Rosetta Stone

E97972

The Rosetta Stone is an ancient granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree in three scripts that provided the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient Egyptian artifact
archaeological find
granodiorite stele
inscribed stele
multilingual inscription
catalogCode EA 24
condition fragmentary
countryOfOrigin Egypt
culturalHeritageStatus iconic symbol of Egyptology
currentLocation British Museum
dateOfCreation 196 BC
decipheredBy Jean-François Champollion
Thomas Young
decreeIssuedBy Ptolemy V Epiphanes
discoveredBy French soldiers
Pierre-François Bouchard
discoveredIn 1799
discoveryLocation near Rashid (Rosetta), Egypt
enteredCollection British Museum in 1802
height about 114 cm
inscriptionType decree
inspiredTerm “Rosetta Stone” as metaphor for key to understanding
language Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Greek
locatedIn London
linked to: London, England
material granodiorite
museumCollection Department of Egypt and Sudan, British Museum
period Ptolemaic period
linked to: Ptolemaic Kingdom
purpose to publish a royal decree
reign Ptolemy V Epiphanes
relatedField Egyptology
epigraphy
linguistics
scriptOrderTopToBottom Demotic
linked to: Demotic script

Greek
hieroglyphic
side inscribed on one face
significance enabled understanding of ancient Egyptian language
key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs
thickness about 28 cm
topPart missing
transportedAfter Capitulation of Alexandria (1801)
transportedTo Britain
linked to: Great Britain
weight about 760 kg
width about 72 cm
writingSystem Ancient Greek
Egyptian Demotic
linked to: Demotic script

Egyptian hieroglyphs

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (19)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ptolemaic Kingdom notableArtifact Rosetta Stone
British Museum hasPart Rosetta Stone display
linked to: Rosetta Stone
British Museum notableWork Rosetta Stone
Egyptian hieroglyphs deciphermentAid Rosetta Stone
Egyptology hasImportantDiscovery Rosetta Stone
Rosetta mission namedAfter Rosetta Stone
Ancient Egyptian notableText Rosetta Stone inscription
linked to: Rosetta Stone
Ancient Egyptian decipheredWith Rosetta Stone
Demotic script appearsOn Rosetta Stone
Ptolemy V Epiphanes decreeRecordedOn Rosetta Stone
Dr. Seuss pseudonym Rosetta Stone
Rosetta knownFor Rosetta Stone
Rosetta discoverySiteOf Rosetta Stone
Egyptian antiquities notableExample Rosetta Stone
Decree of Canopus relatedTo Rosetta Stone
Rosetta namedAfter Rosetta Stone
Philae obelisk similarTo Rosetta Stone