Rosetta Stone

It is an important rock.It was made in 196 BC, when

Egypt had a new boy-king, Ptolemy V, whose family was

originally Greek.

On the stone was written an official announcement of gifts

made by the king to the Egyptian temples.

• The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the British Museum but the actual contents of its inscription is less well-known.

• The side of the Rosetta Stone with an inscription made by the British Army.

• It was dug up in 1799 by French soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte, who were enlarging a fort.

After the British defeated the French, it was handed to the British Army who sent the Stone to the British Museum, where it's been since 1802 (apart from a few trips such as two years stored underground during the First World War).

Conserving the Rosetta Stone

• In 1999, the Rosetta Stone was the centrepiece of the British Museum exhibition Cracking Codes. As part of the exhibition preparations, the opportunity was taken to investigate and clean this famous object.

• ANTONELLA ORELLANA

• NADYA INSAURRALDE

KET15.30