July
19
Happy Birthday Rosetta Stone
Posted In: History Geek by Andy at 5:37 pm
On this day in 1799, French troops in Egypt uncovered the Rosetta stone while digging the foundations of an addition to a fort near the town of el-Rashid (Rosetta).
The Rosetta Stone is a basalt slab inscribed with three ancient languages that allowed researchers over 20 years later to translate the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt.
The text on the stone was simply a decree by Ptolemy V.
