Napoleon and the Discovery of the Rosetta Stone

Napoleon Bonaparte played a significant role in the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, one of the most important artefacts in the history of archaeology and linguistics.

In 1798, Napoleon led a French military expedition to Egypt, with the aim of establishing French influence in the region and disrupting British trade routes to India. As part of this expedition, Napoleon brought along a team of scientists and scholars to study the culture and history of ancient Egypt.

One of the most significant discoveries made by the French expedition was the Rosetta Stone, which was uncovered in July 1799 by a French soldier named Pierre-Francois Bouchard. The stone, which is inscribed with three different scripts - Greek, hieroglyphics, and demotic - was immediately recognized as a key to unlocking the mysteries of ancient Egyptian writing.

The French scholars who accompanied Napoleon on his expedition quickly began studying the Rosetta Stone, in an effort to decipher the hieroglyphic script. Among these scholars was Jean-Francois Champollion, a young French linguist who would later become famous for his work on Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Champollion and his colleagues worked for years to decipher the hieroglyphic script, using the Greek and demotic texts on the Rosetta Stone as a guide. Their efforts eventually paid off, and in 1822 Champollion announced that he had successfully deciphered the hieroglyphic script, unlocking the secrets of one of the world's oldest and most enigmatic writing systems.

The discovery of the Rosetta Stone and the subsequent deciphering of hieroglyphics had a profound impact on the fields of archaeology and linguistics, helping to shed new light on the culture and history of ancient Egypt. It also served as a testament to the intellectual curiosity and scientific rigour of the scholars who accompanied Napoleon on his expedition, and their dedication to uncovering the mysteries of the past.

Find out more with my Champollion eBook

To get your copy of Julia Herdman's eBook Champollion go to:
or

Topics covered in this video include:

The sequence of events that affected the discovery of the Rosetta stone.
What secret was revealed with the discovery of the Rosetta stone?
Why was the discovery of the Rosetta stone so historically important?
Which nation was responsible for the discovery of the Rosetta stone?
The events that affected the discovery of the Rosetta stone.
What was so significant about the discovery of the Rosetta stone around 1799?
Why was the discovery of the Rosetta stone so important in understanding Egyptian culture?

This film features illustrations from the first encyclopaedia of ancient Egypt published in 1809.

For more about Champollion and the Rosetta Stone see:

Follow us on: