The race to decipher the Rosetta Stone

The race in the early 1800s to decipher the Rosetta Stone was epic, between the British polymath Thomas Young and the French linguist Champollion.

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In 1799 came the rediscovery of the Rosetta Stone at Fort Saint Julien, which was named after one of Napoleon’s high officials. At the time, work was underway on existing forts on the north coast of Egypt, because fighting had intensified, with attacks from the combined naval forces of the British and Egyptians. During this programme to strengthen the defences, the Rosetta Stone was found in the fort foundations. The soldiers immediately saw its potential, because they realised that there were three different scripts – hieroglyphs, demotic, and Greek – on the stone.

The Greek text on the Rosetta Stone revealed that it was a priestly decree, concerning the establishment of a cult dedicated to the young Pharaoh Ptolemy V in 196 BC. It also specified that all three scripts presented the same information. While the stone was sent to Britain, the all-important text carved into its face was widely circulated. Not only did the French keep the drawings that had already been produced, they also successfully requested additional copies.

[Translating the hieroglyphs] developed into a race between two figures: Thomas Young, a British polymath once referred to as ‘the last man who knew everything’, and Champollion. The French prodigy seems to have received a copy of the Rosetta Stone text in 1808, and began investigating it at the urging of his brother, who was also Champollion’s financial supporter.

 

https://the-past.com/feature/the-power-of-words-racing-to-read-the-lost-secrets-of-egypt/