Probably one of the most popular exhibits in the British Museum, the Rosetta Stone was unearthed in the Egyptian town of Rashid. What is the charm of such a seemingly unremarkable stone stele that has fascinated countless scholars?
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Before we talk about the Rosetta Stone, it is necessary to talk about the legacy of Alexander's crusade, the Ptolemaic Hellenistic kingdom that ruled Egypt. Alexander the Great, the "conqueror of the world", began his world-famous crusade in 334 BC, and in just 10 years, he established a vast empire that stretched from Greece in the west to the Indus Valley in the east, spanning three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. However, the empire did not last long, and with Alexander's untimely death, the empire fell apart and split into three Hellenistic kingdoms— Macedonia, Ptolemaic, and Seleucid. The protagonist of our next story is the Ptolemaic kingdom.
Alexander the "Conqueror of the World"
The Ptolemaic kingdom was established in Egypt by Ptolemaic I in 305 BC, and the dynasty lasted until 30 BC. The Ptolemaic kingdom that ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries was not only the longest-lasting dynasty in ancient Egyptian history, but also the last. Ptolemy was originally one of Alexander the Great's most trusted generals, with Alexander's southern conquest of the northern war, when Alexander's death, Several of Alexander's generals for power broke out in a succession war, the final result was that Alexander's legacy of the empire was dismembered, and Ptolemaic gained the right to rule the Egyptian region and declared himself a pharaoh, and the city of Alexandria became the center of the kingdom. After several Syrian wars with the Seleucid Kingdom, the Ptolemaic Kingdom expanded its territory to include eastern Libya, the Sinai Peninsula, and northern Nubia.
The Ptolemaic kingdom was always the richest and most powerful of the three Hellenistic kingdoms, and the Egyptian region was historically a region of fertile soil suitable for agricultural production. The Ptolemaic kingdom was not only economically prosperous, but also culturally prosperous, as can be seen in its capital, Alexandria. Not only did Alexandria become one of the most prosperous port cities in the ancient world due to its excellent geographical location, but Alexandria was also an important city of Greek culture, and the Great Library of Alexandria contained a large collection of books and manuscripts.
Today Alexandria
In order to legitimize their rule and gain the approval of the local Egyptians, the rulers of the Ptolemaic kingdom adopted the title of pharaoh and dressed in Egyptian costumes, carving themselves on monuments; in addition to this, the rulers strictly maintained their Greek characteristics and traditions. The kingdom had a complex government apparatus that used the country's vast economic resources for the benefit of the Greek ruling class. The Greek ruling class controlled military, political, and economic affairs and was rarely integrated into Egyptian society and culture. The local Egyptians maintained power only over local and religious institutions, and were able to gain power in the bureaucracy only if they accepted Hellenization. However, from Ptolemaic II onwards, the Ptolemaic family began to accept Egyptian customs, such as marriage between brothers and sisters, participation in egyptian religious life, etc. This policy can be said to have effectively helped the Ptolemaic rulers to maintain their rule. However, dynastic conflicts and a series of foreign wars weakened the kingdom, and under cleopatra VII, Cleopatra, Cleopatra, Egypt fell into a Roman civil war and was eventually conquered by Rome.
Cleopatra in film and television
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > second and fourth scripts</h1>
If you look at the Rosetta Stone, you may know that on the front of this stele is inscribed three scripts, namely the official Ancient Greek language and two forms of Ancient Egypt— the popular script used by the ancient Egyptians and the hieroglyphs used by the ancient Egyptian priests. The simultaneous appearance of these three languages is a product of the history of the Ptolemaic dynasty, as a Hellenistic state, its upper rulers are foreign Greeks, while the lower masses and clergy are native Egyptians, so the Rosetta Stone, as an edict issued by the rulers to the whole kingdom, of course, must be engraved in three languages for the whole country to read.
However, what is often overlooked is that there is a fourth script on the side of the stele , English. So why does a Stone Stele of Egypt, which was born more than 2,000 years ago, appear in the language of a European country that is far away from mountains and rivers?
The answer is to look through history.
In 1798, Napoleon led a French expedition to Egypt with the aim of controlling Egypt and thus severing british ties with the Indian colonies. During this period, the French army accidentally excavated the Rosetta Stone, and the scholars accompanying the army immediately realized that it was a very precious cultural relic, so the Rosetta Stone became a precious trophy of the French expedition to Egypt, but the treasure was never transported back to Paris. At the Battle of the Nile, the French fleet was defeated by the British fleet, and the French Expeditionary Force was trapped in Egypt, which coincided with the turmoil in France's domestic political situation, and Napoleon left his army to return to France to launch the Moon and Foggy Moon Coup, thus seizing supreme power.
Napoleon's expedition to Egypt
However, the French troops who remained in Egypt were not so lucky, and they eventually could not hold out, so they surrendered to the British in 1801, and the Rosetta Stone fell into the hands of the British. The British wrote the words "1801, British troops were captured in Egypt" on the side of the stele to commemorate it. It can be seen that every text on the stele contains a story of ups and downs: from Alexander's crusade to the British and French hegemony, in this 2,000 years, the empire has risen and fallen, and only this stone stele is still standing.
British Naval Commander Nelson
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > third, decipher the stele</h1>
Immediately after the stele was brought to the British Museum, it was put on public display, and scholars from all over the world flocked to it in the hope of unlocking the secrets of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, who regarded the Greek language on the stele as the key to deciphering. The first to make a breakthrough was the British scholar Thomas Young, who found that the recurring hieroglyphs on the stele corresponded to the pronunciation of "Ptolemaic", so that the deciphering work made great progress.
On the basis of Thomas, the French scholar Chambollion further discovered that hieroglyphs are both phonetic and ideographic, and with this discovery, he completed all the deciphering work in 1822, and the secrets of ancient Egypt were revealed to the world.
Champollion
So what is written on this stele? The stele was promulgated by Ptolemy V, who became the ruler of Egypt at the age of 5, when his parents died, and as a young king, his position was not stable, and many rebellions broke out in the country, so he had to rely on the strength of the clergy to maintain his rule. It was in this context that the Rosetta Stone was promulgated, declaring Ptolemy to be an Egyptian pharaoh and an agent of God on earth, but there were many terms on the tablet that favored the priestly class, such as the priests not having to go to Alexandria every year. This undoubtedly proves that the royal family had to make many concessions to the priests in order to consolidate its rule.
Ancient Egyptian religion
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > Wen Shijun said</h1>
The text on rosetta's stone itself, though tedious, contains wonderful stories: the face of Egypt in the Hellenistic era, the game and compromise between kings and priests, the history of The Anglo-French struggle for supremacy, and the interesting stories of scholars deciphering ancient Egyptian scripts. But the most lamentable thing is probably the fate of Egypt symbolized by the four words on this stone stele, egypt has long been a stage for power, here has welcomed many foreign rulers: Greeks, Romans, Muslims, and after modern times, it has become the target of Western powers, Britain and France have never thought that this stone tablet does not belong to any of them when competing for this stone stele. With the national liberation movement after World War II, Egypt finally achieved independence, and although there are still many problems that still plague Egypt, the country's affairs are still up to its own people.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="27" > references</h1>
[English] McGregor: A Brief History of the World at the British Museum, translated by Yu Yan, Nova Press, 2014.
George Rawlinson, "The History of Ancient Egypt: Environmental Genes, Geopolitical Hegemony, and the Rise and Fall of Civilization," China Pictorial Press, 2018.
(Haoran Wenshi · Friends of ABC)
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