The Rosetta Stone Breakthrough

Aramaic inscription on brick from Babylon. After the ninth century BC, Aramaic eventually replaced cuneiform script in Mesopotamia.

Statue of the Priest Henat

When this figurine of an Egyptian priest was donated to the British Museum in 1771, no one could read the hieroglyphs on the statue.

G

Jacques-Fran

House in the Eypttian Town of Rashid

Known in English as Rosetta, the Egyptian town of Rashid is a city on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt just east of Alexandria.

The Rosetta Stone 196 BC

First Report of the Arrival of the Rosetta Stone in England

Egyptologist Jean-Fran

Jean-Fran

Champollion's Table of Hieroglyphic Phonetic Characters

Frenchman Jean-Fran

Reconstruction of Rosetta Stele

The Rosetta Stone was originally was part of a stele. This image is a reconstruction of the original.

Poem Written on Papyrus

First identified by Jean-Fran

Rosetta Stone, Side Views

Writing on the side views of the Rosetta Stone, with the English inscriptions: (L) "Captured in Egypt by the British Army in 1801" and (R) "Presented by King George III."

Second International Congress of Orientalists, 1874

Giant Copy of the Rosetta Stone

A giant copy of the Rosetta Stone, in Figeac, France, the birthplace of Jean-Fran

Relief from Walls of the Temple of Philae.

The last known hieroglyphic inscription was found at Philae, Egypt, and known as The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom dated to August 24, 396 CE.

Example of Old Kingdom "Donation Stele"

A decree by the Pharaoh Pepi II in the 6th dynasty, circa 2246-2152 B.C., granting immunity to the temple of Min from official exactions.