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"In 1799, the Rosetta Stone was found and gave the first key to the reading of hieroglyphics. On this stone the same inscription was given in three different sets of characters, -the hieroglyphics, the demotic text (a briefer and more running form of hieroglyphics, commonly used in the papyri or manuscripts), and the Greek. By comparing the letters in certain Greek proper names with the letters of the same words in the Egyptian texts, the sounds for which the Egyptian characters stood were discovered. This image represents Cleopatra, or Kleopatra." —Colby, 1899

Rosetta Stone

"In 1799, the Rosetta Stone was found and gave the first key to the reading of hieroglyphics. On this…

"Rosetta Stone is the name given to a stone found near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile by a French engineer in 1798. It is a tablet of basalt, with an inscription of the year 136 B. C., during the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes. The inscription is in hieroglyphic, in demotic, and in Greek. It was deciphered by Dr. Young, and formed the key to the reading of the hieroglyphic characters. It was captured by the English on the defeat of the French forces in Egypt, and is now kept in the British Museum."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Rosetta Stone

"Rosetta Stone is the name given to a stone found near the Rosetta mouth of the Nile by a French engineer…

"In 1799, the Rosetta Stone was found and gave the first key to the reading of hieroglyphics. On this stone the same inscription was given in three different sets of characters, -the hieroglyphics, the demotic text (a briefer and more running form of hieroglyphics, commonly used in the papyri or manuscripts), and the Greek. By comparing the letters in certain Greek proper names with the letters of the same words in the Egyptian texts, the sounds for which the Egyptian characters stood were discovered. The Greek text, when translated, showed that the inscription was an ordinance of the priests decreeing certain honors to Ptolemy Epiphanes on the occasion of his coronation, 196 B.C. (Ptolemy Epiphanes was one of a line of Greek sovereigns who ruled over Egypt from the time of its conquest by Alexander in the fourth century, to the first century B.C.) It contains a command that the decree should be inscribed in the sacred letters (hieroglyphics), the letters of the country (demotic), and Greek letters, -and this for the convenience of the mixed population of Egypt under its Greek rulers. It was natural to conclude that the three texts were the same in substance, and accordingly earnest efforts were made to decipher the hieroglyphics by aid of the Greek. The first clew was obtained by noticing that certain groups of the hieroglyphic characters were inclosed in oval rings, and that these groups corresponded in relative position with certain proper names, such as Ptolemy, etc., in the Greek text. The following line presents a few of the characters with a group in the oval ring. (Each word is read from right to left)." —Colby, 1899

Excerpt from the Rosetta Stone

"In 1799, the Rosetta Stone was found and gave the first key to the reading of hieroglyphics. On this…

"In 1799, the Rosetta Stone was found and gave the first key to the reading of hieroglyphics. On this stone the same inscription was given in three different sets of characters, -the hieroglyphics, the demotic text (a briefer and more running form of hieroglyphics, commonly used in the papyri or manuscripts), and the Greek. By comparing the letters in certain Greek proper names with the letters of the same words in the Egyptian texts, the sounds for which the Egyptian characters stood were discovered. This image represents Ptolemy or Ptolemaios." —Colby, 1899

Rosetta Stone Sample

"In 1799, the Rosetta Stone was found and gave the first key to the reading of hieroglyphics. On this…

"The Rosetta Stone." — Quackenbos, 1882

Rosetta Stone, Full View

"The Rosetta Stone." — Quackenbos, 1882

A fragment of an Ancient Egyptian text, which provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics.

The Rosetta Stone, Front View

A fragment of an Ancient Egyptian text, which provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian…

"In the Nile valley there had been found a few ancient inscriptions, carved upon stone in unknown characters, but no one could read them. The, about 1800 A.D., some soldiers of Napoleon in Egypt, while laying foundations for a fort, found a slab of black rock bearing three inscriptions. One of the inscriptions was in Greek, one was in the ancient hieroglyphics of the pyramids, and the third was in a later Egyptian writing, which had likewise been been forgotten." - West, 1904

Portion of Rosetta Stone

"In the Nile valley there had been found a few ancient inscriptions, carved upon stone in unknown characters,…