Episode 150. For hundreds of years, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were a mystery. The ability to read them had been lost to time, and scholars wondered if their secrets would ever be revealed. In 1799, a stone was recovered the town of el Rashid, also known as Rosetta. This stone had three styles of text carved into its face: hieroglyphs, Demotic, and ancient Greek. With time, consistency, and perseverance, the symbols were finally translated; Egyptology finally became an area of official study.
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“Translation of the Rosetta Stone” from The Nile, Notes for Travellers in Egypt by E.A. Walis Budge (1905). 9th Edition, London, Thos. Cook and Son. pp 199-211.
https://sacred-texts.com/egy/trs/trs07.htm
“Everything you ever wanted to know about the Rosetta Stone” (Jul 14 2017, updated Dec 18 2025)
https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/everything-you-ever-wanted-know-about-rosetta-stone
“What Is the Rosetta Stone?” by Elizabeth Nix (Apr 1 2015, updated Mar 2 2025)
https://www.history.com/articles/what-is-the-rosetta-stone
“Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt” by Meilan Solly (Sept 27 2022)
“The Rosetta Stone” by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
https://smarthistory.org/the-rosetta-stone/
“The Rosetta Stone: Unlocking the Ancient Egyptian Language” by Roy Scalf
https://arce.org/resource/rosetta-stone-unlocking-ancient-egyptian-language/
“Ptolemy V Epiphanes”
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ptolemy-V-Epiphanes
“Thomas Young, The Last Man Who Knew Everything”
https://steven-shepard.com/2025/01/22/thomas-young-the-last-man-who-knew-everything/
“Jean-François Champollion (1790-1832)”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/champollion_jean.shtml
“Egyptian Campaign”
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/egyptian-campaign
Sound Credits:
Paper handling.wav by sethlind -- https://freesound.org/s/265020/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Running_wood.wav by taure -- https://freesound.org/s/363470/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Run & Fall - Wooden surface by Vrymaa -- https://freesound.org/s/810885/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Music by Tomomi Kato from Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-baroque-style-423524/
