Rosetta Stone

E97972

ancient Egyptian artifact archaeological find granodiorite stele inscribed stele multilingual inscription

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

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Rosetta Stone display	1
Rosetta Stone inscription	1

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 NERFINISHED ⓘ
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, England ⓘ surface form: London
material	granodiorite ⓘ
museumCollection	Department of Egypt and Sudan, British Museum ⓘ
period	Ptolemaic Kingdom ⓘ surface form: Ptolemaic period
purpose	to publish a royal decree ⓘ
reign	Ptolemy V Epiphanes NERFINISHED ⓘ
relatedField	Egyptology ⓘ epigraphy ⓘ linguistics ⓘ
scriptOrderTopToBottom	Demotic script ⓘ surface form: Demotic 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 NERFINISHED ⓘ
weight	about 760 kg ⓘ
width	about 72 cm ⓘ
writingSystem	Ancient Greek ⓘ Demotic script ⓘ surface form: Egyptian Demotic Egyptian hieroglyphs ⓘ

Referenced by (8)

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

Ancient Egyptian → decipheredWith → Rosetta Stone ⓘ

Egyptian hieroglyphs → deciphermentAid → Rosetta Stone ⓘ

Egyptology → hasImportantDiscovery → Rosetta Stone ⓘ

British Museum → hasPart → Rosetta Stone ⓘ

this entity surface form: Rosetta Stone display

Rosetta mission → namedAfter → Rosetta Stone ⓘ

Ptolemaic Kingdom → notableArtifact → Rosetta Stone ⓘ

Ancient Egyptian → notableText → Rosetta Stone ⓘ

this entity surface form: Rosetta Stone inscription

British Museum → notableWork → Rosetta Stone ⓘ