The Rosetta Stone

ancient Egypt · languages · mysteries solved

A Granite Slab. The Rosetta Stone is a large chunk of dark stone called granodiorite, carved with writing on it over 2,000 years ago in ancient Egypt.

Three Languages. The same message is written three times on the stone: in hieroglyphics (fancy picture-writing), in Demotic (everyday Egyptian writing), and in Ancient Greek.

Made for a Pharaoh. The stone was carved to announce a law about the young king Ptolemy V Epiphanes in 196 BC, during a time when Egypt had Greek rulers called the Ptolemies.

The Decoder Key. Because experts already knew Ancient Greek, they could read that version and figure out what the hieroglyphics meant, solving a 2,000-year-old puzzle.

Found and Famous. The stone was discovered in Egypt in 1799 and is now one of the world's most valuable historical treasures, kept safe in the British Museum.