The Rosetta Stone remains a point of contention between Egypt and Britain more than two centuries since its discovery.
This week marks 227 years since the ancient artefact was found near the Egyptian city of Rashid by French forces during Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign in the country.
It was taken by Britain after the French surrendered in 1801 and has been displayed at the British Museum in London since 1802. An online campaign for its return is being led by former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass.
According to Egyptian newspaper Al Shorouk, a petition launched in 2022 has attracted about 350,000 signatures and Mr Hawass says he will begin an international campaign for the Rosetta Stone's return once it reaches its target of one million signatories.
The artefact's modern history has been widely disputed, even down to the date of its discovery. July 15 is commonly accepted as the anniversary, but Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities marks the event on July 19, the date cited in an early French report announcing the find.
Here is what else you need to know about the Rosetta Stone.
How the Rosetta Stone got its name
The Rosetta Stone is part of a larger granodiorite stele, an upright stone monument carrying writing or images, dating from 196 BC, during the reign of the Egyptian king Ptolemy V. What remains is just over 1.1 metres tall.
The English name Rosetta comes from the European rendering of the Egyptian city of Rashid, where it was found in 1799. In Arabic, the stone is called Hajar Rashid, meaning the Stone of Rashid.
What is written on the stone
A distinctive feature of the stone is that it is inscribed in two languages using three scripts.
The upper section uses Egyptian hieroglyphs, associated with temples, royal monuments and religious authority.
The middle section is written in Demotic, a cursive Egyptian script used for administration, trade, legal documents and everyday writing. Greek appears at the bottom and was the official language of the Ptolemaic court and much of the government.
The inscription running throughout the stone records a decree by Egyptian priests praising Ptolemy V, who was in his early teens at the time, for supporting Egyptian temples, lowering some taxes and standing firm against his enemies.
The writing is less a sacred text than a careful piece of political lobbying designed to reinforce the young king’s authority.
How scholars cracked the hieroglyphic code
Deciphering the full text was an arduous process, as knowledge of hieroglyphs faded with the decline and closure of Egyptian temples.
The Greek section of the Rosetta Stone provided the first inroad into the text, but the linguistic breakthrough came in 1822 through French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion.
Aided by his knowledge of Coptic, the latest historical stage of the Egyptian language, he made the connection between the ancient signs and Egyptian words and sounds.
The painstaking process later made the Rosetta Stone a metaphor in popular science for a puzzle or code that is difficult to solve.
Why the stone is displayed in London
The artefact passed into British hands after French forces were defeated by British and Ottoman troops in Alexandria in 1801.
The stone was handed over under the Treaty of Alexandria and arrived in Britain in 1802. It was presented to the British Museum in London in the name of King George III.
Further inscriptions were added, which read “captured in Egypt by the British Army in 1801” and “presented by King George III”.
Visitors can see the original free of charge at the British Museum while Rashid National Museum in Egypt displays a replica.
Giza or Rashid: Where does the stone belong in Egypt?
Mr Hawass’s campaign proposes that the stone be displayed at the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, among other significant objects from ancient Egypt. The Repatriate Rashid campaign argues that it belongs in the city whose name it carries.
While the stone remains in London the question of its ownership and possible return is far from settled.
