The Rosetta Stone

Kelly Ross

Reading — Advanced Level
Share this exercise
Activity

Read the article and select the correct answer to the questions below

The Rosetta Stone is a rock stele, found in 1799, inscribed with a decree issued at Egypt in 196 BC. The upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion is Demotic script, and the lowest is Ancient Greek. Because it presents essentially the same text in all three scripts, the stone provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The stone was the first Ancient Egyptian bilingual text recovered in modern times. It was probably moved during the early Christian or medieval period, and was eventually used as building material in the construction of Fort Julien in the Nile Delta.

The stone is the most-visited object in the British Museum, where it has been displayed since 1802. Two other fragmentary copies of the same decree were discovered later, and several similar Egyptian bilingual or trilingual inscriptions are now known. The Rosetta Stone is, therefore, no longer unique, but it was the essential key to modern understanding of Ancient Egyptian literature and civilization.
  1. Where was the Rosetta Stone initially written?
  2. What does the stone provide linguists with?
  3. Where is the stone currently located?
  4. What was not cited as a use of the Rosetta Stone?
  5. How many copies of the Rosetta Stone have been found?
Submit
Discussion

Practice your writing skills by discussing the questions below

  1. What do you know about the Egyptian civilization? What do you find most interesting?
  2. Do you know any other ancient objects that became important when they were discovered? Why were they important?
  3. What museum would you like to visit? What would you like to see in it? Why?
    Kelly Ross

    Need help?

    Ask a question or reserve a class with Kelly Ross

    Vocabulary

    Translate

    From English
    To
    No translation
    © bitgab LLC
    Terms Privacy Cookies Advertise Learn English online blog Facebook Twitter