Table of Contents
Ilona Regulski explains the Rosetta Stone in a British Museum talk. Egyptians, she says, would have called it a decree. The modern name comes from Rashid, where French soldiers found it in 1799. Dated 27 March 196 BC, it honors Ptolemy V, a Macedonian heir of Alexander. Priests gathered at Memphis, not Alexandria, and granted him godlike privileges. A statue among the gods, a procession, a birthday feast, and his accession entered in official dates. Gifts, restored temples, victory over rebels, and lower taxes are the benefits they recite. The close orders copies in the sacred script, everyday Egyptian writing, and Greek, set in temples of three grades she cannot identify. Twenty eight parallels help restore gaps, the newest found in 2011, and similar decrees run from Ptolemy III for about a hundred fifty years. A complete twin from Naukratis suggests a round top with the king striking a foe, probably at Lycopolis. She thinks the priests composed most easily in Greek, their working language, and added hieroglyphs to display a ritual script only they still knew.
Key points
- The stone is one copy of a priestly decree of 196 BC honoring Ptolemy V, not a text the Egyptians named Rosetta.
- The priests meet at Memphis and grant the king statues, festivals, and a place beside the gods.
- Lower taxes, temple gifts, and victories over rebels are the deeds they list in return.
- The order was to publish it in hieroglyphs, Demotic, and Greek in temples of three unnamed grades.
- Other copies, including one from Naukratis, restore missing lines and the likely round top with the king smiting a foe.
- Regulski argues the draft was easiest in Greek, with hieroglyphs added to display the priests’ old learning.
Short quotes
The Rosetta Stone is inscribed with a decree in three different scripts and two languages.
Ilona Regulski, The Rosetta Stone decree
She states the basic fact the decipherment depended on. Watch at 1:43
Ptolemy V obviously wanted to show that he was a very good king, he did a lot of good deeds for the country.
Ilona Regulski, The Rosetta Stone decree
The decree’s praise is political, a list of benefits owed to the king. Watch at 3:43
In fact it would probably have been easier for them because they worked on a daily basis in the Greek language.
Ilona Regulski, The Rosetta Stone decree
She thinks the priests wrote Greek first because it was their office speech. Watch at 9:42
We don't actually know what the first class, second class and third class temples are.
Ilona Regulski, The Rosetta Stone decree
The publication order uses temple ranks she cannot match to known buildings. Watch at 15:28
Video by The British Museum. Watch on YouTube.