Museum Marks Rosetta Stone's Role in Understanding Hieroglyphs
2022-10-13
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1The Rosetta Stone is the star of a new show opening Thursday at the British Museum in London.
2The exhibition opening marks the 200th year since the mystery around the ancient carvings on the stone was solved.
3The British Museum is under increasing pressure to give the stone back to Egypt.
4Thousands of archeologists and supporters there again demanded its return just last week.
5French troops found the stone in the walls of an Egyptian fort in 1799, near Rosetta, a town about 55 kilometers from Alexandria.
6They gave it to British forces as part of a surrender agreement.
7The British Museum has held it since 1802.
8The stone dates back about 2,400 years.
9It contains the same writing in three languages: hieroglyphs, an ancient Egyptian language called Demotic and ancient Greek.
10When it was discovered, nobody knew how to read hieroglyphs.
11Thomas Young of Britain and then Jean-Francois Champollion of France decoded their meaning in 1822.
12They found that the writing came from clergy to mark the reign of the Egyptian king Ptolemy V.
13More importantly, the writing on the stone was an important clue that helped experts learned to read Egyptian hieroglyphs, a writing system that used pictures and symbols.
14"We decided because the Rosetta Stone was such an important key to that decipherment that we will do this properly: with an exhibition that also features our star objects," said Ilona Regulski, head of Egyptian written culture at the museum.
15"It's a wonderful moment to celebrate," she added.
16Yet the exhibition is under dispute.
17Egyptian archaeologist and former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass recently called for the return of the stone and other foreign-held treasures he called "stolen."
18The British Museum told AFP that Egypt has never made an official request for the Rosetta Stone's return.
19Regulski called the stone a "universal object" and said "it doesn't really matter where it is, as long as it's available to people."
20The exhibition Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt will run through February 19 of next year.
21It explores how hieroglyphs disappeared after Egyptians developed other forms of writing.
22Museum director Hartwig Fischer said, "For the first time in 3,000 years Ancient Egyptians spoke directly to us."
23I'm Caty Weaver.
1The Rosetta Stone is the star of a new show opening Thursday at the British Museum in London. The exhibition opening marks the 200th year since the mystery around the ancient carvings on the stone was solved. 2The British Museum is under increasing pressure to give the stone back to Egypt. Thousands of archeologists and supporters there again demanded its return just last week. 3French troops found the stone in the walls of an Egyptian fort in 1799, near Rosetta, a town about 55 kilometers from Alexandria. They gave it to British forces as part of a surrender agreement. The British Museum has held it since 1802. 4The stone dates back about 2,400 years. It contains the same writing in three languages: hieroglyphs, an ancient Egyptian language called Demotic and ancient Greek. 5When it was discovered, nobody knew how to read hieroglyphs. 6Thomas Young of Britain and then Jean-Francois Champollion of France decoded their meaning in 1822. They found that the writing came from clergy to mark the reign of the Egyptian king Ptolemy V. 7More importantly, the writing on the stone was an important clue that helped experts learned to read Egyptian hieroglyphs, a writing system that used pictures and symbols. 8"We decided because the Rosetta Stone was such an important key to that decipherment that we will do this properly: with an exhibition that also features our star objects," said Ilona Regulski, head of Egyptian written culture at the museum. "It's a wonderful moment to celebrate," she added. 9Yet the exhibition is under dispute. 10Egyptian archaeologist and former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass recently called for the return of the stone and other foreign-held treasures he called "stolen." 11The British Museum told AFP that Egypt has never made an official request for the Rosetta Stone's return. Regulski called the stone a "universal object" and said "it doesn't really matter where it is, as long as it's available to people." 12The exhibition Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt will run through February 19 of next year. It explores how hieroglyphs disappeared after Egyptians developed other forms of writing. 13Museum director Hartwig Fischer said, "For the first time in 3,000 years Ancient Egyptians spoke directly to us." 14I'm Caty Weaver. 15Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on reporting from Agence France-Presse and British Museum. 16____________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18decode - v. to understand the true or hidden meaning 19reign - n. the period of time during which a king, queen, etc... is the ruler 20decipherment - n. act of finding hidden or true meaning 21properly - adv. in a way that is acceptable