(ORDO NEWS) — The black stone, decorated with ancient inscriptions, was discovered quite by accident. So what is this, a tablet with the wisdom of the ages?
In 1799, about a year after the occupation of Egypt by Napoleon Bonaparte, French engineers who were demolishing the city in the El Rachid Delta (the European name is Rosetta) made a remarkable find.
When dismantling the wall, they found a large black granite stone with parallel inscriptions in two languages (Greek and Egyptian) and three scripts (Greek, Egyptian Demotic and Egyptian hieroglyphs).
The stone, which fell into the hands of the British in 1801 and is now in the British Museum, was instrumental in the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs by the English scholar Thomas Young and the French scholar Jean-François Champollion in the 19th century.
Today, the Rosetta Stone is one of the world‘s most famous archaeological artifacts, visited by millions of visitors every year. But what does the text on the stone say?
If you were hoping for some deep ancient wisdom, brace yourself for a slight disappointment. The text of the Rosetta Stone is actually about a rather banal administrative matter.
This is a copy of a decree issued in 196 BC. e. council of Egyptian priests in honor of the anniversary of the coronation of Ptolemy V Epiphanes as king of Egypt.
(The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Greek-speaking dynasty of Macedonian origin that ruled Egypt from the 4th to the 1st century BC.)
The text begins by listing some of the king’s noble deeds and accomplishments, such as offering gifts to the temple, granting various tax breaks, and restoring peace in Egypt after the rebellion that began during the reign of his predecessor, Ptolemy IV Philopator.
In return for these services to Egypt, the council of priests promises a series of actions to support the royal cult of Ptolemy V Epiphanes, such as building new statues, improving the decorations for his shrines, and festivities in honor of his birthday and the day of accession to the throne. throne.
Finally, the edict states that it should be engraved in stone in hieroglyphics, Demotic script, and Greek and placed in temples throughout Egypt.
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