Episode 150. For hundreds of years, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were a mystery. The ability to read them had been lost to time, and scholars wondered if their secrets would ever be revealed. In 1799, a stone was recovered the town of el Rashid, also known as Rosetta. This stone had three styles of text carved into its face: hieroglyphs, Demotic, and ancient Greek. With time, consistency, and perseverance, the symbols were finally translated; Egyptology finally became an area of official study.
https://www.instagram.com/illequippedhistory/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/illequippedhistory
https://www.tiktok.com/@illequipped.histo
https://www.youtube.com/@Ill-EquippedHistory
https://www.patreon.com/illequippedhistory
Sources
“Translation of the Rosetta Stone” from The Nile, Notes for Travellers in Egypt by E.A. Walis Budge (1905). 9th Edition, London, Thos. Cook and Son. pp 199-211.
https://sacred-texts.com/egy/trs/trs07.htm
“Everything you ever wanted to know about the Rosetta Stone” (Jul 14 2017, updated Dec 18 2025)
https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/everything-you-ever-wanted-know-about-rosetta-stone
“What Is the Rosetta Stone?” by Elizabeth Nix (Apr 1 2015, updated Mar 2 2025)
https://www.history.com/articles/what-is-the-rosetta-stone
“Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt” by Meilan Solly (Sept 27 2022)
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rosetta-stone-hieroglyphs-champollion-decipherment-egypt-180980834/
“The Rosetta Stone” by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
https://smarthistory.org/the-rosetta-stone/
“The Rosetta Stone: Unlocking the Ancient Egyptian Language” by Roy Scalf
https://arce.org/resource/rosetta-stone-unlocking-ancient-egyptian-language/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ptolemy-V-Epiphanes
“Thomas Young, The Last Man Who Knew Everything”
https://steven-shepard.com/2025/01/22/thomas-young-the-last-man-who-knew-everything/
“Jean-François Champollion (1790-1832)”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/champollion_jean.shtml
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/egyptian-campaign
Sound Credits:
Paper handling.wav by sethlind -- https://freesound.org/s/265020/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Running_wood.wav by taure -- https://freesound.org/s/363470/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Run & Fall - Wooden surface by Vrymaa -- https://freesound.org/s/810885/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
Music by Tomomi Kato from Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-baroque-style-423524/
