The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone is housed in the British Museum, London

Russell Square - Tottenham Court Road - Goodge Street -

The Rosetta Stone found by French soldiers in Egypt in 1799 is a stone about 1.5m high with writing on it in two languages was carved in 196 B.C. - Egyptian and Greek, using three scripts - hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek. The Rosetta Stone was written in three scripts because when it was written, there were three scripts being used in Egypt. The first was hieroglyphic which was the script used for important or religious documents. The second was demotic which was the common script of Egypt. The third was Greek which was the language of the rulers of Egypt at that time. The Rosetta Stone was written in all three scripts so that the priests, government officials and rulers of Egypt could read what it said. The Rosetta Stone was found in a small village in the Delta called Rosetta (Rashid).

It is called the Rosetta Stone because it was discovered in a town called Rosetta (Rashid).

The Rosetta Stone is a text written by a group of priests in Egypt to honour the Egyptian pharaoh. It lists all of the things that the pharaoh has done that are good for the priests and the people of Egypt.