The Historical Significance of Rosetta Stone - Essay Example

________ ________ ID: _____________ "The Rosetta Stone" In 1799, a stone was discovered by the French and since its discovery was made at a small town on the Mediterranean Coast in Egypt, it was named as 'Rosetta stone' after the name of the town 'Rosetta'. The stone was discovered by Napoleon soldiers and was a part of the temple Stela, on the stone was carved three language scripts, Egyptian, hieroglyphic and demotic. Research reveals that the main purpose behind carving three scripts was that a common Egyptian could also understand the text. Created in 196 BC, this stone uphold some unique and ancient characteristics which tell us that it has some ancestry with pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Historical Significance: The Rosetta Stone contains a priestly decree in honour of Ptolemy V which was set up in a major temple. (Wilson, 2004, p. 31) It is said that European archaeology in Egypt began during the French expedition when French soldiers accidentally discovered the Rosetta Stone, however the greatest contribution to the stone was made by Jean-Francis Champollion who after twenty-three years of struggle and work out on studying hieroglyphs was able to uncover the secrets behind 'Rosetta stone' in 1822. Champollion was the one who is held responsible for opening the doors to modern Egyptology. According to Reid (2002) "The French expedition is solely responsible for finding Rosetta Stone as without their expedition there would have been no description of ancient Egypt. It is the stone who brought before us the decipherment of hieroglyphics, otherwise it would have been delayed and, until the decipherment, most pharaoh history would have remained missing. Therefore, the onus is on the stone who revealed modern Egypt and Egyptology". (Reid, 2002, p. 14) Political Significance: The French soldiers after discovering the Rosetta Stone while digging fortifications, left Egypt on the threshold of Anglo-French geopolitical rivalry. This situation fatally weakened the Mamluks (slave soldiers), thereby paving the way for Muhammad Ali. In this context the stone was responsible for a major change occurrence economically, politically and culturally through Muhammad Ali's reign. In archaeology, the French expedition and Muhammad Ali's reign ushered in a new era where the emphasis was given to decipher 'Rosetta Stone'. However the stone paved the way to the decipherment of hieroglyphics and the birth of modern Egyptology, and the Description advanced the documentation of pharaoh art, architecture, and topography. (Reid, 2002, p. 32) Most notably, the 1799 discovery of the Rosetta Stone, a trebly-inscribed stone fragment unearthed by his army during Napoleon's Egyptian campaigns, presented the general as the heroic person likely to unlock the mysteries of ancient Egypt by translating hieroglyphs. Linguistic Significance: Rosetta stone is actually the surviving fragment of granite is inscribed with the decree to guarantee lands and endowments to the temples of Egypt. What is carved on the stone is called the Ptolemaic decrees, written in praise of the then pharaoh. The written text on the Rosetta Stone revealed that the same text on the stone is written in three different languages: Greek (for the ruling administration of the day), Egyptian hieroglyphs (for the gods), and Egyptian Demotic (for a common man). The range of languages reflects the strata of Egyptian society at this time and the lines of communication. Even though the Rosetta Stone was handed over to the British as part of the spoils of the Napoleonic War, the texts had by then been copied and were later sent all over the world. The process of decipherment required several stages as each of the principles behind the script was discovered. With hindsight, it seems as if it were a step-by-step progression, but in fact often one person would have a good idea, but would continue to use other incorrect assumptions at the same time. So, the final triumph came from deciding which of the many permutations were correct, as in any kind of code-breaking. (Wilson, 2004, p. 87) Religious Significance: The discovery of the Rosetta Stone intensified speculation and doubts over the origins of writing as the ancient Egyptology believed in various legends associated with their Gods and Goddesses and this invention escorted researchers to think that the 'Rosetta Stone' had one way or the other been linked to their Gods. On the other hand this stone's invention also challenged this fact that it had been invented by the Egyptian King Osiris. This confusion raised many possibilities and doubts in the minds of the researchers among which eighteenth-century scholar James Bruce was the one to believe that the first alphabet on the stone was Ethiopic. This also gave rise to racial controversies. A common question in the minds was that whether the Egyptians were Caucasian or Negroid. (Rudoff, 2000) In early nineteenth century, Champollion broke the code of hieroglyphics. This is also demonstrated by John Irwin in American Hieroglyphics. Linguistically, it developed the sense from symbolic to phonetic language, later the stone's written text challenged the biblical account of Adamic naming. Some where in between the Bible and the Ten Commandments, the Rosetta Stone certainly challenged the validity of the biblical account. According to Rudoff, "In his discussion of 'The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym' Irwin links the linguistic play at the end of the story and the racial implications of nineteenth-century Egyptology. Egyptology, tended to be interested in two essential questions: the development of language, and the development of different races. Hieroglyphics had become entangled with biblical chronology and the story of human origins". (Rudoff, 2000) The racial concept: Rosetta Stone became the basis for a 'slavery debate' in America, where Egyptology expertise asked questions and debates about both the credibility of divine authorship and the origins and equality of races. (Rudoff, 2000) The originality of the Bible and the Ten Commandments was challenged by the ancient writings of the stone. The most crucial moment was when nineteenth century Egyptology criticised Bible's sayings and authority. In such circumstances the question of the divinity for racial discrimination and slavery was given no importance as compared to the Bible's authority. Capturing 'Rosetta Stone': In 1801, the stone was surrendered by France to England as part of their defeat but by 1817, at the time of the Manuscript's publication, Britain was in the throws of its own post-Napoleonic exultation in their captured symbol of cultural status. As Robert Southey noted, "Everything now must be Egyptian". (Fang, 2004) Britain's seizure of the Rosetta Stone touched off a century and more of Anglo-French Egyptological rivalry. In 1801, British ambassador William Hamilton landed in Egypt to help out the French and foiled a French attempt to smuggle the stone out of Egypt and later made an investigation up the Nile. Hamilton provided a transcript and translation of the Greek text of the Rosetta Stone and later helped Elgin in acquiring the marbles of the Parthenon, which Elgin finally sold to the British Museum at a loss to both his reputation and his purse. (Reid, 2002, p. 37) The British acquired the Rosetta Stone, but it took a Frenchman to translate the stone! Britain's confiscation of the Rosetta Stone, got the Egyptian collection off to a slow start. Reid (2002) writes, "According to Al-Tahtawi, the Rosetta stone decipherment tell us that, Egypt flourished under the first two Ptolemies, where histories were written, translation was done by Jews from Torah into Greek, the Nile-Red Sea canal was reopened, and the lighthouse, museum, and library of Alexandria were founded. (Reid, 2002, p. 147) Work Cited Fang Karen, (2004) "A Printing Devil, a Scottish Mummy, and an Edinburgh Book of the Dead: James Hogg's Napoleonic Complex" In: Studies in Romanticism. Volume: 43. Issue: 2. p: 161 Reid Donald Malcolm, (2002) "Whose Pharaohs Archaeology, Museums and Egyptian National Identity from Napoleon to World War I": University of California Press: Berkeley, CA. Rudoff Shaindy, (2000) "Written in Stone: Slavery and Authority in the Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" In: ATQ. Volume: 14. Issue: 1. p 61. Wilson Penelope, (2004) "Hieroglyphs: A Very Short Introduction": Oxford University Press: Oxford, England. Read More