Rosetta Stone Ch. 1 & 2

How many lines of Demonic (or the unknown script) were there? Where was it on the stone?

32 lines of an unknown script in the middle.

Hieroglyph

Ancient Egyptian picture-symbol

How many lines were in Greek? Where were they on the stone?

At the bottom there was 54 lines of Greek origin.

What is Coptic?

Coptic is the language spoken by Christian Egyptians. It later became the Arabic language in 642 A.D.

What does Demotic mean?

Demotic means "of the people". It is a simpler form of Egyptian writing.

What did the French general, Menou, say?

French general Menou protested, but finally handed the stone over while saying, "You can have it because you are the stronger of us two."

Why was Napoleon in Egypt? Who were they at war with? Goal?

French general Napoleon Bonaparte was in Egypt because France invaded Egypt with 38,000 soldiers. They were at war with England. Napoleon's goal was to occupy Egypt and then attack British held India.

How many scholars did Napoleon bring?

General Bonaparte brought 167 scholars to study Egypt and its history. While there, Napoleon's Army discovered the Rosetta Stone.

Who gave inaccurate explanations, maybe a Greek?

Inaccurate explanations were given by many Greeks, spreading for centuries. One of the most famous scholars to influence these inaccurate studies was Horapollo, a fellow Greek.

Who else gave inaccurate explanations, maybe a French or a German?

Other inaccurate explanations were also given by a German named Kircher and a French man named de Guignes. De Guignes was correct about the cartouche, however.

What does hieroglyphs mean?

Sacred Carvings... Duh.

What happened with the French war?

The French invasion of Egypt was a success at first. They captured the Nile Delta and Cairo. They used a palace in Cairo as their headquarters.

Why did the French give up the stone?!

The French were forced to give up the stone because the British forced the French to surrender in 1801. They also forced the scholars to hand over the treasures, including the Rosetta Stone.

Where is the Rosetta now located?

The Rosetta Stone is now located in the British Museum in London

Tell who, where, when was the Rosetta Stone discovered.

The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 in the town of Rosetta, by Napoleon's Army.

Where was the black stone delivered?

The heavy package that arrived at the palace in Cairo contained a black stone slab covered with writing in three scripts. It also contained a note from a French Army officer.

How long was the meaning of Egyptian writing been lost?

The meaning of the Egyptian writing had been lost for 1,400 years!

What was the message?

The message of the passage that was translated was about a decree that praised the accomplishments of Ptolemy, a 13 year old pharaoh.

Why was Greek on the slab?

The passage was written in Greek because at the time Alexander the Great, a Greek ruler, had taken control of Egypt. After his death, Ptolemy replaced him and ruled Egypt and he also kept the Greek culture.

What did the scholars believe?

The scholars believed that the three inscriptions were the same in all three languages because the last sentence of the Greek text said, "This decree shall be inscribed on stele (slab) of hard stone in sacred (hieroglyphic) and native (demotic) and Greek character. They did this so that it could be read by all, the natives and those who possessed a Greek background.

How many different different languages were on the stone?

The scholars knew that there were three different kinds of writing.

What did the scholars label the black slab? What was the condition of it?

The scholars labeled the slab the "Rosetta Stone", named after the town it was found in. The condition of it was slightly misshapen, with the top right and left corners missing, as well as the bottom right corner.

How big is the Rosetta Stone?

The stone is about the size of a tabletop. It is 11 inches thick. It is made of basalt, a volcanic rock.

How many lines of Hieroglyphs were on the stone? Where were they?

There were 14 lines of hieroglyphs on the top.

How many passages were on the slab? What was the order of the 3 languages? Which could be translated, to what language?

Three passages were on the slab. The top was hieroglyphics, the middle was Egyptian (demotic) and the bottom was Greek. The only one that could be translated at first was the Greek. Scholars were able to translate it to French.

Where were the symbols found?

Walls of Egyptian tombs and temples.

Pharaoh

a ruler of Ancient Egypt

Demotic

a simpler form of Egyptian writing, meaning "of the people"

Sphinx

a winged monster of Thebes, having the head of a woman and a lion's body

Decree

an official order given by someone of legal authority

Cartouche

cartridge or oval outlining of the names of pharaohs

Granite

coarse grained igneous rock

Decipher

to decode

Colossal

very large in size

Basalt

volcanic igneous rock

Papyrus

writing material made from a reed plant found along the Nile River