C1-FSE 2010-2246

Liceo Publio Virgilio Marone

The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian stele dating back to 196 BC and it was issued at Memphis on behalf of King Ptolemy V, (then a thirteen year old boy), in occasion of his crowning.

When was the text of the Rosetta Stone written and why?

What does the Rosetta Stone say? The Rosetta Stone contains an inscription with three different spellings: hieroglyphics, demotic and Greek. The text gives all the benefits returned to the country by the king Ptolemy V: he repealed the taxes, and subsequently the clergy decided to erect a statue in his honour in all the temples, to place gold statues alongside those of the gods and to hold celebrations in his honour.

Why was the Stone so important?

The importance of the Rosetta Stone does not lie in the content itself but in the fact that it was written in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs which was used by the ruling class, then the middle portion is demotic, used by common people, and the lowest one is Ancient Greek. Its translation was very important because it allowed us to decipher the Egyptian written language that had long been out of use and that was totally unknown. Furthermore it is useful to understand and know ancient Egyptian society thanks to its contents.

Try to persuade the International Tribunal that Britain is the rightful owner of the Rosetta Stone and that it should remain in the British Museum.

The discovery of the stone is attributed to the French captain Pierre-Francois Bouchard. Actually, an unknown soldier found it but Bouchard, who understood its importance, showed the stone to the French General Jacques Francois Menou. This General decided to move Rosetta stone to Alessandria. But when in 1801 a war broke out between France and England, the English troops won and there was a dispute over the remains found by the French. In fact the English soldiers considered the stone as a part of their booty in the name of King George III. This is the reason why the stone has to stay in the British Museum and not in France. The British Museum exists to tell the story of cultural achievements throughout the world from the dawn of human history over two million years ago until the present day. The Museum is a unique resource for the world: the breadth and depth of its collection allows the world public to re-examine cultural identities and explore the complex network of interconnected world cultures.

Within the context of this unparalleled collection, the Rosetta Stone is an important representation of Egyptian civilization. Each year millions of visitors admire the stone and understand its importance.

As for the Egyptian pretensions to bring the stone back to their country, we want to underline that English government is more able than the Egyptian one to protect and keep ancient treasures, because our museums are endowed with security systems and air conditioning which is necessary to preserve ancient documents and to prevent their deterioration. Moreover the political situation in Egypt is not steady enough so it might be dangerous to bring the stone there.

Carbone PaolaCelano Miriam

Colucci Maria RitaDe Luca Vittorio Dente Antonella