A Brief Look At The Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone, an ancient slab of black basalt, seems unimportant behind glass in its new home. When inspected, multiple inscriptions can be seen, three different sections. The biggest mystery was the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the unknown language. However, this mysterious riddle stone was the key to unlocking ancient Egypt's history.
The riddle of the Rosetta Stone was not discovered until 1799, by then the sacred carving's meaning had been forgotten. Discovered in a ruined wall, the Rosetta Stone became one of history's greatest treasures. This riddle began during a french excavation when soldiers pulled the stone from a wall. The stone was named after the city of Rosetta where the slab had been found near. Sadly the French were not able to hold onto this treasure for two years later it was taken. James Cross Giblin includes text that gives us insight to how important the war between the French and British was in the Rosetta Stone's history, " Besieged and outnumbered, the French were finally forced to surrender to the British in September 1801. As part of the settlement, the British ordered the scholars to hand over …show more content…
However, very few scholars made small advances in understanding how the hieroglyphs were to be understood. One scholar by the name of C.J. Guignes had observed that many of the hieroglyphs were contained in an oval. He named the certain oval a cartouche, or a cartridge. An idea presented in the text, " Guignes guessed rightly that the cartouches in hieroglyphic inscriptions were intended to draw attention to important names, probably the names of Egyptian rulers "(Giblin, James. The riddle of the Rosetta Stone: key to ancient Egypt. HarperTrophy, 1990). Even with this important insight, Guignes's other ideas were not even close to the truth behind the hieroglyphs. After centuries of confusion eventually one scholar proved his
The riddle of the Rosetta Stone was not discovered until 1799, by then the sacred carving's meaning had been forgotten. Discovered in a ruined wall, the Rosetta Stone became one of history's greatest treasures. This riddle began during a french excavation when soldiers pulled the stone from a wall. The stone was named after the city of Rosetta where the slab had been found near. Sadly the French were not able to hold onto this treasure for two years later it was taken. James Cross Giblin includes text that gives us insight to how important the war between the French and British was in the Rosetta Stone's history, " Besieged and outnumbered, the French were finally forced to surrender to the British in September 1801. As part of the settlement, the British ordered the scholars to hand over …show more content…
However, very few scholars made small advances in understanding how the hieroglyphs were to be understood. One scholar by the name of C.J. Guignes had observed that many of the hieroglyphs were contained in an oval. He named the certain oval a cartouche, or a cartridge. An idea presented in the text, " Guignes guessed rightly that the cartouches in hieroglyphic inscriptions were intended to draw attention to important names, probably the names of Egyptian rulers "(Giblin, James. The riddle of the Rosetta Stone: key to ancient Egypt. HarperTrophy, 1990). Even with this important insight, Guignes's other ideas were not even close to the truth behind the hieroglyphs. After centuries of confusion eventually one scholar proved his