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{{Short description|Egyptian stele with three versions of a 196 BC decree}} {{About|the stone itself|its text|Rosetta Stone decree|other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}{{Use British English|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox artifact|name=Rosetta Stone|image=Rosetta Stone.JPG|image_size=280px|image_caption=The Rosetta Stone on display<br>in the [[British Museum]], London|material=[[Granodiorite]]|size={{convert|1,123|×|757|×|284|mm|abbr=on}}|writing=Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic script, and Greek script|created=196 BC|discovered_date=1799|discovered_place=near [[Rosetta]], [[Nile Delta]], [[Egypt]]|discovered_by=[[Pierre-François Bouchard]]|location=[[British Museum]]}}

The '''Rosetta Stone''' is a [[stele]] of [[granodiorite]] inscribed with three versions of a [[Rosetta Stone decree|decree issued in 196 BC]] during the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]] of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], on behalf of King [[Ptolemy V Epiphanes]]. The top and middle texts are in [[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]] using [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphic]] and [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic]] scripts, respectively, while the bottom is in [[Ancient Greek]]. The decree has only minor differences across the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to [[Decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts|deciphering the Egyptian scripts]].

The stone was carved during the [[Hellenistic period]] and is believed to have originally been displayed within a temple, possibly at [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]]. It was probably moved in late antiquity or during the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk period]], and was eventually used as building material in the construction of [[Fort Julien]] near the town of Rashid ([[Rosetta]]) in the [[Nile Delta]]. It was found there in July 1799 by French officer [[Pierre-François Bouchard]] during the Napoleonic [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|campaign in Egypt]]. It was the first Ancient Egyptian bilingual text recovered in modern times, and it aroused widespread public interest with its potential to decipher this previously untranslated hieroglyphic script. Lithographic copies and plaster casts soon began circulating among European museums and scholars. When the British defeated the French, they took the stone to London under the terms of the [[Capitulation of Alexandria (1801)|Capitulation of Alexandria]] in 1801. Since 1802, it has been on public display at the [[British Museum]] almost continuously and it is the most visited object there.

Study of the decree was already underway when the first complete translation of the Greek text was published in 1803. [[Jean-François Champollion]] announced the [[transliteration]] of the Egyptian scripts in Paris in 1822; it took longer still before scholars were able to read Ancient Egyptian inscriptions and literature confidently. Major advances in the decoding were recognition that the stone offered three versions of the same text (1799); that the Demotic text used phonetic characters to spell foreign names (1802); that the hieroglyphic text did so as well, and had pervasive similarities to the Demotic (1814); and that phonetic characters were also used to spell native Egyptian words (1822–1824).

Three other fragmentary copies of the same decree were discovered later, and several similar Egyptian [[Multilingual inscription|bilingual or trilingual inscriptions]] are now known, including three slightly earlier [[Ptolemaic Decrees|Ptolemaic decrees]]: the Decree of Alexandria in 243&nbsp;BC, the [[Decree of Canopus]] in 238&nbsp;BC, and the [[Decree of Memphis (Ptolemy IV)|Memphis decree of Ptolemy&nbsp;IV]], c. 218&nbsp;BC. Though the Rosetta Stone is now known to not be unique, it was the essential key to the modern understanding of ancient Egyptian literature and civilisation. The term "Rosetta Stone" is now used to refer to the essential clue to a new field of knowledge.

== Description ==
The Rosetta Stone is listed as "a stone of black [[granodiorite]], bearing three inscriptions&nbsp;... found at Rosetta" in a contemporary catalogue of the artefacts discovered by the French expedition and surrendered to British troops in 1801.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Bierbrier99|Bierbrier (1999)]] pp.&nbsp;111–113</ref> At some period after its arrival in London, the inscriptions were coloured in white [[chalk]] to make them more legible, and the remaining surface was covered with a layer of [[carnauba wax]] designed to protect it from visitors' fingers.<ref name="Cracking23">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;23</ref> This gave a dark colour to the stone that led to its mistaken identification as [[Basalt|black basalt]].<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Synopsis|''Synopsis'' (1847)]] pp.&nbsp;113–114</ref> These additions were removed when the stone was cleaned in 1999, revealing the original dark grey tint of the rock, the sparkle of its crystalline structure, and a pink [[Vein (geology)|vein]] running across the top left corner.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Miller00|Miller et al. (2000)]] pp.&nbsp;128–132</ref> Comparisons with the [[Rosemarie and Dietrich Klemm Collection|Klemm collection]] of Egyptian rock samples showed a close resemblance to rock from a small granodiorite quarry at [[Gebel Tingar]] on the west bank of the [[Nile]], west of [[Elephantine]] in the region of [[Aswan]]; the pink vein is typical of granodiorite from this region.<ref name="MiddletonKlemm207">[[Rosetta Stone#Middleton03|Middleton and Klemm (2003)]] pp.&nbsp;207–208</ref>

The Rosetta Stone is {{Convert|112.3|cm|ftin|0|abbr=on}} high at its highest point, {{convert|75.7|cm|ftin|abbr=on}} wide, and {{convert|28.4|cm|ftin|0|abbr=on}} thick. It weighs approximately {{Convert|760|kg}}.<ref name="British Museum">[[Rosetta Stone#BMRS|The Rosetta Stone]]</ref> It bears three inscriptions: the top register in Ancient Egyptian [[Hieroglyph|hieroglyphs]], the second in the Egyptian [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic]] script, and the third in [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]].<ref name="Ray3">[[Rosetta Stone#Ray69|Ray (2007)]] p.&nbsp;3</ref> These three scripts are not three different languages, as is commonly misunderstood.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Solly|first=Meilan|date=September 27, 2022|title=Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rosetta-stone-hieroglyphs-champollion-decipherment-egypt-180980834/|access-date=June 24, 2024|website=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sanguineti|first=Vincenzo R|title=The Rosetta Stone of the Human Mind: Three Languages to Integrate Neurobiology and Psychology|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]]|year=2022|isbn=978-3-030-86414-9|edition=2nd|location=Philadelphia|pages=xi|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-86415-6}}</ref> The front surface is polished and the inscriptions lightly [[Cutting|incised]] on it; the sides of the stone are smoothed, but the back is only roughly worked, presumably because it would have not been visible when the stele was erected.<ref name="MiddletonKlemm207" /><ref name="Cracking28">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;28</ref>

=== Original stele ===
[[File:RosettaStoneAsPartOfOriginalStele_revised.svg|alt="Image of the Rosetta Stone set against a reconstructed image of the original stele it came from, showing 14 missing lines of hieroglyphic text and a group of Egyptian deities and symbols at the top"|thumb|One possible reconstruction of the original [[stele]]]]
The Rosetta Stone is a fragment of a larger stele. No additional fragments were found in later searches of the Rosetta site.<ref name="Cracking20">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;20</ref> Owing to its damaged state, none of the three texts is complete. The top register, composed of Egyptian hieroglyphs, suffered the most damage. Only the last 14 lines of the hieroglyphic text can be seen; all of them are broken on the right side, and 12 of them on the left. Below it, the middle register of demotic text has survived best; it has 32 lines, of which the first 14 are slightly damaged on the right side. The bottom register of Greek text contains 54 lines, of which the first 27 survive in full; the rest are increasingly fragmentary due to a diagonal break at the bottom right of the stone.<ref name="Budgea2">[[Rosetta Stone#Budge69|Budge (1913)]] pp.&nbsp;2–3</ref><div>The full length of the hieroglyphic text and the total size of the original stele, of which the Rosetta Stone is a fragment, can be estimated based on comparable steles that have survived, including other copies of the same order. The slightly earlier [[decree of Canopus]], erected in 238 BC during the reign of [[Ptolemy III Euergetes|Ptolemy&nbsp;III]], is {{convert|2190|mm|ft|high (|)|disp=x}} and {{convert|820|mm|abbr=on}} wide, and contains 36 lines of hieroglyphic text, 73 of demotic text, and 74 of Greek. The texts are of similar length.<ref name="Mummy106">[[Rosetta Stone#Budgem|Budge (1894)]] p.&nbsp;106</ref> From such comparisons, it can be estimated that an additional 14 or 15 lines of hieroglyphic inscription are missing from the top register of the Rosetta Stone, amounting to another {{Convert|300|mm}}.<ref name="Mummy109">[[Rosetta Stone#Budgem|Budge (1894)]] p.&nbsp;109</ref> In addition to the inscriptions, there would probably have been a scene depicting the king being presented to the gods, topped with a winged disc, as on the Canopus Stele. These parallels, and a hieroglyphic sign for "stela" on the stone itself (see [[Gardiner's sign list#O. Buildings, parts of buildings, etc.|Gardiner's sign list]]),

: <hiero>O26</hiero>suggest that it originally had a rounded top.<ref name="Ray3" /><ref name="Cracking26">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;26</ref> The height of the original stele is estimated to have been about {{Convert|149|cm|ftin}}.<ref name="Cracking26" /></div>

== Memphis decree and its context ==
{{Main article|Rosetta Stone decree}} The stele was erected after the [[coronation]] of King [[Ptolemy V Epiphanes|Ptolemy&nbsp;V]] and was inscribed with a decree that established the divine cult of the new ruler.<ref name="Cracking25">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;25</ref> The decree was issued by a congress of priests who gathered at [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]. The date is given as "4 Xandikos" in the [[Ancient Macedonian calendar|Macedonian calendar]] and "18 [[Mekhir]]" in the [[Egyptian calendar]], which corresponds to {{Nowrap|27 March}} {{Nowrap|196 BC}}. The year is stated as the ninth year of Ptolemy&nbsp;V's reign (equated with 197/196 BC), which is confirmed by naming four priests who officiated in that year: [[Aetos son of Aetos]] was priest of the divine cults of [[Alexander the Great]] and the five [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemies]] down to Ptolemy&nbsp;V himself;  the other three priests named in turn in the inscription are those who led the worship of [[Berenice II|Berenice Euergetis]] (wife of [[Ptolemy III Euergetes|Ptolemy&nbsp;III]]), [[Arsinoe II of Egypt|Arsinoe Philadelphos]] (wife and sister of [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy&nbsp;II]]), and [[Arsinoe III of Egypt|Arsinoe Philopator]], mother of Ptolemy&nbsp;V.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Clarysse83|Clarysse and Van der Veken (1983)]] pp. 20–21</ref> However, a second date is also given in the Greek and hieroglyphic texts, corresponding to {{Nowrap|27 November 197 BC}}, the official anniversary of Ptolemy's coronation.<ref name="Cracking29">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p. 29</ref> The demotic text conflicts with this, listing consecutive days in March for the decree and the anniversary.<ref name="Cracking29" /> It is uncertain why this discrepancy exists, but it is clear that the decree was issued in 196 BC and that it was designed to re-establish the rule of the Ptolemaic kings over Egypt.<ref name="ShawNicholson 247">[[Rosetta Stone#ShawNicholson1995|Shaw & Nicholson (1995)]] p.&nbsp;247</ref>

The decree was issued during a turbulent period in Egyptian history. Ptolemy V Epiphanes, the son of [[Ptolemy IV Philopator]] and his wife and sister Arsinoe, reigned from 204 to 181 BC. He had become ruler at the age of five after the sudden death of both of his parents, who were murdered in a conspiracy that involved Ptolemy IV's mistress [[Agathoclea (mistress of Ptolemy IV)|Agathoclea]], according to contemporary sources. The conspirators effectively ruled Egypt as Ptolemy&nbsp;V's guardians<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Tyldesley2006|Tyldesley (2006)]] p. 194</ref><ref name="Clayton211">[[Rosetta Stone#Clayton06|Clayton (2006)]] p. 211</ref> until a revolt broke out two years later under general [[Tlepolemus (regent of Egypt)|Tlepolemus]], when Agathoclea and her family were [[Lynching|lynched]] by a mob in Alexandria. Tlepolemus, in turn, was replaced as guardian in 201 BC by [[Aristomenes of Alyzia]], who was chief minister at the time of the Memphis decree.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Bevan27|Bevan (1927)]] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Africa/Egypt/_Texts/BEVHOP/8*.html pp. 252–262]</ref>

Political forces beyond the borders of Egypt exacerbated the internal problems of the Ptolemaic kingdom. [[Antiochus III the Great]] and [[Philip V of Macedon]] had made a pact to divide Egypt's overseas possessions. Philip had seized several islands and cities in [[Caria]] and [[Thrace]], while the [[Battle of Panium]] (198 BC) had resulted in the transfer of [[Coele-Syria]], including [[Judea|Judaea]], from the Ptolemies to the [[Seleucids]]. Meanwhile, in the south of Egypt, there was a long-standing revolt that had begun during the reign of Ptolemy IV,<ref name="Cracking29" /> led by [[Hugronaphor|Horwennefer]] and by his successor [[Adikhalamani|Ankhwennefer]].<ref name="Assmann">[[Rosetta Stone#Assmann|Assmann (2003)]] p. 376</ref> Both the war and the internal revolt were still ongoing when the young Ptolemy V was officially crowned at Memphis at the age of 12 (seven years after the start of his reign) and when, just over a year later, the Memphis decree was issued.<ref name="Clayton211" />
[[File:PepiII-DecreeOfOfficialExactionForTempleOfMin_MetropolitanMuseum.png|alt="A small, roughly square piece of light-grey stone containing hieroglyphic inscriptions from the time of the Old Kingdom pharaoh Pepi II"|thumb|Another fragmentary example of a "donation stele", in which the [[Old Kingdom]] [[pharaoh]] [[Pepi II Neferkare|Pepi II]] [[Coptos Decrees|grants tax immunity]] to the priests of the temple of [[Min (god)|Min]]]]
Stelae of this kind, which were established on the initiative of the temples rather than that of the king, are unique to Ptolemaic Egypt. In the preceding Pharaonic period it would have been unheard of for anyone but the divine rulers themselves to make national decisions: by contrast, this way of honouring a king was a feature of Greek cities. Rather than making his eulogy himself, the king had himself glorified and deified by his subjects or representative groups of his subjects.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Clarysse99|Clarysse (1999)]] p.&nbsp;51, with references there to [[Rosetta Stone#Quirke69|Quirke and Andrews (1989)]]</ref> The decree records that Ptolemy&nbsp;V gave a gift of silver and grain to the [[Egyptian temple|temples]].<ref name="Bevan 264–265">[[Rosetta Stone#Bevan27|Bevan (1927)]] pp. 264–265</ref> It also records that there was particularly high [[flooding of the Nile]] in the eighth year of his reign, and he had the excess waters dammed for the benefit of the farmers.<ref name="Bevan 264–265" /> In return the priesthood pledged that the king's birthday and coronation days would be celebrated annually and that all the priests of Egypt would serve him alongside the other gods. The decree concludes with the instruction that a copy was to be placed in every temple, inscribed in the "language of the gods" (Egyptian hieroglyphs), the "language of documents" (Demotic), and the "language of the Greeks" as used by the Ptolemaic government.<ref name="Ray136">[[Rosetta Stone#Ray69|Ray (2007)]] p. 136</ref><ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p. 30</ref>

Securing the favour of the priesthood was essential for the Ptolemaic kings to retain effective rule over the populace. The [[High Priest of Ptah|High Priests]] of [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]—where the king was crowned—were particularly important, as they were the highest religious authorities of the time and had influence throughout the kingdom.<ref name="Shaw407">[[Rosetta Stone#Shaw00|Shaw (2000)]] p.&nbsp;407</ref> Given that the decree was issued at Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, rather than Alexandria, the centre of government of the ruling Ptolemies, it is evident that the young king was anxious to gain their active support.<ref name="Walker19">[[Rosetta Stone#Walker2001|Walker and Higgs (editors, 2001)]] p.&nbsp;19</ref> Thus, although the government of Egypt had been Greek-speaking ever since the [[Wars of Alexander the Great#Egypt|conquests]] of [[Alexander the Great]], the Memphis decree, like the three similar [[Ptolemaic Decrees|earlier decrees]], included texts in Egyptian to show its connection to the general populace by way of the literate Egyptian priesthood.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Bagnall04|Bagnall and Derow (2004)]] (no. 137 in online version)</ref>

There can be no one definitive English translation of the decree, not only because modern understanding of the ancient languages continues to develop, but also because of the minor differences between the three original texts. Older translations by [[E. A. Wallis Budge]] (1904, 1913)<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Budge70|Budge (1904)]]; [[Rosetta Stone#Budge69|Budge (1913)]]</ref> and [[Edwyn R. Bevan]] (1927)<ref name="Rosetta Text">[[Rosetta Stone#Bevan27|Bevan (1927)]] pp.&nbsp;[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Africa/Egypt/_Texts/BEVHOP/8*.html 263–268]</ref> are easily available but are now outdated, as can be seen by comparing them with the recent translation by R. S. Simpson, which is based on the demotic text and can be found online,<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Simpson|Simpson (n. d.)]]; a revised version of [[Rosetta Stone#Simpson96|Simpson (1996)]] pp.&nbsp;258–271</ref> or with the modern translations of all three texts, with introduction and facsimile drawing, that were published by Quirke and Andrews in 1989.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Quirke69|Quirke and Andrews (1989)]]</ref>

The stele was almost certainly not originally placed at [[Rosetta|Rashid]] (Rosetta) where it was found, but more likely came from a temple site farther inland, possibly the royal town of [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]].<ref name="focus14">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;14</ref> The temple from which it originally came was probably closed around AD 392 when [[Roman emperor]] [[Theodosius I]] ordered the closing of all non-Christian temples of worship.<ref name="focus17">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;17</ref> The original stele broke at some point, its largest piece becoming what we now know as the Rosetta Stone. Ancient Egyptian temples were later used as quarries for new construction, and the Rosetta Stone probably was re-used in this manner. Later it was incorporated in the foundations of a fortress constructed by the [[Mamluk|Mameluke]] [[Sultan]] [[Qaitbay]] ({{Circa|1416}}/18–1496) to defend the [[Nile Delta|Bolbitine branch]] of the Nile at Rashid. There it lay for at least another three centuries until its rediscovery.<ref name="focus20">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;20</ref>

Three other inscriptions relevant to the same Memphis decree have been found since the discovery of the Rosetta Stone: the [[Nubayrah Stele]], a stele found in [[Elephantine]] and Noub Taha, and an inscription found at the [[Philae|Temple of Philae]] (on the [[Philae obelisk]]).<ref name="claryssenespoulous">[[Rosetta Stone#Clarysse99|Clarysse (1999)]] p.&nbsp;42; [[Rosetta Stone#Nespoulous-Phalippou|Nespoulous-Phalippou (2015)]] pp.&nbsp;283–285</ref> Unlike the Rosetta Stone, the hieroglyphic texts of these inscriptions were relatively intact. The Rosetta Stone had been deciphered long before they were found, but later Egyptologists have used them to refine the reconstruction of the hieroglyphs that must have been used in the lost portions of the hieroglyphic text on the Rosetta Stone.

{{Anchor|The rediscovery}}

== Rediscovery ==
[[File:Rosetta_news.jpg|alt=A newspaper column of approximately three column inches. See image description page for a full transcript.|thumb|Report of the arrival of the Rosetta Stone in England in ''[[The Gentleman's Magazine]]'', 1802]]
[[Order of battle of the Armée d'Orient (1798)|French forces]] under [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|invaded Egypt]] in 1798, accompanied by a corps of 151 technical experts (''savants''), known as the [[Commission des Sciences et des Arts]]. On {{nowrap|15 July}} 1799, French soldiers under the command of Colonel d'Hautpoul were strengthening the defences of [[Fort Julien]], a couple of miles north-east of the Egyptian port city of Rosetta (modern-day Rashid). Lieutenant [[Pierre-François Bouchard]] spotted a slab with inscriptions on one side that the soldiers had uncovered when demolishing a wall within the fort. He and d'Hautpoul saw at once that it might be important and informed General [[Jacques-François Menou]], who happened to be at Rosetta.{{Cref2|A}} The find was announced to Napoleon's newly founded scientific association in Cairo, the [[Institut d'Égypte]], in a report by Commission member [[Michel Ange Lancret]] noting that it contained three inscriptions, the first in hieroglyphs and the third in Greek, and rightly suggesting that the three inscriptions were versions of the same text. Lancret's report, dated {{Nowrap|19 July}} 1799, was read to a meeting of the Institute soon after {{Nowrap|25 July}}. Bouchard, meanwhile, transported the stone to Cairo for examination by scholars.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] pp.&nbsp;17–20</ref>

The discovery was reported in September in ''[[Courrier de l'Égypte]]'', the official newspaper of the French expedition. The anonymous reporter expressed a hope that the stone might one day be the key to deciphering hieroglyphs.{{Cref2|A}}<ref name="Cracking20" /> In 1800 three of the commission's technical experts devised ways to make copies of the texts on the stone. One of these experts was [[Jean-Joseph Marcel]], a printer and gifted linguist, who is credited as the first to recognise that the middle text was written in the Egyptian [[Demotic (Egyptian)|demotic]] script, rarely used for stone inscriptions and seldom seen by scholars at that time, rather than [[Syriac language|Syriac]] as had originally been thought.<ref name="Cracking20" /> It was artist and inventor [[Nicolas-Jacques Conté]] who found a way to use the stone itself as a [[Woodblock printing|printing block]] to reproduce the inscription.<ref name="Adkins38">[[Rosetta Stone#Adkins69|Adkins (2000)]] p.&nbsp;38</ref> A slightly different method was adopted by [[Antoine Galland (1763–1851)|Antoine Galland]]. The prints that resulted were taken to Paris by General [[Charles Dugua]]. Scholars in Europe were now able to see the inscriptions and attempt to read them.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Gillispie87|Gillispie (1987)]] pp.&nbsp;1–38</ref>

After Napoleon's departure, French troops held off British and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] attacks for another 18 months. In March 1801, the British landed at [[Abu Qir Bay|Aboukir Bay]]. Menou was now in command of the French expedition. His troops, including the commission, marched north towards the Mediterranean coast to meet the enemy, transporting the stone along with many other antiquities. He was defeated in battle, and the remnant of his army retreated to Alexandria where they were [[Siege of Alexandria (1801)|surrounded and besieged]], with the stone now inside the city. [[Capitulation of Alexandria (1801)|Menou surrendered]] on 30 August.{{sfn|Wilson|1803|pp=274–284}}<ref name="Cracking21">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;21</ref>

== From French to British possession ==
[[File:RosettaStone-LeftAndRightSides-BritishMuseum-August21-08.jpg|alt="Combined photo depicting the left and right sides of the Rosetta Stone, which have much-faded inscriptions in English relating to its capture by British forces from the French, and its donation by George III to the British Museum"|thumb|Left and right sides of the Rosetta Stone, with inscriptions: (Left) "Captured in Egypt by the British Army in 1801" (Right) "Presented by King George III".]]
After the surrender, a dispute arose over the fate of the French archaeological and scientific discoveries in Egypt, including the artefacts, biological specimens, notes, plans, and drawings collected by the members of the commission. Menou refused to hand them over, claiming that they belonged to the institute. British General [[John Hely-Hutchinson, 2nd Earl of Donoughmore|John Hely-Hutchinson]] refused to end the siege until Menou gave in. Scholars [[Edward Daniel Clarke]] and [[William Richard Hamilton]], newly arrived from England, agreed to examine the collections in Alexandria and said they had found many artefacts that the French had not revealed. In a letter home, Clarke wrote that "we found much more in their possession than was represented or imagined".<ref name="Burleigh212">[[Rosetta Stone#Burleigh07|Burleigh (2007)]] p.&nbsp;212</ref>

Hutchinson claimed that all materials were property of the [[The Crown|British Crown]], but French scholar [[Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]] told Clarke and Hamilton that the French would rather burn all their discoveries than turn them over, referring ominously to the destruction of the [[Library of Alexandria]]. Clarke and Hamilton pleaded the French scholars' case to Hutchinson, who finally agreed that items such as natural history specimens would be considered the scholars' private property.<ref name="Cracking21" /><ref name="Burleigh241">[[Rosetta Stone#Burleigh07|Burleigh (2007)]] p.&nbsp;214</ref> Menou quickly claimed the stone, too, as his private property.<ref name="Budge2">[[Rosetta Stone#Budge69|Budge (1913)]] p.&nbsp;2</ref><ref name="Cracking21" /> Hutchinson was equally aware of the stone's unique value and rejected Menou's claim. Eventually an agreement was reached, and the transfer of the objects was incorporated into the [[Capitulation of Alexandria (1801)|Capitulation of Alexandria]] signed by representatives of the [[British Army|British]], [[French Revolutionary Army|French]], and [[Ottoman Army (15th-19th centuries)|Ottoman]] forces.

It is not clear exactly how the stone was transferred into British hands, as contemporary accounts differ. Colonel [[Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner]], who was to escort it to England, claimed later that he had personally seized it from Menou and carried it away on a [[Limbers and caissons|gun-carriage]]. In a much more detailed account, Edward Daniel Clarke stated that a French "officer and member of the Institute" had taken him, his student John Cripps, and Hamilton secretly into the back streets behind Menou's residence and revealed the stone hidden under protective carpets among Menou's baggage. According to Clarke, their informant feared that the stone might be stolen if French soldiers saw it. Hutchinson was informed at once and the stone was taken away—possibly by Turner and his gun-carriage.<ref name="Cracking2122">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] pp.&nbsp;21–22</ref>

Turner brought the stone to England aboard the captured French frigate [[HMS Egyptienne (1799)|HMS ''Égyptienne'']], landing in [[Portsmouth]] in February 1802.<ref name="Andrews12">[[Rosetta Stone#Andrews69|Andrews (1985)]] p.&nbsp;12</ref> His orders were to present it and the other antiquities to King [[George III of the United Kingdom|George&nbsp;III]]. The King, represented by [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies|War Secretary]] [[Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire|Lord Hobart]], directed that it should be placed in the [[British Museum]]. According to Turner's narrative, he and Hobart agreed that the stone should be presented to scholars at the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]], of which Turner was a member, before its final deposit in the museum. It was first seen and discussed there at a meeting on {{Nowrap|11 March}} 1802.{{Cref2|B}}{{Cref2|H}}
[[File:Rosetta_Stone_International_Congress_of_Orientalists_ILN_1874.jpg|alt="Lithograph image depicting a group of scholars (mostly male, with the occasional female also in attendance), dressed in Victorian garb, inspecting the Rosetta Stone in a large room with other antiquities visible in the background"|thumb|Experts inspecting the Rosetta Stone during the [[Second International Congress of Orientalists]], 1874]]
In 1802, the Society created four plaster casts of the inscriptions, which were given to the universities of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] and [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh]] and to [[Trinity College Dublin]]. Soon afterwards, prints of the inscriptions were made and circulated to European scholars.{{Cref2|E}} Before the end of 1802, the stone was transferred to the British Museum, where it is located today.<ref name="Andrews12" /> New inscriptions painted in white on the left and right edges of the slab stated that it was "Captured in Egypt by the [[British Army]] in 1801" and "Presented by King George&nbsp;III".<ref name="Cracking23" />

The stone has been exhibited almost continuously in the British Museum since June 1802.<ref name="British Museum" /> During the middle of the 19th century, it was given the inventory number "EA 24", "EA" standing for "Egyptian Antiquities". It was part of a collection of ancient Egyptian monuments captured from the French expedition, including a [[sarcophagus]] of [[Nectanebo II]] (EA 10), the statue of a [[High Priests of Amun|high priest of Amun]] (EA 81), and a large granite fist (EA 9).<ref name="focus30-31">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] pp.&nbsp;30–31</ref> The objects were soon discovered to be too heavy for the floors of [[Montagu House, Bloomsbury|Montagu House]] (the original building of The British Museum), and they were transferred to a new extension that was added to the mansion. The Rosetta Stone was transferred to the sculpture gallery in 1834 shortly after Montagu House was demolished and replaced by the building that now houses the British Museum.<ref name="focus31">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;31</ref> According to the museum's records, the Rosetta Stone is its most-visited single object,<ref name="focus7">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;7</ref> a simple image of it was the museum's best selling postcard for several decades,<ref name="focus47">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;47</ref> and a wide variety of merchandise bearing the text from the Rosetta Stone (or replicating its distinctive shape) is sold in the museum shops.
[[File:Tourist_watching_Rosetta_Stone_at_British_Museum.JPG|thumb|A crowd of visitors examining the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum in 2014, now behind glass]]
The Rosetta Stone was originally displayed at a slight angle from the horizontal, and rested within a metal cradle that was made for it, which involved shaving off very small portions of its sides to ensure that the cradle fitted securely.<ref name="focus31" /> It originally had no protective covering, and it was found necessary by 1847 to place it in a protective frame, despite the presence of attendants to ensure that it was not touched by visitors.<ref name="focus32">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;32</ref> Since 2004 the conserved stone has been on display in a specially built case in the centre of the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery. A replica of the Rosetta Stone is now available in the [[King's Library]] of the British Museum, without a case and free to touch, as it would have appeared to early 19th-century visitors.<ref name="focus50">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;50</ref>

The museum was concerned about [[German strategic bombing during World War I#1917|heavy bombing in London]] towards the end of the [[First World War]] in 1917, and the Rosetta Stone was moved to safety, along with other portable objects of value. The stone spent the next two years {{Convert|15|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} below ground level in a station of the [[London Post Office Railway|Postal Tube Railway]] at [[Royal Mail Mount Pleasant Sorting Office|Mount Pleasant]] near [[Holborn]].<ref>"[https://blog.britishmuseum.org/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-rosetta-stone/ Everything you ever wanted to know about the Rosetta Stone]" (British Museum, 14 July 2017)</ref> Other than during wartime, the Rosetta Stone has left the British Museum only once: for one month in October 1972, to be displayed alongside Champollion's ''[[Lettre à M. Dacier|Lettre]]'' at the [[Louvre]] in Paris on the 150th anniversary of the letter's publication.<ref name="focus47" /> Even when the Rosetta Stone was undergoing conservation measures in 1999, the work was done in the gallery so that it could remain visible to the public.<ref name="focus50-51">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] pp.&nbsp;50–51</ref>

== Reading the Rosetta Stone ==
{{For|more information|Decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts}}

Prior to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and its eventual decipherment, the ancient [[Egyptian language]] and script had not been understood since shortly before the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of the Roman Empire]]. The usage of the [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphic script]] had become increasingly specialised even in the later [[Ancient Egypt|Pharaonic period]]; by the [[4th century]] AD, few Egyptians were capable of reading them. Monumental use of hieroglyphs ceased as [[Decline of ancient Egyptian religion|temple priesthoods died out and Egypt was converted to Christianity]]; the last known inscription is dated to {{Nowrap|24 August 394}}, found at [[Philae]] and known as the [[Graffito of Esmet-Akhom]].<ref name="Ray11">[[Rosetta Stone#Ray69|Ray (2007)]] p.&nbsp;11</ref> The last demotic text, also from Philae, was written in 452.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Iversen|Iversen (1993)]] p.&nbsp;30</ref>

Hieroglyphs retained their pictorial appearance, and classical authors emphasised this aspect, in sharp contrast to the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] and [[Latin alphabet|Roman alphabets]]. In the [[5th century]], the priest [[Horapollo]] wrote ''Hieroglyphica'', an explanation of almost 200 [[Glyph|glyphs]]. His work was believed to be authoritative, yet it was misleading in many ways, and this and other works were a lasting impediment to the understanding of Egyptian writing.<ref name="Cracking1516">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] pp.&nbsp;15–16</ref> Later attempts at decipherment were made by [[List of Muslim historians|Arab historians]] in [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|medieval Egypt]] during the 9th and 10th centuries. [[Dhul-Nun al-Misri]] and [[Ibn Wahshiyya]] were the first historians to study hieroglyphs, by comparing them to the contemporary [[Coptic language]] used by [[Copts|Coptic]] priests in their time.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Eldaly05|El Daly (2005)]] pp.&nbsp;65–75</ref><ref name="Ray15">[[Rosetta Stone#Ray69|Ray (2007)]] pp.&nbsp;15–18</ref> The study of hieroglyphs continued with fruitless attempts at decipherment by European scholars, notably [[Pierius Valerianus]] in the 16th century<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Iversen|Iversen (1993)]] pp.&nbsp;70–72</ref> and [[Athanasius Kircher]] in the 17th.<ref name="Ray20">[[Rosetta Stone#Ray69|Ray (2007)]] pp.&nbsp;20–24</ref> The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 provided critical missing information, gradually revealed by a succession of scholars, that eventually allowed [[Jean-François Champollion]] to solve the puzzle that [[Athanasius Kircher|Kircher]] had called the [[Sphinx#Riddle of the Sphinx|riddle of the Sphinx]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Powell|first1=Barry B.|title=Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-6256-2|page=91|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b6Gx-MwHvaoC&pg=PA91|language=en|year=2009}}</ref>

{{Anchor|The Greek text}}

=== Greek text ===
[[File:Porson_13_Jan_1803.jpg|alt="Illustration depicting the rounded-off lower-right edge of the Rosetta Stone, showing Richard Porson's suggested reconstruction of the missing Greek text"|thumb|[[Richard Porson]]'s suggested reconstruction of the missing Greek text (1803)]]
The [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] text on the Rosetta Stone provided the starting point. Ancient Greek was widely known to scholars, but they were not familiar with details of its use in the [[Koine Greek|Hellenistic]] period as a government language in Ptolemaic Egypt; large-scale discoveries of Greek [[Papyrus|papyri]] were a long way in the future. Thus, the earliest translations of the Greek text of the stone show the translators still struggling with the historical context and with administrative and religious jargon. [[Stephen Weston (antiquary)|Stephen Weston]] verbally presented an English translation of the Greek text at a [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Society of Antiquaries]] meeting in April 1802.<ref name="Budge133">[[Rosetta Stone#Budge69|Budge (1913)]] p.&nbsp;1</ref><ref name="Andrews13">[[Rosetta Stone#Andrews69|Andrews (1985)]] p.&nbsp;13</ref>

Meanwhile, two of the lithographic copies made in Egypt had reached the [[Institut de France]] in Paris in 1801. There, librarian and antiquarian [[Gabriel de La Porte du Theil]] set to work on a translation of the Greek, but he was dispatched elsewhere on Napoleon's orders almost immediately, and he left his unfinished work in the hands of colleague [[Hubert-Pascal Ameilhon]]. Ameilhon produced the first published translations of the Greek text in 1803, in both [[Latin]] and French to ensure that they would circulate widely.{{Cref2|H}} At [[Cambridge]], [[Richard Porson]] worked on the missing lower right corner of the Greek text. He produced a skilful suggested reconstruction, which was soon being circulated by the Society of Antiquaries alongside its prints of the inscription. At almost the same moment, [[Christian Gottlob Heyne]] in [[Göttingen]] was making a new Latin translation of the Greek text that was more reliable than Ameilhon's and was first published in 1803.{{Cref2|G}} It was reprinted by the Society of Antiquaries in a special issue of its journal ''Archaeologia'' in 1811, alongside Weston's previously unpublished English translation, [[Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner|Colonel Turner's]] narrative, and other documents.{{Cref2|H}}<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Budge70|Budge (1904)]] pp.&nbsp;27–28</ref><ref name="Cracking22">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;22</ref>

{{Anchor|The Demotic text}}

=== Demotic text ===
At the time of the stone's discovery, Swedish diplomat and scholar [[Johan David Åkerblad]] was working on a little-known script of which some examples had recently been found in Egypt, which came to be known as [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic]]. He called it "cursive Coptic" because he was convinced that it was used to record some form of the [[Coptic language]] (the direct descendant of Ancient Egyptian), although it had few similarities with the later [[Coptic alphabet|Coptic script]]. French Orientalist [[Antoine Isaac Silvestre de Sacy|Antoine-Isaac Silvestre de Sacy]] had been discussing this work with Åkerblad when, in 1801, he received one of the early lithographic prints of the Rosetta Stone, from [[Jean-Antoine Chaptal]], French minister of the interior. He realised that the middle text was in this same script. He and Åkerblad set to work, both focusing on the middle text and assuming that the script was alphabetical. They attempted to identify the points where Greek names ought to occur within this unknown text, by comparing it with the Greek. In 1802, Silvestre de Sacy reported to Chaptal that he had successfully identified five names ("''[[Alexander the Great|Alexandros]]''", "''[[Alexandria|Alexandreia]]''", "''[[Ptolemy V Epiphanes|Ptolemaios]]''", "''[[Arsinoe III of Egypt|Arsinoe]]''", and Ptolemy's title "''Epiphanes''"),{{Cref2|C}} while Åkerblad published an alphabet of 29 letters (more than half of which were correct) that he had identified from the Greek names in the Demotic text.{{Cref2|D}}<ref name="Budge133" /> They could not, however, identify the remaining characters in the Demotic text, which, as is now known, included [[Ideogram|ideographic]] and other symbols alongside the phonetic ones.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Robinson09|Robinson (2009)]] pp.&nbsp;59–61</ref><gallery widths="200" heights="200" mode="packed">
File:Akerblad.jpg|alt=Illustration depicting two columns of Demotic text and their Greek equivalent, as devised by Johan David Åkerblad in 1802|[[Johan David Åkerblad]]'s table of Demotic phonetic characters and their [[Coptic alphabet|Coptic]] equivalents (1802)
File:DemoticScriptsRosettaStoneReplica.jpg|Replica of the Demotic texts
</gallery>{{Anchor|The hieroglyphic text}}

=== Hieroglyphic text ===
[[File:Champollion_table.jpg|alt=A page containing three columns of characters, the first column depicting characters in Greek and the second and third columns showing their equivalents in demotic and in hieroglyphs respectively|thumb|[[Jean-François Champollion|Champollion]]'s table of hieroglyphic phonetic characters with their demotic and Coptic equivalents (1822)]]
Silvestre de Sacy eventually gave up work on the stone, but he was to make another contribution. In 1811, prompted by discussions with a Chinese student about [[Chinese character|Chinese script]], Silvestre de Sacy considered a suggestion made by [[Jörgen Zoega|Georg Zoëga]] in 1797 that the foreign names in Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions might be written phonetically; he also recalled that as early as 1761, [[Jean-Jacques Barthélemy]] had suggested that the characters enclosed in [[Cartouche|cartouches]] in hieroglyphic inscriptions were proper names. Thus, when [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]], foreign secretary of the [[Royal Society|Royal Society of London]], wrote to him about the stone in 1814, Silvestre de Sacy suggested in reply that in attempting to read the hieroglyphic text, Young might look for cartouches that ought to contain Greek names and try to identify phonetic characters in them.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Robinson09|Robinson (2009)]] p.&nbsp;61</ref>

Young did so, with two results that together paved the way for the final decipherment. In the hieroglyphic text, he discovered the phonetic characters "{{transl|egy|p t o l m e s}}" (in today's transliteration "{{transl|egy|p t w l m y s}}") that were used to write the Greek name "{{transl|grc|Ptolemaios}}". He also noticed that these characters resembled the equivalent ones in the demotic script, and went on to note as many as 80 similarities between the hieroglyphic and demotic texts on the stone, an important discovery because the two scripts were previously thought to be entirely different from one another. This led him to deduce correctly that the demotic script was only partly phonetic, also consisting of ideographic characters derived from hieroglyphs.{{Cref2|I}} Young's new insights were prominent in the long article "Egypt" that he contributed to the {{lang|la-GB|[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}} in 1819.{{Cref2|J}} He could make no further progress, however.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Robinson09|Robinson (2009)]] pp.&nbsp;61–64</ref>

In 1814, Young first exchanged correspondence about the stone with [[Jean-François Champollion]], a teacher at [[Grenoble]] who had produced a scholarly work on ancient Egypt. Champollion saw copies of the brief hieroglyphic and Greek inscriptions of the [[Philae obelisk]] in 1822, on which [[William John Bankes]] had tentatively noted the names "{{transl|grc|Ptolemaios}}" and "{{transl|grc|Kleopatra}}" in both languages.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;32</ref> From this, Champollion identified the phonetic characters {{transl|egy|k l e o p a t r a}} (in today's transliteration {{transl|egy|q l i҆ w p 3 d r 3.t}}).<ref name="Budge136">[[Rosetta Stone#Budge69|Budge (1913)]] pp.&nbsp;3–6</ref> On the basis of this and the foreign names on the Rosetta Stone, he quickly constructed an alphabet of phonetic hieroglyphic characters, completing his work on 14 September and announcing it publicly on 27 September in a lecture to the {{lang|fr|[[Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres|Académie royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres]]}}.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hr3wCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA97|pages=98–99|title=The Reality of the Unobservable: Observability, Unobservability and Their Impact on the Issue of Scientific Realism|author1=E. Agazzi|author2=M. Pauri|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=2013|isbn=978-94-015-9391-5}}</ref> On the same day he wrote the famous "{{lang|fr|[[Lettre à M. Dacier]]}}" to [[Bon-Joseph Dacier]], secretary of the Académie, detailing his discovery.{{Cref2|K}} In the postscript Champollion notes that similar phonetic characters seemed to occur in both Greek and Egyptian names, a hypothesis confirmed in 1823, when he identified the names of pharaohs [[Ramesses I|Ramesses]] and [[Thutmose I|Thutmose]] written in cartouches at [[Abu Simbel temples|Abu Simbel]]. These far older hieroglyphic inscriptions had been copied by Bankes and sent to Champollion by [[Jean-Nicolas Huyot]].{{Cref2|M}} From this point, the stories of the Rosetta Stone and the [[decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs]] diverge, as Champollion drew on many other texts to develop an Ancient Egyptian grammar and a hieroglyphic dictionary which were published after his death in 1832.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Dewachter90|Dewachter (1990)]] p.&nbsp;45</ref>

=== Later work ===
[[File:Copy_of_Rosetta_Stone.jpg|alt="Replica of the Rosetta Stone in the King's Library of the British Museum as it would have appeared to 19th century visitors, open to the air, held in a cradle that is at a slight angle from the horizontal and available to touch"|thumb|Replica of the Rosetta Stone, displayed as the original used to be, available to touch, in what was the [[King's Library]] of the British Museum, now the Enlightenment Gallery]]
Work on the stone now focused on fuller understanding of the texts and their contexts by comparing the three versions with one another. In 1824 Classical scholar [[Jean Antoine Letronne|Antoine-Jean Letronne]] promised to prepare a new literal translation of the Greek text for Champollion's use. Champollion in return promised an analysis of all the points at which the three texts seemed to differ. Following Champollion's sudden death in 1832, his draft of this analysis could not be found, and Letronne's work stalled. [[Francesco Salvolini|François Salvolini]], Champollion's former student and assistant, died in 1838, and this analysis and other missing drafts were found among his papers. This discovery incidentally demonstrated that Salvolini's own publication on the stone, published in 1837, was [[plagiarism]].{{Cref2|O}} Letronne was at last able to complete his commentary on the Greek text and his new French translation of it, which appeared in 1841.{{Cref2|P}} During the early 1850s, German Egyptologists [[Heinrich Karl Brugsch|Heinrich Brugsch]] and [[Max Uhlemann]] produced revised Latin translations based on the demotic and hieroglyphic texts.{{Cref2|Q}}{{Cref2|R}} The first English translation followed in 1858, the work of three members of the [[Philomathean Society]] at the [[University of Pennsylvania]].{{Cref2|S}}

Whether one of the three texts was the standard version, from which the other two were originally translated, is a question that has remained controversial. Letronne attempted to show in 1841 that the Greek version, the product of the Egyptian government under the Macedonian [[Ptolemies]], was the original.{{Cref2|P}} Among recent authors, John Ray has stated that "the hieroglyphs were the most important of the scripts on the stone: they were there for the gods to read, and the more learned of their priesthood".<ref name="Ray3" /> Philippe Derchain and Heinz Josef Thissen have argued that all three versions were composed simultaneously, while Stephen Quirke sees in the decree "an intricate coalescence of three vital textual traditions".<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Quirke69|Quirke and Andrews (1989)]] p.&nbsp;10</ref> [[Richard B. Parkinson|Richard Parkinson]] points out that the hieroglyphic version strays from archaic formalism and occasionally lapses into language closer to that of the demotic register that the priests more commonly used in everyday life.<ref name="focus13">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson70|Parkinson (2005)]] p.&nbsp;13</ref> The fact that the three versions cannot be matched word for word helps to explain why the decipherment has been more difficult than originally expected, especially for those original scholars who were expecting an exact bilingual key to Egyptian hieroglyphs.<ref name="Cracking3031">[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] pp.&nbsp;30–31</ref>

=== Rivalries ===
[[File:Place_des_ecritures_Figeac.jpg|alt=Photo depicting a large copy of the Rosetta Stone filling an interior courtyard of a building in Figeac, France|thumb|A giant copy of the Rosetta Stone by [[Joseph Kosuth]] in [[Figeac]], France, the birthplace of [[Jean-François Champollion]]]]
Even before the Salvolini affair, disputes over precedence and plagiarism punctuated the decipherment story. Thomas Young's work is acknowledged in Champollion's 1822 ''Lettre à M. Dacier'', but incompletely, according to early British critics: for example, [[James Browne (writer)|James Browne]], a sub-editor on the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (which had published Young's 1819 article), anonymously contributed a series of review articles to the ''[[Edinburgh Review]]'' in 1823, praising Young's work highly and alleging that the "unscrupulous" Champollion plagiarised it.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Parkinson99|Parkinson et al. (1999)]]{{Broken anchor|date=2024-06-30|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=#Parkinson99|reason=}} pp.&nbsp;35–38</ref><ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Robinson09|Robinson (2009)]] pp.&nbsp;65–68</ref> These articles were translated into French by [[Julius Klaproth]] and published in book form in 1827.{{Cref2|N}} Young's own 1823 publication reasserted the contribution that he had made.{{Cref2|L}} The early deaths of Young (1829) and Champollion (1832) did not put an end to these disputes. In his work on the stone in 1904 [[E. A. Wallis Budge]] gave special emphasis to Young's contribution compared with Champollion's.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Budge70|Budge (1904)]] vol. 1 pp.&nbsp;59–134</ref> In the early 1970s, French visitors complained that the portrait of Champollion was smaller than one of Young on an adjacent information panel; English visitors complained that the opposite was true. The portraits were in fact the same size.<ref name="focus47" />

== Requests for repatriation to Egypt ==
Calls for the Rosetta Stone to be returned to Egypt were made in July 2003 by [[Zahi Hawass]], then Secretary-General of Egypt's [[Supreme Council of Antiquities]]. These calls, expressed in the Egyptian and international media, asked that the stele be [[Art repatriation|repatriated]] to Egypt, commenting that it was the "icon of our Egyptian identity".<ref name="Edwardes">[[Rosetta Stone#Edwardes03|Edwardes and Milner (2003)]]</ref> He repeated the proposal two years later in Paris, listing the stone as one of several key items belonging to Egypt's cultural heritage, a list which also included: the iconic [[Nefertiti Bust|bust of Nefertiti]] in the [[Egyptian Museum of Berlin]]; a statue of the [[Great Pyramid of Giza|Great Pyramid]] architect [[Hemiunu]] in the [[Roemer-und-Pelizaeus-Museum]] in [[Hildesheim]], Germany; the [[Dendera zodiac|Dendera Temple Zodiac]] in the [[Louvre]] in Paris; and the [[Ankhhaf (sculpture)|bust of Ankhhaf]] in the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Museum of Fine Arts]] in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Sarah El Shaarawi|title=Egypt's Own: Repatriation of Antiquities Proves to be a Mammoth Task|date=5 October 2016|url=http://newsweekme.com/egypts-repatriation-antiquities-proves-mammoth-task/|publisher=Newsweek – Middle East}}</ref> In August 2022, Zahi Hawass reiterated his previous demands.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/08/22/return-rosetta-stone-to-egypt-demands-countrys-leading-archaeologist-zahi-hawass|title='Return Rosetta Stone to Egypt' demands country's leading archaeologist Zahi Hawass|date=22 August 2022|website=The Art Newspaper – International art news and events}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/08/19/new-push-to-bring-rosetta-stone-back-to-egypt-amid-awakening-on-colonial-loot/|title=New push to bring Rosetta Stone back to Egypt amid 'awakening' on colonial loot|first=Tim|last=Stickings|date=19 August 2022|website=The National}}</ref>

In 2005, the British Museum presented Egypt with a full-sized fibreglass colour-matched replica of the stele. This was initially displayed in the renovated [[Rashid National Museum]], an Ottoman house in the town of [[Rosetta|Rashid]] (Rosetta), the closest city to the site where the stone was found.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Rose05|"Rose of the Nile" (2005)]]</ref> In November 2005, Hawass suggested a three-month loan of the Rosetta Stone, while reiterating the eventual goal of a permanent return.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Huttinger05|Huttinger (2005)]]</ref> In December 2009, he proposed to drop his claim for the permanent return of the Rosetta Stone if the British Museum lent the stone to Egypt for three months for the opening of the [[Grand Egyptian Museum]] at [[Giza]] in 2013.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Antiquities05|"Antiquities wish list" (2005)]]</ref>

{{stack|[[File:Historical cannons in Rosetta.JPG|thumb|alt="Photo of a public square in Rashid (Rosetta) in Egypt featuring a replica of the Rosetta Stone"|A replica of the Rosetta Stone in Rashid ([[Rosetta]]), Egypt]]}}

As [[John D. Ray|John Ray]] has observed: "The day may come when the stone has spent longer in the British Museum than it ever did in Rosetta."<ref name="Ray4">[[Rosetta Stone#Ray69|Ray (2007)]] p.&nbsp;4</ref>

National museums typically express strong opposition to the repatriation of objects of international cultural significance such as the Rosetta Stone. In response to repeated Greek requests for return of the [[Elgin Marbles]] from the [[Parthenon]] and similar requests to other museums around the world, in 2002, over 30 of the world's leading museums—including the British Museum, the Louvre, the [[Pergamon Museum]] in Berlin, and the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art|Metropolitan Museum]] in New York City—issued a joint statement:

{{Blockquote|Objects acquired in earlier times must be viewed in the light of different sensitivities and values reflective of that earlier era...museums serve not just the citizens of one nation but the people of every nation.<ref>[[#Bailey03|Bailey (2003)]]</ref>}}

== Idiomatic use ==
Various ancient bilingual or even trilingual [[epigraphical]] documents have sometimes been described as "Rosetta stones", as they permitted the decipherment of ancient written scripts. For example, the bilingual [[Greek script|Greek]]-[[Brahmi]] coins of the [[Greco-Bactrian]] king [[Agathocles of Bactria|Agathocles]] have been described as "little Rosetta stones", allowing [[Christian Lassen]]'s initial progress towards deciphering the [[Brahmi script]], thus unlocking ancient [[Indian epigraphy]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Aruz|first1=Joan|last2=Fino|first2=Elisabetta Valtz|title=Afghanistan: Forging Civilizations Along the Silk Road|date=2012|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|isbn=978-1-58839-452-1|page=33|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4_it5yw9WsC&pg=PA33|language=en}}</ref> The [[Behistun inscription]] has also been compared to the Rosetta stone, as it links the translations of three ancient [[Middle-Eastern]] languages: [[Old Persian]], [[Elamite language|Elamite]], and [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dudney|first1=Arthur|title=Delhi: Pages From a Forgotten History|date=2015|publisher=Hay House, Inc|isbn=978-93-84544-31-7|page=55|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQ6fCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT55|language=en}}</ref>

The term ''Rosetta stone'' has been also used [[Idiom|idiomatically]] to denote the first crucial key in the process of decryption of encoded information, especially when a small but representative sample is recognised as the clue to understanding a larger whole.<ref name="OUP">[[Rosetta Stone#OUP|''Oxford English dictionary'' (1989)]] s.v. "[http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&find=Find+word&queryword=Rosetta+stone Rosetta stone]"  {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20110620211021/http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&find=Find+word&queryword=Rosetta+stone|date=June 20, 2011}}</ref> According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', the first figurative use of the term appeared in the 1902 edition of the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' relating to an entry on the chemical analysis of [[glucose]].<ref name="OUP" /> Another use of the phrase is found in [[H. G. Wells]]'s 1933 novel ''[[The Shape of Things to Come]]'', where the protagonist finds a manuscript written in [[shorthand]] that provides a key to understanding additional scattered material that is sketched out in both [[longhand]] and on [[typewriter]].<ref name="OUP" />

Since then, the term has been widely used in other contexts. For example, [[Nobel laureate]] [[Theodor W. Hänsch]] in a 1979 ''[[Scientific American]]'' article on [[spectroscopy]] wrote that "the spectrum of the hydrogen atoms has proven to be the Rosetta Stone of modern physics: once this pattern of lines had been deciphered much else could also be understood".<ref name="OUP" /> Fully understanding the key set of genes to the [[human leucocyte antigen]] has been described as "the Rosetta Stone of immunology".<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#International|"International Team"]]</ref> The flowering plant ''[[Arabidopsis thaliana]]'' has been called the "Rosetta Stone of flowering time".<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Simpson02|Simpson and Dean (2002)]]</ref> A [[gamma-ray burst]] (GRB) found in conjunction with a [[supernova]] has been called a Rosetta Stone for understanding the origin of GRBs.<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Cooper10|Cooper (2010)]]</ref> The technique of [[Doppler echocardiography]] has been called a Rosetta Stone for clinicians trying to understand the complex process by which the [[left ventricle]] of the [[human heart]] can be filled during various forms of [[diastolic dysfunction]].<ref>[[Rosetta Stone#Nishimura98|Nishimura and Tajik (1998)]]</ref> The [[European Space Agency]]'s ''[[Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta]]'' spacecraft, launched to study the [[comet]] [[67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko]] in the hope that determining its composition will advance understanding of the origins of the [[Solar System]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rosetta's Comet Target 'Releases' Plentiful Water|url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/rosettas-comet-target-releases-plentiful-water/|access-date=2024-11-19|website=NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)|language=en-US}}</ref>

The name is used for various forms of [[Machine translation|translation software]] and services. "[[Rosetta Stone (software)|Rosetta Stone]]" is a brand of language-learning software published by Rosetta Stone Inc., who are headquartered in [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County]], US. Additionally, "Rosetta", developed and maintained by [[Canonical Ltd.|Canonical]] (the Ubuntu Linux company) as part of the [[Launchpad (website)|Launchpad]] project, is an online language translation tool to help with localisation of software. One program, billed as a "lightweight dynamic translator" that enables applications compiled for [[PowerPC]] processors to run on [[x86]] processor [[Apple Inc.]] systems, is named "[[Rosetta (software)|Rosetta]]". The [[Rosetta@home]] endeavour is a [[Distributed computing|distributed computing project]] for predicting protein structures from amino acid sequences (i.e. ''translating'' sequence into structure). [[Rosetta Code]] is a wiki-based [[chrestomathy]] website with algorithm implementations in several programming languages. The [[Rosetta Project]] brings language specialists and native speakers together to develop a meaningful survey and near-permanent archive of 1,500 languages, in physical and digital form, with the intent of it remaining useful from AD 2000 to 12,000.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

== See also ==

* [[Egypt–United Kingdom relations]]
* {{annotated link|Ezana Stone}}
* [[Garshunography]]{{snd}} use of the script of one language to write utterances of another language which already has a script associated with it.
* [[List of individual rocks]]
* {{annotated link|Mesha Stele}}
* [[Multilingual inscription]]
* [[Transliteration of Ancient Egyptian]]
* [[Rosetta (spacecraft)|''Rosetta'' (spacecraft)]]

== References ==

=== Timeline of early publications about the Rosetta Stone ===
{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=upper-alpha}} {{Cnote2|A|1799: [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8602949h/f155.image ''Courrier de l'Égypte'' no. 37 (29 Fructidor year 7, i.e. 1799) p. 3] Retrieved July 15, 2018}} {{Cnote2|B|1802: "Domestic Occurrences: March 31st, 1802" in ''[[The Gentleman's Magazine]]'' vol. 72 part 1 p.&nbsp;270 [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id%3Dmdp.39015027527129 Retrieved July 14, 2010]}} {{Cnote2|C|1802: [[Silvestre de Sacy]], ''Lettre au Citoyen Chaptal, Ministre de l'intérieur, Membre de l'Institut national des sciences et arts, etc: au sujet de l'inscription Égyptienne du monument trouvé à Rosette''. Paris, 1802 [https://books.google.com/books?id%3D_ifF1gKSWm8C Retrieved July 14, 2010]}} {{Cnote2|D|1802: [[Johan David Åkerblad]], ''Lettre sur l'inscription Égyptienne de Rosette: adressée au citoyen Silvestre de Sacy, Professeur de langue arabe à l'École spéciale des langues orientales vivantes, etc.; Réponse du citoyen Silvestre de Sacy''. Paris: L'imprimerie de la République, 1802}} {{Cnote2|E|1803: "Has tabulas inscriptionem&nbsp;... ad formam et modulum exemplaris inter spolia ex bello Aegyptiaco nuper reportati et in Museo Britannico asservati suo sumptu incidendas curavit Soc. Antiquar. Londin. A.D. MDCCCIII" in ''[[Vetusta Monumenta]]'' vol. 4 plates 5–7}} {{Cnote2|F|1803: [[Hubert-Pascal Ameilhon]], ''Éclaircissemens sur l'inscription grecque du monument trouvé à Rosette, contenant un décret des prêtres de l'Égypte en l'honneur de Ptolémée Épiphane, le cinquième des rois Ptolémées''. Paris: Institut National, 1803 [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3990143 Retrieved July 14, 2010]}} {{Cnote2|G|1803: [[Christian Gottlob Heyne|Chr. G. Heyne]], "Commentatio in inscriptionem Graecam monumenti trinis insigniti titulis ex Aegypto Londinum apportati" in ''Commentationes Societatis Regiae Gottingensis'' vol. 15 (1800–1803) p. 260 ff.}} {{Cnote2|H|1811: Matthew Raper, [[Stephen Weston (antiquary)|S. Weston]] et al., "Rosetta stone, brought to England in 1802: Account of, by Matt. Raper; with three versions: Greek, English translation by S. Weston, Latin translation by Prof. Heyne; with notes by Porson, Taylor, Combe, Weston and Heyne" in ''Archaeologia'' vol. 16 (1810–1812) pp. 208–263|n=2}} {{Cnote2|I|1817: [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]], "Remarks on the Ancient Egyptian Manuscripts with Translation of the Rosetta Inscription" in ''Archaeologia'' vol. 18 (1817) [https://archive.org/details/miscellaneouswo02youngoog Retrieved July 14, 2010 (see pp. 1–15)]}} {{Cnote2|J|1819: Thomas Young, "Egypt" in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', supplement vol. 4 part 1 (Edinburgh: Chambers, 1819) [https://archive.org/details/miscellaneouswo02youngoog Retrieved July 14, 2010 (see pp. 86–195)]}} {{Cnote2|K|1822: [[Jean-François Champollion|J.-F. Champollion]], ''[[Lettre à M. Dacier|Lettre à M. Dacier relative à l'alphabet des hiéroglyphes phonétiques]]'' (Paris, 1822) [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k396352 At Gallica: Retrieved July 14, 2010] [[s:fr:Lettre à M. Dacier relative à l'alphabet des hiéroglyphes phonétiques|at French Wikisource]]}} {{Cnote2|L|1823: Thomas Young, ''An account of some recent discoveries in hieroglyphical literature and Egyptian antiquities: including the author's original alphabet, as extended by Mr. Champollion, with a translation of five unpublished Greek and Egyptian manuscripts'' (London: John Murray, 1823) [https://books.google.com/books?id%3DTkAGAAAAQAAJ Retrieved July 14, 2010]}} {{Cnote2|M|1824: J.-F. Champollion, ''Précis du système hiéroglyphique des anciens Égyptiens''. Paris, 1824 [https://archive.org/details/prcisdusystmehi00chamgoog Online version at archive.org] [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k117252f 2nd ed. (1828) At Gallica: Retrieved July 14, 2010]}} {{Cnote2|N|1827: James Browne, ''Aperçu sur les hiéroglyphes d'Égypte et les progrès faits jusqu'à présent dans leur déchiffrement'' (Paris, 1827; based on a series of articles in ''[[Edinburgh Review]]'' beginning with no. 55 (February 1823) pp. 188–197) [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k28260q Retrieved July 14, 2010]}} {{Cnote2|O|1837: [[Francesco Salvolini|François Salvolini]], "Interprétation des hiéroglyphes: analyse de l'inscription de Rosette" in ''Revue des deux mondes'' vol. 10 (1937) [[:s:fr:Interprétation des Hiéroglyphes - Analyse de l'Inscription de Rosette par M. Salvolini|At French Wikisource]]}} {{Cnote2|P|1841: [[Jean Antoine Letronne|Antoine-Jean Letronne]], ''Inscription grecque de Rosette. Texte et traduction littérale, accompagnée d'un commentaire critique, historique et archéologique''. Paris, 1840 (issued in [[Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Müller|Carolus Müllerus]], ed., ''[[Fragmente der griechischen Historiker|Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum]]'' vol. 1 (Paris: [[Didot family|Didot]], 1841)) [https://archive.org/details/fragmentahistori01mueluoft Retrieved July 14, 2010 (see end of volume)]|n=2}} {{Cnote2|Q|1851: H. Brugsch, ''Inscriptio Rosettana hieroglyphica, vel, Interpretatio decreti Rosettani sacra lingua litterisque sacris veterum Aegyptiorum redactae partis&nbsp;... accedunt glossarium Aegyptiaco-Coptico-Latinum atque IX tabulae lithographicae textum hieroglyphicum atque signa phonetica scripturae hieroglyphicae exhibentes''. Berlin: Dümmler, 1851 [https://archive.org/details/inscriptioroset00bruggoog Retrieved July 14, 2010]}} {{Cnote2|R|1853: [[Max Uhlemann]], ''Inscriptionis Rosettanae hieroglyphicae decretum sacerdotale''. Leipzig: Libraria Dykiana, 1853 [https://books.google.com/books?id%3D9StAAAAAYAAJ Retrieved July 14, 2010]}} {{Cnote2|S|1858: ''Report of the committee appointed by the Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania to translate the inscription on the Rosetta stone''. Philadelphia, 1858}} {{Cnote2 End}}

=== Notes ===
{{Reflist|20em}}

=== Bibliography ===
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* {{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8402640.stm|title=Rosetta Stone row 'would be solved by loan to Egypt'|work=BBC News|date=2009-12-08|access-date=2010-07-14|ref=Rosetta09}}
* {{Cite book|title=The Oxford history of Ancient Egypt|last=Shaw|first=Ian|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-280458-8|ref=Shaw00|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofa00shaw}}
* {{cite journal|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/296/5566/285?ijkey=zlwRiv/qSEivQ&keytype=ref&siteid=sci|title=''Arabidopsis'', the Rosetta Stone of Flowering Time?|journal=Science|access-date=2006-11-23|first1=Gordon G.|last1=Simpson|first2=Caroline|last2=Dean|date=2002-04-12|ref=Simpson02|doi=10.1126/science.296.5566.285|pages=285–289|volume=296|issue=5566|pmid=11951029|bibcode=2002Sci...296..285S}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Shaw|first1=Ian|last2=Nicholson|first2=Paul|title=The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofanci0000shaw|url-access=registration|year=1995|publisher=Harry N. Abrams|isbn=0-8109-9096-2|ref=ShawNicholson1995}}
* {{Cite book|last=Simpson|first=R. S.|title=Demotic Grammar in the Ptolemaic Sacerdotal Decrees|publisher=Griffith Institute|year=1996|isbn=978-0-900416-65-1|ref=Simpson96}}
* {{cite web|last=Simpson|first=R. S.|title=The Rosetta Stone: translation of the demotic text|publisher=The British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/r/the_rosetta_stone_translation.aspx|date=n.d.|access-date=2010-07-21|ref=Simpson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706095633/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/r/the_rosetta_stone_translation.aspx|archive-date=2010-07-06}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Solé|first1=Robert|author-link1=w:Robert Solé|last2=Valbelle|first2=Dominique|title=The Rosetta Stone: the story of the decoding of hieroglyphics|year=2002|publisher=Four Walls Eight Windows|isbn=978-1-56858-226-9|ref=Solé69|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/rosettastone0000sole}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Spencer|first1=Neal|last2=Thorne|first2=C.|title=Book of Egyptian Hieroglyphs|year=2003|publisher=British Museum Press, Barnes & Noble|isbn=978-0-7607-4199-3|ref=Spencer69}}
* {{Cite book|title=Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum|year=1847|publisher=British Museum|ref=Synopsis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHJUAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|title=Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt|last1=Tyldesley|first1=Joyce|author-link1=w:Joyce Tyldesley|year=2006|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=0-500-05145-3|ref=Tyldesley2006|url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofqueen00tyld}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last1=Walker|editor-first1=Susan|editor-last2=Higgs|editor-first2=Peter|title=Cleopatra of Egypt|year=2001|publisher=British Museum Press|isbn=0-7141-1943-1|ref=Walker2001}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Robert Thomas|title=History of the British Expedition to Egypt. 4th ed.|year=1803|publisher=Military Library|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mypLAAAAYAAJ|access-date=2010-07-19}}

{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links
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* {{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA24|title=British Museum Object Database reference number: EA24}}
* {{cite web|url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/rosetta-stone.htm|title=How the Rosetta Stone works|date=11 December 2007|publisher=Howstuffworks.com}}

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