The Rosetta Stone: How Egypt's Hieroglyphs Were Deciphered

In this episode of The Story of France, we explore the dramatic story of the Rosetta Stone — the key that unlocked ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Discovered by French soldiers in 1799 during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign, the stone became the object of an intense race between French and British scholars. Lucas and Luna trace the stone's journey from a dusty fort in Rashid to the British Museum, and delve into the brilliant work of Jean-François Champollion, the French linguist who finally cracked the code in 1822. Along the way, they discuss the role of the savants, the rivalry with Thomas Young, and the political context of Franco-British competition. This episode sheds light on how a single inscription — a decree from Ptolemy V written in hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek — transformed our understanding of a lost civilization and became a symbol of France's enduring intellectual ambition in the age of empire. #RosettaStone #Napoleon #EgyptianCampaign #Champollion #Hieroglyphs #JeanFrançoisChampollion #ThomasYoung #PtolemyV #Rashid #BritishMuseum #Decipherment #DescriptionDeLEgypte #Savants #1799 #1822 #France #Egyptology #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo