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The Rosetta Stone
In 1798, in the Egyptian settlement of Rashid (Rosetta), near Alexandria, a French soldier unearthed a large slab of black basalt on which was engraved an inscription in three scripts—Greek, demotic or New Egyptian, and hieroglyphics. The inscription was a decree honoring the good deeds of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes (203–181 B.C.). More importantly, it provided the long-sought key that enabled scholars to decipher the mysterious language of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
In the present volume, one of the 20th century's foremost Egyptologists tells the fascinating story of the Rosetta Stone—from its discovery during a French military excavation to its enshrinement in the British Museum as one of the great cornerstones of linguistic studies. In addition to an historical account of the Stone's discovery, its acquisition by the British, and the arrival of the Stone in London, Dr. Budge provides a concise and revealing history of the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics, full original texts and annotated English translations of the decree, and two appendixes containing translations of the stelae of San (Tanis) and Tall al-Maskutah.
The heart of the book is a full and detailed description of the painstaking scholarship and inspired intuition that enabled a handful of scholars to crack the age-old code. Among the most important of these linguistic savants were Thomas Young, an English physician who first grasped the idea of a phonetic principle in reading Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Jean-François Champollion, the great French linguist who used Young's system of decipherment to produce a hieroglyphic alphabet that is the basis of the one used by Egyptologists today. Professor Budge shows how their ground-breaking contributions and the work of other linguists over the years eventually led to a true understanding of the once-inscrutible symbols. The implications of this breakthrough were vast. It opened a new and vitally important field of study to historians and linguistics experts, among whom were biblical scholars who could now find in previously untranslatable Egyptian texts substantiation of events related in the Bible.
Enhanced with over 20 photographs, The Rosetta Stone is immensely erudite but unstuffy; replete with linguistic details but clear and accessible to the layman; in short, it is the definitive treatment of a richly engrossing linguistic detective story—one that will fascinate any student of Egyptology, languages, or the history of the ancient Near East.
In the present volume, one of the 20th century's foremost Egyptologists tells the fascinating story of the Rosetta Stone—from its discovery during a French military excavation to its enshrinement in the British Museum as one of the great cornerstones of linguistic studies. In addition to an historical account of the Stone's discovery, its acquisition by the British, and the arrival of the Stone in London, Dr. Budge provides a concise and revealing history of the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics, full original texts and annotated English translations of the decree, and two appendixes containing translations of the stelae of San (Tanis) and Tall al-Maskutah.
The heart of the book is a full and detailed description of the painstaking scholarship and inspired intuition that enabled a handful of scholars to crack the age-old code. Among the most important of these linguistic savants were Thomas Young, an English physician who first grasped the idea of a phonetic principle in reading Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Jean-François Champollion, the great French linguist who used Young's system of decipherment to produce a hieroglyphic alphabet that is the basis of the one used by Egyptologists today. Professor Budge shows how their ground-breaking contributions and the work of other linguists over the years eventually led to a true understanding of the once-inscrutible symbols. The implications of this breakthrough were vast. It opened a new and vitally important field of study to historians and linguistics experts, among whom were biblical scholars who could now find in previously untranslatable Egyptian texts substantiation of events related in the Bible.
Enhanced with over 20 photographs, The Rosetta Stone is immensely erudite but unstuffy; replete with linguistic details but clear and accessible to the layman; in short, it is the definitive treatment of a richly engrossing linguistic detective story—one that will fascinate any student of Egyptology, languages, or the history of the ancient Near East.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1913
About the author
E.A. Wallis Budge
1,548 books168 followersSir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 9, 2026
The subject itself is fascinating, but the way it's presented in this book is repetitive and feels unorganized to a modern reader.
The three different language texts were each presented on their own, and then in translation, followed by commentary, and then multiple translations of other copies of the same text. A more modern edition would be better served by having side-by-side translations, or interlinear text, or something similar.
In nearly all cases, the English translations in this book are actually translations of translations to German or French, and while the translations themselves seem fairly faithful, this always introduces some linguistic noise.
In addition, significant scholarship on Egyptian hieroglyphs has happened in the nearly 100 years since the book was published, and so of course some of the transcriptions and translations in this book would benefit from updating.
All that said, for a book originally written in 1929, this does provide a very good summary of the process of translation, the different translations that happened, and the individuals involved. In some cases, it's clear that the author has communicated directly with some of the individuals involved in the original processes of translation, which is something that couldn't be captured in a modern book.
The three different language texts were each presented on their own, and then in translation, followed by commentary, and then multiple translations of other copies of the same text. A more modern edition would be better served by having side-by-side translations, or interlinear text, or something similar.
In nearly all cases, the English translations in this book are actually translations of translations to German or French, and while the translations themselves seem fairly faithful, this always introduces some linguistic noise.
In addition, significant scholarship on Egyptian hieroglyphs has happened in the nearly 100 years since the book was published, and so of course some of the transcriptions and translations in this book would benefit from updating.
All that said, for a book originally written in 1929, this does provide a very good summary of the process of translation, the different translations that happened, and the individuals involved. In some cases, it's clear that the author has communicated directly with some of the individuals involved in the original processes of translation, which is something that couldn't be captured in a modern book.
June 5, 2017
A little dry but interesting.
February 24, 2014
"The Rosetta Stone" is a very educational and interesting book. It delves into the history and meaning of the Rosetta Stone from an academic and analytical point of view. I highly recommend it for all of you fellow language and/or history nerds out there.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews