Click stone to see a larger version.

First of all: it’s such an irony that our key to the ancient languages was falsely named. It was found in the Egyptian town of Rashid - the French had renamed the city to Rosetta.

What was so special about this stone was it’s identical text in three ancient languages: Egyptian hieroglyphic and demotic scripts - and in classical Greek. By comparing these fragments it was only a matter of time until the code of the old Egyptian writings was cracked.

A Frenchman found the stone, but it was later taken by the British and brought to London (where it is still on display in the British Museum). The Egyptians want it back - like so many artifacts - still in the hands of former colonial powers.

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