![]() ![]() Because the Rosetta Stone inscription records the name “Ptolemaios” so frequently, it was possible to identify the cartouche and hieroglyphic characters that spelled out the Greek pharaoh’s name in the Egyptian text on the stone. These convey concepts, but do not represent speech.įueled by their rivalry, both men made progress, especially in determining that when certain hieroglyphic symbols were grouped together within an oval enclosure, or cartouche, they represented the personal name or title of a ruler. ![]() Did the written characters and pictures denote letters, syllables, or words, or were they solely ideographic symbols representing an idea or action like today’s “no smoking” icons or emojis. One of the difficulties facing both men was determining whether Egyptian hieroglyphics even constituted a spoken language. Champollion, a Frenchman, was a prodigious linguist. Young was an English physician, polymath, and one of the brightest minds of his generation. ![]() When news of the Rosetta Stone’s discovery reached Europe, the race was on.Īlthough several renowned intellectuals tackled the inscription, the competition to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics essentially became a contest between two men, Thomas Young and Jean-François Champollion. ![]() For hundreds of years European scholars had attempted in vain to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. Although scholars were still unable to read the first two, Ancient Greek was well known, and the Greek text on the stone provided a starting place from which to finally decipher the other two. The inscription, the Third Memphis Decree, was written three times on the stone in three different scripts: hieroglyphics (the sacred script of the temples), Egyptian Demotic (the script of everyday native Egyptian use), and Ancient Greek (the language of the ruling Ptolemaic Dynasty). Almost immediately after it was discovered in 1799, the Rosetta Stone was recognized as the potential key to decoding hieroglyphics and the long-lost language of the ancient Egyptians. ![]()
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