City · delta · Rosetta Stone found July 1799
Delta port town where soldiers of Napoleon's expedition uncovered a trilingual decree stone in July 1799. Its Greek text opened the way to demotic and hieroglyphs — and Coptic supplied the language behind them.
Also known as: Rashid · Rosetta Stone site
July 1799: French soldiers rebuilding a fort near Rashid unearth the trilingual stele that becomes known as the Rosetta Stone.
1822: working through the demotic text with Coptic vocabulary, Champollion announces the decipherment of hieroglyphs.
