Ancient Hieroglyphics and the Rosetta Stone

1. Ancient Hieroglyphics and the Rosetta Stone Hannah Feldman, Karl Fries, & Danielle Mercado

2. Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics • Hieroglyphics stems from the Greek word hieroglyphica, which means “sacred carvings” • Over 2,000 characters • alphabetic, logographic, and ideographic elements • Originated due to the artistic traditions of the preliterate Egyptians

3. Hieroglyphics • Demotic • Popular script • Could be read off tablets by educated citizens • Hieratic • Sacred script • Used on temple walls

4. Who Used Hieroglyphics? • Priests • Used cursive hieroglyphics (Hieratic script) to record religious literature • Scribes of the government • More simple and basic; easier to understand • Used Demotic script

5. When Were Hieroglyphics In Use? • Earliest known hieroglyphic writing was discovered to be from the 3000 B.C. • Used up until the 4th Century A.D. • Christians banned its use • Ancient hieroglyphic script was replaced with Coptic • The ability to read both demotic and hieratic hieroglyphics vanished

6. Breaking the Hieroglyphics • Decryption was hindered by the assumption that phonetic characters were not used • People believed that hieroglyphics were semagrams

7. Hieroglyphic Alphabet

8. Important People • German Jesuit priest Athanasius Kircher • Napoleon • Thomas Young • Jean-Francois Champollion

9. The Rosetta Stone • Found in 1799 in the town of Rosetta in the Nile Delta • Was inscribed with three separate texts, saying the same thing • Greek • Demotic • Hieratic

10. The Rosetta Stone, cont’d • Ended up with the British due to the Treaty of Capitulation • Described as granodiorite • Measurements • 45 inches high • 28 ½ inches wide • 11 inches thick

11. The Rosetta Stone, cont’d • Carved in 196 B.C. • Deciphered fully in 1822 by Champollion • Exhibited in the British Museum since 1802 • July 2003, Egyptians demanded the return of the Stone

12. Example