The Rosetta Stone
Welcome! I'm so excited to explore the mysteries of the Rosetta Stone with you today.
To help me tailor our session, could you tell me a little bit about what you already know about the Rosetta Stone, or why you're interested in learning about it today?
I'm a complete beginner and just think it sounds fascinating!
It really is one of the most exciting detective stories in human history! To start our journey, let's look at what the Rosetta Stone actually is: a broken piece of a larger stone slab, known as a .
stele
noun
An upright stone slab or pillar, typically bearing an inscription or design and serving as a monument or marker.
The Rosetta Stone is not a complete monument; it's a broken dark-grey fragment of , which is a hard, crystalline rock similar to granite. Since it was broken in antiquity, what we have today is a dark slab that stands about 3 feet 9 inches tall and weighs a massive 1,680 pounds—roughly the same weight as a full-grown Holstein cow!