Rosetta Stone
Hieroglyphic decipherment key
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granite slab inscribed with the same decree in three scripts: hieroglyphics, demotic, and Greek.
Discovered in 1799, it provided the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Figuratively, a Rosetta Stone is anything that unlocks understanding of something previously mysterious: This manuscript is the Rosetta Stone for interpreting her later work.
Symbolic picture-based writing
- demoticOf common folk
- pharaohAncient Egyptian ruler
- PtolemaicEarth-centered astronomical system
- EgyptologyStudy of pharaonic civilization
Cleopatra · Nile · Alexandria · Giza · Luxor · Thebes · Memphis · Sphinx
Symbolic picture-based writing
- codebreakingSolving secret communications
- breakthroughSudden important advance
- keyLock-opening device
- unlockingReleasing a secured closure
decoding · puzzle · cryptanalysis · interpretation · phonetic · translation · revelation · solution
Inscribed memorial pillar
- basaltFine-grained volcanic stone
- tabletFlat portable computing device
- inscriptionText permanently marked
- carvingShaping by cutting away
engraving · British Museum · antiquity · monument · discovery · Napoleon · archaeology · museum
Written words for performance
- languageSystem of symbolic communication
- translationConverting between languages
- bilingualSpeaking two languages
- trilingualSpeaking three languages
Greek · demotic · hieratic · epigraphy · lexicography · semantics · syntax · phonology
Lock-opening device
- breakthroughSudden important advance
- decoderDevice that unscrambles signals
- understandingMental comprehension of something
- bridgeStructure spanning an obstacle
gateway · foundation · unlock · comprehension · insight · learning tool · language learning · cultural bridge
hieroglyphics
Symbolic picture-based writing
Egyptology · Cleopatra · Nile · Alexandria · Giza · Luxor · Thebes · Memphis · Sphinx · pyramids
hieroglyphics
Symbolic picture-based writing
- codebreakingSolving secret communications
- breakthroughSudden important advance
- keyLock-opening device
unlocking · decoding · puzzle · cryptanalysis · interpretation · phonetic · translation · revelation · solution · linguistic analysis
stele
Inscribed memorial pillar
- basaltFine-grained volcanic stone
- tabletFlat portable computing device
- inscriptionText permanently marked
carving · engraving · British Museum · antiquity · monument · discovery · Napoleon · archaeology · museum · relic
script
Written words for performance
- languageSystem of symbolic communication
- translationConverting between languages
- bilingualSpeaking two languages
trilingual · Greek · demotic · hieratic · epigraphy · lexicography · semantics · syntax · phonology · etymology
key
Lock-opening device
- breakthroughSudden important advance
- decoderDevice that unscrambles signals
- understandingMental comprehension of something
bridge · gateway · foundation · unlock · comprehension · insight · learning tool · language learning · cultural bridge · missing link
- Egyptian exhibitsmummies, Tutankhamun, King Tut, hieroglyphics, sarcophagi
- African inscriptionshieroglyphics, hieroglyphs, cartouches, demotic script, stelae
- Ancient Egyptpharaoh, pharaohs, sphinx, pyramids, hieroglyphics
- artifactspottery shards, knives, masks, pottery, antiquity
- language learningvocabulary lists, lessons, acquisition, basic vocabulary, grammar books
- ancient artifactsjade mask, Viking sword, bronze sculptures, antiquities, Roman coin
Rosetta StoneTower of Babel
Origin of linguistic diversity
language barrier · cultural divide · incommunicability · linguistic isolation · Iron Curtain
Rosetta Stoneblack box
Opaque system or device
enigma · closed book · sphinx · dead end · obscurantism
stone, stones, stoneware, rosette, stonework, rosettes, stonemason, stoneless, stoneground