The Rosetta Stone stands as a potent symbol, embodying different meanings for diverse individuals. This dark-colored granodiorite stele, inscribed with the same text in three scripts – Demotic, hieroglyphic, and Greek – holds the key to our understanding of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. But Where Is The Rosetta Stone today? This iconic artifact is housed in the British Museum in London, a testament to its long and fascinating journey through history.
The British Museum: Home to the Rosetta Stone
If you’re looking to see the Rosetta Stone in person, you’ll need to travel to London, England. More specifically, it resides within the walls of the British Museum, one of the world’s leading museums. You can find it in Room 4 (formerly Room 25, then Room G25) of the museum’s Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan. This prominent location ensures that millions of visitors each year can marvel at this pivotal piece of history.
The Rosetta Stone is not just displayed; it is a centerpiece. Its presence in the British Museum is a direct result of historical events dating back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period marked by intense colonial rivalry between France and England. Understanding how it arrived in London requires delving into its discovery and the circumstances surrounding its acquisition by the British.
Unearthing the Stone: Discovery in Rosetta, Egypt
The story of the Rosetta Stone’s journey to London begins in Egypt, during Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign in 1799. French soldiers, engaged in constructing fortifications in the city of Rosetta (now el-Rashid), a port city situated on the Nile Delta near the Mediterranean coast east of Alexandria, stumbled upon a significant find. Officer Pierre François Xavier Bouchard (1772–1832) recognized the importance of the fragmented stone slab, noting the presence of three distinct scripts, including Greek and hieroglyphic.
Bouchard’s insight was crucial. He correctly hypothesized that these scripts were different versions of the same text. This intuition was later confirmed by the Greek inscription itself, which stated that the decree should be inscribed in “sacred (hieroglyphic), native (Demotic), and Greek characters.” Thus, the stone was named “La Pierre de Rosette” in French, and subsequently, the Rosetta Stone in English, after the Egyptian city where it was unearthed.
From Battlefield to Museum: A Legacy of Empires
The Rosetta Stone’s discovery occurred during a period of intense geopolitical struggle. Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 was a bold move to challenge British dominance in the region. However, French forces were eventually defeated by a combined British and Ottoman army in 1801. As part of the Treaty of Alexandria in 1801, the Rosetta Stone, along with other antiquities discovered by the French, was ceded to the British.
In 1802, the Rosetta Stone was accessioned into the British Museum under the registration number BM EA 24, and it has remained on public display almost continuously ever since. The historical context of its acquisition is important. The stone itself bears inscriptions declaring “captured in Egypt by the British army 1801” and “presented by king George III,” serving as a tangible reminder of the imperial ambitions of both France and England during that era.
For Egyptians, the Rosetta Stone represents a complex symbol of their cultural heritage and a period of colonial exploitation. The stone’s “export” is viewed by some as a colonial “theft,” fueling ongoing calls for its repatriation to Egypt. However, for the British, and for the British Museum, it remains a significant artifact within their collection, representing a pivotal moment in both history and the understanding of ancient civilizations.
Unlocking the Secrets of Hieroglyphs: The Decipherment Frenzy
Beyond its political and symbolic weight, the Rosetta Stone’s true significance lies in its role in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. For centuries, the ancient Egyptian writing system had remained a mystery. Scholars could see the beautiful pictorial characters, but their meaning was lost. The Rosetta Stone, with its trilingual inscription, provided the key to unlocking this lost language.
Initially, scholars focused on the Demotic script, the Egyptian script that was most intact on the stone. French philologist Antoine Isaac Silvestre de Sacy (1758–1838) and his Swedish student Johan David Åkerblad (1763–1819) made initial progress, identifying phonetic values for some Demotic signs and recognizing personal names. Their approach involved comparing the names of kings and queens mentioned in the Greek text with corresponding characters in the Egyptian scripts.
The Race to Decipher: Young and Champollion
These early efforts paved the way for the intense rivalry between Thomas Young (1773–1829) and Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832). Both were brilliant minds dedicated to unraveling the secrets of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Young, despite being older and making significant contributions to both the Demotic and hieroglyphic scripts, was ultimately overtaken by Champollion’s groundbreaking work.
Champollion, who had devoted his life to the study of ancient Egypt and mastered Coptic (a direct descendant of ancient Egyptian), made the crucial breakthrough. He confirmed that Egyptian hieroglyphs were not purely symbolic but also represented phonetic sounds. Utilizing his knowledge of Coptic, Champollion correctly deciphered the hieroglyphic spelling of “to give birth” (ms, Coptic ⲙⲓⲥⲉ).
This moment of realization was legendary. According to his nephew’s account, Champollion, overwhelmed by his discovery, burst into his brother’s office exclaiming “Je tiens mon affaire!” (“I’ve got it!”) and then fainted, remaining unconscious for nearly a week. Champollion’s achievement marked a monumental leap in Egyptology, establishing him as the “father” of the field and cementing the Rosetta Stone’s place in history as the key to understanding ancient Egypt.
The Memphis Decree: Context and Content
With Champollion’s decipherment, scholars could fully understand the text on the Rosetta Stone in all three scripts. It turned out to be a decree issued by a synod of priests in Memphis on March 27, 196 BCE, during the reign of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The decree celebrated the first anniversary of Ptolemy V’s coronation in Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, even though Alexandria had become the economic center.
This decree, known as the Memphis Decree, was part of a series of similar pronouncements from the Ptolemaic period, called sacerdotal decrees. These decrees were imperial pronouncements aimed at solidifying the Ptolemaic dynasty’s authority through negotiation and cooperation with the powerful Egyptian priesthood.
The historical context of the Memphis Decree is crucial. Ptolemy V was a young king, only 13 years old when the decree was issued. He had inherited a kingdom facing internal unrest and rebellion following the reign of his father, Ptolemy IV. The decree on the Rosetta Stone portrays Ptolemy V as a benevolent ruler who would restore temple finances, increase priestly income, reduce taxes, grant amnesty to prisoners, and support animal cults. In return, the priests were to promote the royal cult, erecting statues of “Ptolemy, protector of Egypt” in temples and celebrating the king’s birth and accession days.
This exchange highlights the complex power dynamics of the Ptolemaic era, where the Greek rulers sought to legitimize their rule by engaging with and appeasing the Egyptian religious establishment. The Rosetta Stone, therefore, is not just a key to language, but also a window into the political and social landscape of ancient Egypt under Ptolemaic rule.
A Lasting Legacy
Today, the Rosetta Stone continues to captivate and inspire. Its presence in the British Museum draws visitors from around the globe, eager to witness this artifact that unlocked the mysteries of ancient Egypt. Beyond its physical location, the term “Rosetta Stone” has become a metaphor for anything that provides a crucial key to understanding complex or previously indecipherable information. From language learning software to scientific breakthroughs, the legacy of the Rosetta Stone extends far beyond the walls of the British Museum, firmly embedded in our modern lexicon and understanding of history.
Recommended Reading
Carol Andrews. The Rosetta Stone. London: British Museum, 1981.
Richard Parkinson. Cracking Codes: The Rosetta Stone and Decipherment. London: British Museum, 1999.
Richard Parkinson. The Rosetta Stone. London: British Museum, 2005.
Stefan Pfeiffer. “Das Dekret von Rosette. Die ägyptischen Priester und der Herrsherkult.” In Alexandreia und das ptolemäische Ägypten: Kulturbegegnungen in hellenistischer Zeit, edited by Gregor Weber, pp. 84–108. Berlin: Verlag Antike.
Stephen Quirke and Carol Andrews. The Rosetta Stone. London: British Museum, 1988.
John Ray. The Rosetta Stone and the Rebirth of Ancient Egypt. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Andrew Robinson. Cracking the Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life of Jean-François Champollion. London: Thames & Hudson, 2012.
