The key to deciphering the mystery of the Rosetta Stone
The key to deciphering the mystery of the Rosetta Stone
ln AD 1821 Champollion started where Young left off, and eventually established an entire list of Egyptian symbols with their Greek equivalents. He was the first Egyptologist to realize that the symbols were not only alphabetic but syllabic, and in some cases determinative meaning that they depicted the meaning of the word itself. He also established that the hieroglyphic text of the Rosetta stone was a translation from the Greek not, as had been thought a translation from Egyptian into Greek. But more importantly because he understood Coptic he could translate the meaning of the ancient Egyptian words.
The work of these two men, especially Champollion established the basis for the translation of all Egyptian hieroglyphic texts. He cracked the Hieroglyphic code and instigated the science of Egyptology enabling us to know the lives of pharaohs and ordinary Egyptians whose letters written on papyrus have survived thousands of years in Egypt’s dry climate.
It begins with the conquest of Alexander the Great in 332. Before Christ, Greek was the language of the ruling class in Egypt. These Greek rulers could not speak the language of the people or read hieroglyphics which caused dissatisfaction among the people. During the reign of Ptolemy V in 205 BC the country was in open rebellion, and the Rosetta Stone was one of many stones that Ptolemy ordered to be erected as a means of political propaganda in 196 BC to openly assert himself as the rightful pharaoh of Egypt.
Without the Rosetta Stone we would not know anything about the ancient Egyptians and the details of their three thousand year history would remain a mystery. The Rosetta Stone was discovered by a French captain named Pierre Bouchard in 1799 during the Napoleonic Wars. Bouchard was overseeing the restoration of an old fortress near the town of Rosetta when he came across a basalt column 3 feet 9 inches (114 cm) high and 2 feet 4½ inches (72 cm) wide inscribed with three different writing systems.
Rosetta Philae and Agilkia are historical symbols. About solving the mystery of ancient Egyptian culture When the Napoleonic army invaded Egypt and discovered the Rosetta Stone in 1799 and later the discovery of the obelisk at the temple of Isis on Philae Island allowing linguists like Champollion to unlock the secrets of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Agilkia is an island close to Philae.
When the Aswan Dam was built in 1960-70 Philae Island was submerged forcing the dismantling of the Isis temple and moving it to Agilkia. When the Napoleonic army invaded Egypt in 1798 it did not only have a military objective to cut off the supply route of England from the Far East, but also a cultural objective. A team of explorers consisting of over a hundred engineers architects artists and scientists followed them to study various details of Egypt.
