The article was first published in September of 1992.
For hundreds of years, scholars scratched their heads when looking at Egyptian hieroglyphics. The ancient texts were a mystery to scholars.
When a large stone was found in el-Rashid, it changed everything. The stone was written in a number of languages.
The inscription taught scholars how to read Egyptian letters. This rock gave insight into thousands of years of texts.
There was plenty of room for inscription on the stone, which was about four feet tall. Fourteen lines were written in hieroglyphics. The ancient Egyptians believed that the text of the Gods was only understood by the more educated members of the priesthood.
There were 32 lines in the middle of the stone. The demotic looked like a bunch of loops. It was a form of shorthand used by the ancient Egyptians to communicate. The language that Egyptians used was similar.
There were 53 lines written in ancient Greek. The Ptolemies preferred Greek over Hellenic when they ruled around 196 B.C., so they may have written the stone in that language.
You can read more about the stone.
The purpose of the stone was understood quickly by many scholars in the early 1800's.
The stone was written in Greek. It was to be put in every temple of significance in Egypt. For the first time in history, scholars had a chance to understand the mysterious symbols in the demotic portion of the book.
The meaning of the Greek text could be deduced by 1802. It took a long time to translate the rest of the stone. Multiple scholars worked together to understand the text and come up with a solution. The symbol for Queen Cleopatra was identified by one scholar. The symbol that always appeared before the name of a goddess, princess or queen was identified by another scholar.
The code was cracked for the next decade, and by the early 1820s, some claimed to be able to read it. There could be more than one meaning to the symbols. The symbol of a lion was used in some cases. The lion sometimes represented a letter. It would be similar to using an open hand or a snake to represent the letter.
After the language stopped being spoken or written, scholars were able to read it. The Egyptian language is thought to have faded between the seventh and ninth century. The stone opened up letters, stories, documents, and inscriptions that puzzled scholars for hundreds of years.
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The stone has not been in Egypt for more than 200 years.
The stone was found by members of the French military who were in charge of the area.
After losing their military campaigns to the British, the French lost the stone in a treaty. The thing was taken to England.
There is a display at the British Museum. The authorities in Egypt want the stone back to its homeland. The curators don't want to give up the most visited item in the museum.
The supporters of returning the stone to Egypt argue that it belongs to the country and that it was probably found by an Egyptian. The French military ordered a unit to fortify a fort when they discovered the stone. The stone was part of the rubble from a crumbling building. It was used as a building material.
The French military officer was not likely to have been doing much. The Egyptian worker who discovered the stone called it to the officer and then took credit for himself.
30 centuries of Egyptian history was found because of the discovery of the laborers name.
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