The Rosetta Stone: Discovery and Translation

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.    Follow us on Instagram!  https://www.instagram.com/illequippedhistory/   Join our Facebook group!  https://www.facebook.com/groups/illequippedhistory   Email us!  [email protected]   Check us out on TikTok!  https://www.tiktok.com/@illequipped.histo   Find us on YouTube!  https://www.youtube.com/@Ill-EquippedHistory    Donate to our Patreon!  https://www.patreon.com/illequippedhistory   Sources “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) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rosetta-stone-hieroglyphs-champollion-decipherment-egypt-180980834/   “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/