaoh Ptolemy V, and is relatively unimportant.

Significance

Until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, there was little knowledge of Ancient Egyptian history or culture. In the early 1800s, scholars used the Greek on the Rosetta Stone as a key to decipher much of the Egyptian hieroglyphic script. This helped scholars gain a greater understanding of ancient Egypt.

References

• The British Museum