How to Decipher the Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta stone was discovered by Napolean's scholars in Egypt.

Deciphering the Rosetta stone took years after its original discovery in Egypt in 1799 by French soldiers. While two scholars -- one English, one French -- are credited with discovering different concepts that unlocked the Rosetta stone's mysteries, much more research became possible due to their efforts. Though students now can practice translation with the aid of dictionaries, in the beginning scholars had to discover what the hieroglyphs (hieratic) meant. Because the Rosetta stone features two languages, ultimately comparing the languages and looking for commonalities within them broke the code and opened up new scholarship in Egyptology.

Things You'll Need

• Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary
• Greek dictionary and grammar
• Copy or image of Rosetta stone
• Internet access (optional)

Instructions

How to Decipher the Rosetta Stone

1. 

   Thomas Young contributed an understanding of the way a royal name was communicated in hieroglyphs.

   Use a Greek dictionary and grammar to translate the Greek portion of the Rosetta stone first, since Greek is the more commonly studied language. Write down the translation as accurately as possible. If necessary, consult scholars' translations of the Greek portion to verify your own. If you wish to create a side-by-side study for a school project, write the English translation of the Greek on the bottom third of a sheet of paper, to match the Greek text located at the bottom of the stone.

2. Consult a dictionary of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Although there are two languages on the Rosetta stone -- Egyptian and Greek -- there are two different forms of Egyptian: the holy hieroglyphs inscribed at the top, and the common demotic ancient Egyptian in the middle. Symbol by symbol, translate the hieroglyphs. To study linguistics, compare the corresponding Greek letters with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to demonstrate which Egyptian hieroglyphs correlate with specific Greek words. If necessary, consult scholarly translations of the hieroglyphs to check your own.

3. Write down your final translations, word for word or concept for concept if possible, noting any slight variations among the translations of hieroglyphs to English, demotic to English, and Greek to English, or whatever language you are translating to. If you are comparing languages or translations for a school project, display an image of the Rosetta stone, English renderings of each Rosetta stone language, and side-by-side comparisons of one or two hieroglyphs with one or two Greek words or letters.

Tips & Warnings

• See the Rosetta stone in person at the British Museum in London.

• When conducting academic research or completing academic projects, always cite your sources.

References

• Ancient Egypt: The Rosetta Stone
• Schiller Institute: How Champollion Deciphered the Rosetta Stone
• Wired: Deciphering the Rosetta Stone

Resources

• British Museum: The Rosetta Stone
• Fordham: The Rosetta Stone: Translating the Greek Section