200 years ago, the ancient text on the Rosetta Stone was deciphered

(ORDO NEWS) — The stone was the key to the translation of all ancient Egyptian texts.

French philologist Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered the Rosetta Stone 200 years ago. This achievement allowed scientists to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

In 1799, during the destruction of the fort at Rosetta (modern Rashid) in Egypt by Napoleon, a giant slab covered with ancient writings was found under the rubble.

First, it was sent to the Egyptian Institute in Cairo, and then – like many ancient artifacts that are not British, at the request of the king, was taken to the British Museum.

The slab contains an official message about King Ptolemy V, essentially calling on the people of Egypt to welcome Ptolemy V.

Until this point, hieroglyphs were mostly unreadable. Using these three versions of the same message, as well as other hieroglyphic texts, Champollion was able to decipher the hieroglyphs. This happened 23 years after the discovery of the stone.

On September 27, 1822, he presented his results at the Academy of Inscriptions and Fiction in Paris, explaining to the audience, including his rival, that he had deciphered the language of Ancient Egypt.

This event allowed us to learn much more about the ancient world.

As for the current location of the stone, it was never returned to Egypt from the British Museum, despite demands from the Egyptian government and archaeologists.

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