The Rosetta Stone

Cracking the code of the ancient Egyptians

The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the British Museum.

The Stone is a broken part of a bigger stone slab. It has a message carved into it, written in three types of writing (called scripts). It was an important clue that helped experts learn to read Egyptian hieroglyphs (a writing system that used pictures as signs).

It sounds like something out of a spy’s handbook – a code-cracking stone tablet that unlocks ancient Egyptian secrets! But that’s exactly what the Rosetta Stone is.

About the
Rosetta Stone

Found: Near the village of Rosetta, Egypt

Date: about 196 BC

Made of: Granite (a dark grey stone)

Find it at the Museum: Rm 4

Read all about it

The writing on the Stone is an official message, called a decree, about King Ptolemy the fifth (Ptolemy V). The decree was copied on to stones put in every temple in Egypt. It says that the priests of a temple in Memphis (in Egypt) supported the king. The Rosetta Stone is one of these copies.
All hail the king

This is part of a limestone statue of Ptolemy V. When it was made it had a wig made of dark stone stuck on top! Ptolemy V, who was only thirteen years old, had been king for a year when the Rosetta Stone was carved.
Follow the script

The Stone has the same message written three times in different scripts. At the top is ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic script, used by kings and priests. The middle writing is called ancient Egyptian demotic script, and it was used for everyday writing. The bottom writing is an ancient Greek script which was used for official information.
But how did they read it?

Experts trying to read the Egyptian language could already understand the ancient Greek script, so they could pick out certain words. They used these words to help read the rest of the message. The oval around the writing above is called a cartouche - it shows the name 'Ptolemy'. Only very important people had their names written in a cartouche.
Breaking and building

The Stone you see today would probably have been a bigger, longer shape to start with. When it was moved from the temple it had been put up in, the top section broke off. The broken Stone was used to build a military fort near a village called Rosetta. It stayed there until it was found by some French soldiers in 1799.
The Stone at the Museum

The Rosetta Stone was later handed over to Britain and given to King George III, who gave it to the British Museum. It has been on display at the Museum for more than 200 years. Sometimes the Stone is surrounded by so many people looking at it and taking photos that you can hardly see it!