The Rosetta Stone: Part 1We’re kicking off the New Year with a…

The Rosetta Stone: Part 1

We’re kicking off the New Year with a topic that’s been a very long time coming, not to mention critically important to several academic fields! (for reasons we’ll delve into later). 

Carved from granodiorite during the Hellenistic period, the Rosetta Stone is thought to have been displayed within a temple in nearby Sais, and subsequently moved during the Christian or medieval period. Discovered in 1799 during the Egyptian campaign amidst the Napoleonic wars by a French soldier, the Rosetta stone had been selected to help army engineers reinforce the walls of Fort Julian located near the town of Rashid (Rosetta). But a sharp-eyed soldier noticed the stone had carvings on it, and a long line of generals and scientists were informed of the chance discovery. After the defeat of the French by the British in 1801, the stone was spirited away to the British Museum, where it still remains to this day.

Measuring just over 1 meter tall, 75 centimeters wide, and 28 centimeters thick, even though the stone is a whopping 1680 pounds, it is actually only a fragment of a much larger stele. While no additional fragments from this stele have ever been found, none of the 3 main inscriptions on the portion we do have are complete, suggesting other pieces once existed.