The Rosetta Stone
of the most important by-products of the French invasion
of Egypt was the wealth
of knowledge gathered by the teams of scientists and historians
who journeyed with the army.
all the discoveries made, the most important was the Rosetta
Stone, the key that unlocked the ancient marvels of Egypt.
to the stone's discovery by Napoleon
Bonaparte's troops near the city of Rosetta on 20 August
1799, Egyptian writing - hieroglyphics - had been indecipherable.
1.5 metre high slab of dark stone was uncovered when soldiers
knocked down a wall of Fort St Julien.
reported the discovery and a member of the Cairo Institute,
Michel-Ange Lancret, immediately recognised its importance
and alerted the savants - the name given to intellectuals
accompanying Napoleon's expedition.
were taken of the stone's inscriptions -
two styles of hieroglyphics and one of ancient Greek - and
they were sent back to France for study.
the French surrendered Egypt to Britain in 1801, the victors
demanded that the Rosetta Stone be included in the treasures
surrendered. It was taken to the British Museum on board
the captured French frigate HMS l'Egyptienne.
French scholar, Jean Champollion, eventually translated
the key on the Rosetta Stone opening the ancient world to
modern eyes. It
took him 20 years.
vigorous campaigns to return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt,
it remains in the British Museum.