Whether a civilization has ever existed is not how many fables it has left behind, but whether it has truly produced words.
The reason why human beings are obsessed with history is not to try to find a shortcut to fame and fortune from history. Instead, I hope to be able to see clearly the path I have traveled over thousands of years. Unveiling those unknown years, we look to our future. Taking history as a mirror can know the rise and fall, and using history as a mirror can know the truth.
On the streets of London, England, there is a famous building that is more than 250 years old, which is the world-famous British Museum. Here, the blonde-haired and blue-eyed British are proud of it, while the Four Great Civilizations are ashamed of it.
Because many of its collections were plundered by war and displayed to the world in a dignified manner. The most representative of these are the Female Chronicles from China and the Rosetta Stone from Egypt.
If chinese people have the opportunity to go to Europe, they must take some of their leisure time and go to the British Museum to see. You may not have to walk through all the corners of it, but be sure to go to the Chinese Pavilion.
Look at the national treasures that have been lost overseas, think about the humiliating years, let us always remember the lessons of backwardness, and of course, we must also look at this Rosetta Stone with the "ancestor of cryptography".
For Chinese, stone tablets are nothing new. In any city in the country, or any scenic spot, you can always find the ancient literati inkers, or the ink stains left by the emperors.
In particular, the forest of steles located in Xi'an is even more towering, and the characters are vigorous and powerful. However, throughout these thousands of years, stone tablets carved in three languages like the Rosetta Stone Are rare in the world, and I dare not say that they are unique, which is also rare.
The Rosetta Stone is only 1.2 meters high and less than 75 centimeters wide, making it less conspicuous in terms of material. But the different fonts on it are enough to amaze the world. Because the appearance of this stone stele not only unveiled the mystery of ancient Egyptian writing, but also had the opportunity for future generations to interpret ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
At the very top of the Rosetta Stone is a passage written in 14 lines of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, while in the middle part is the Egyptian secular form known as the Egyptian script. At the very bottom of the stele is written in Greek, which is fully known to researchers today.
It is the appearance of this stone stele that allows scientists and historians to find the key to open the ancient Egyptian civilization at once, and through the few words on this stele, people interpret more about the culture of ancient Egypt.
This may have been an inadvertent act of worshipping the great gods at that time, but it pointed out a clear path for later generations to learn more about the past of ancient Egypt by its guidance.
This three-way writing form allows the world to open up layers of mysteries through the most easily recognizable Greek, like peeling back the cocoon, as if through a code, unlocking a lock that has been plaguing people.
It is very much like the "cryptography" studied by contemporary scientists. Therefore, many scholars call it the "ancestor of cryptography".
Writing is a symbol of civilization, through which the context of the history of the development of a nation can be understood. The reason why Chinese culture has a long history is that Chinese characters have made great contributions.
From oracle bones to lishu, seal book, letter letter, line book. After thousands of years of development, although it is no longer the original appearance, but through their shadows, it is always easier for us to understand the stories of the past. Other civilizations are different, one civilization is destroyed, and words dissipate like smoke and dust.
At the end of the 18th century, Napoleon's army moved south down the Nile River, in the small town of Rosetta. A captain was on a mission when he stumbled upon a black stone.
At first he didn't care, but when he saw a vaguely textual depiction, the captain recognized the importance of the stone and gave it to his superiors.
The Rosetta Stone is named after the place where it was found. The captain's superiors transported the black stone to the French research institute in Cairo at the time. The scientists at the site then began their research. When scientists saw this stone, they were ecstatic, as if they had been blessed with a treasure.
However, the Rosetta Stone did not linger in the hands of the French for long. A year later, Napoleon's army was defeated by the British, and Egypt became a British colony. The British "rightfully" took over the supplies in the hands of the French and became the spoils of war for the British.
How could the French give up to such a stone that had not yet been unlocked, having tried to bring it back to France. However, this stone did not escape the fate of being changed hands after all, or was plundered by the British.
When the Rosetta Stone was shipped to England, it was immediately arranged in the British Museum and became a trophy for the British. For more than two hundred years, he never left here.
Egyptian scientists had demanded that the British government return the artifacts that belonged to them and return the Rosetta Stone to its original home, but the British eventually refused.
When the Rosetta Stone first appeared, French scientists tried to interpret it. The Greek at the bottom of the stele is the only text that modern scientists can read. Scientists compared the Greek language and made a more detailed interpretation of the above secular text, and finally found that the two articles were written in different words and wrote the same article.
After more careful study, the scientists found that the Egyptian hieroglyphs at the top of the stele should have the same meaning as the latter two scripts. When such research results were published, it immediately aroused the interest of Egyptian hieroglyph researchers around the world and inspired everyone.
In the 4th century AD, the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt completely withdrew from the stage of history and became a script that no one knew. And in these texts, the story of ancient Egypt depicted has become a puzzle that haunts the world of science.
When the Rosetta Stone reappears, it all seems to be solved, and one can understand the meaning of each hieroglyph against the Greek language, thus opening up the world of ancient Egypt.
After research and interpretation, the Rosetta Stone records the anniversary of the enthronement of a 13-year-old king of the ancient Egyptian dynasty around the 2nd century BC. This is an edict issued by the king, just like the holy will of the ancient Chinese emperors carved on stone tablets. Except that the edict was written by the priests of the time.
After sleeping underground for two thousand years, the Rosetta Stone has finally returned to the eyes of the world, and it has also told us the story it has engraved.
And the value of this stone lies not in the story itself, but in its influence on ancient Egyptian scholars at present, and it is its appearance that can uncover untold stories.
This may be the charm of words, but also the value given by words. Only when these values are fully reflected will the significance of writing for a nation and a civilization be recognized.