Quote:
Originally Posted by Taltarzac725
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The soldiers on Napoleon's Egyptian expedition were not just
gassy non-
khaki mascots who paid a
price on Bonaparte's
banana Republic like dreams. The finding of the Rosetta Stone by some soldiers digging a fort did not
hoist fame and fortune on these men but provided a
potent example of how discoveries can rewrite history. It
clinched insights into ancient Egyptian culture after it was deciphered.
British Museum - The Rosetta Stone Napoleon and the Scientific Expedition to Egypt | Linda Hall Library
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The stone was discovered in July 1799, one year after the French had arrived in Egypt. Captain François-Xavier Bouchard, an engineer and officer in Napoleon’s Egyptian army, was in charge of the demolition of an ancient wall in the city of Rosetta on a branch of the Nile, a few miles from the sea. The Rosetta Stone was built into the wall, but Bouchard recognized that the stone might make it possible to decipher hieroglyphics. So he saved it, and the stone was taken to the scientists in Cairo in mid-August 1799.
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