History Channel - Ancient Mysteries - The Rosetta Stone 2/5

Modern-era discovery
In preparation for Napoleon's 1798 campaign in Egypt, the French founded the Institut de l'Égypte in Cairo which brought 167 scientists and archaeologists to the region. French Army engineer Captain Pierre-François Bouchard discovered the stone sometime the sources are not specific in mid-July 1799 (July 15 or July 19), while guiding construction work at Fort Julien near the Egyptian port city of Rashid (Rosetta). The Napoleonic army was so awestruck by this unheralded spectacle that, according to a witness, "It halted of itself and, by one spontaneous impulse, grounded its arms." (As quoted by Robert Claiborne, The Birth of Writing [1974], p. 24.) After Napoleon returned in 1799, 167 scholars remained behind with French troops which held off British and Ottoman attacks. In March 1801, the British landed on Aboukir Bay and scholars carried the Stone from Cairo to Alexandria alongside the troops of Jacques-Francois Menou. French troops in Cairo capitulated on June 22, and in Alexandria on August 30.

After the surrender, a dispute arose over the fate of French archaeological and scientific discoveries in Egypt. De Menou refused to hand them over, claiming they belonged to the Institute. British General John Hely-Hutchinson, 2nd Earl of Donoughmore, refused to relieve the city until de Menou gave in. Newly arrived scholars Edward Daniel Clarke and William Richard Hamilton agreed to check the collections in Alexandria and found many artifacts that the French had not revealed.[citation needed]

When Hutchinson claimed all materials as a property of the British Crown, a French scholar, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, said to Clarke and Hamilton that they would rather burn all their discoveries — referring ominously to the destruction of the Library of Alexandria — than turn them over. Hutchinson finally agreed that items such as biology specimens would be the scholars' private property. De Menou regarded the stone as his private property and hid it.

How exactly the Stone came to British hands is disputed. Colonel Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner, who escorted the stone to Britain, claimed later that he had personally seized it from de Menou and carried it away on a gun carriage. Clarke stated in his memoirs that a French scholar and an officer had quietly given up the stone to him and his companions in a Cairo back street. French scholars departed later with only imprints and plaster casts of the stone.

Turner brought the stone to Britain aboard the captured French frigate HMS Egyptienne in February 1802. On March 11, it was presented to the Society of Antiquaries of London and Stephen Weston played a major role in the early translation. Later it was taken to the British Museum, where it remains to this day. Inscriptions painted in white on the artifact state "Captured in Egypt by the British Army in 1801" on the left side and "Presented by King George III" on the right.

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[babydux2003]

Return Egyptian artifacts to Egypt you English scum!!! Your museums are full of other peoples culture. Put the Queen Mother in your museum. She is just as old lol..

[GordosMama1111]

@babydux2003 this is NOT meant as sarcastic..if these artifacts were in Egypt, would they be hidden like most ancient artifacts are there, for fear of the religious implications in such a senstative region? these things need to be displayed, kept in good condition and revered as our PLANETS heritage. Not just one nation. Especially Egypt, a place which has givin birth to modern civilisation. There is civil war there right now, would these things be in danger there?

[ulongkoror]

@porterhouseful

everything you need to know?for a 5th grade school project?then yes maybe,but not for everyone else

[She4446]

@babydux2003 so are french.

[ttwilkable]

love the video man

[JohnSherri123]

no where in this video did i learn spanish....this rosetta stone sux! lmao

[MrJonkelp]

brilliant video

[rodswebdesign]

some really good stuff here

[porterhouseful]

Rosetta stone?? Reveled?? secrets of Egypt??.. Im pretty sure Egypt has no secrets, it's Pyramids walls tell me everything I need to Know !!

[larkjd]

@07veritasboston is basically a limey or a limey loving dolt...the english (uncapitalized) are a pox...their arrogance and ruthlessness would put hitler to shame...afghanistan, iraq, iran, egypt, palestine china, south africa. india, america, ireland, etc...the trail of destruction and misery caused by them continues to this day...luckily britannia rules nothing anymore least of all the waves

[commierocket]

@IIpurplekushII The English need to teach you how to speak, and write properly.

[07veritasboston]

babydux2003 is basically an uneducated moron. The vast majority of Egyptian antiquities unearthed during this time were either destroyed due to improper storage practices, or sold to private collectors as exotic paperweights . The English preserved these treasures. The English are BRILLIANT!!! We should ALL thank the British for preserving important pieces of our collective Past!