Above is how the stone is shown displaying by language.
The
Rosetta Stone was the original key to the decipherment of
hieroglyphics. It was a damaged stone (much of the top is missing), found by
Napoleon's invading army, at Rosetta (apparently French for Rashid) in northern
Egypt, in 1799. It was captured by the British while still in Egypt, and is now
in the British Museum. It is a stela (or stele, a stone with writing carved on
it) with the same message (a decree from Ptolemy V) repeated three times, in
hieroglyphics (Late Egyptian), in Demotic (another version of Egyptian), and in
Greek. The first 26 or so lines are missing from the hieroglyphic part. The
Rosetta Stone enabled Champollion and others to finally make progress
deciphering hieroglyphics. Here are all 14 lines, as best I can do from
examining photographs (with a few question marks for signs that couldn't be
figure out):
What is the Rosetta Stone?
