Today in History - September 27, 2022

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Published on September 27, 2022 6:09:24 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoWzKB3Ee-U

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On this day, the key to understanding a long-lost language was finally unlocked. On September 27th, 1822, French philologist Jean-Francois Champollion published his “Letter to Dacier,” in which he detailed his successful deciphering of the Rosetta Stone. Discovered by Napoleon’s army in Egypt in 1799 and subsequently seized by the British, the Rosetta Stone was a stele from the Ptolemaic dynasty which contained a royal decree written in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Demotic script, as well as Ancient Greek. Since many scholars understood Ancient Greek, the Rosetta Stone was viewed as the key to finally understanding Ancient Egyptian. Scholars struggled with the difficult task for over two decades before Champollion’s breakthrough which paved the way for scholars to at last translate Ancient Egyptian, an achievement for which Champollion is often called the father of Egyptology.