環(huán)球英語 — 87：The Rosetta Stone
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Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight program. I’m Rebekah Schipper.
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And I’m Liz Waid.
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On July 15, 1799, French Army engineer Captain Pierre-Fran?ois Bouchard discovered something that would change the world.
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In 1798, the French Army invaded Egypt. About a year later, Captain Bouchard was leading a building project. He and his crew were building a fort near an old Egyptian port city called Rosetta. Today people call this city Rashid. There, they found a large stone. Different writings covered the stone. Captain Bouchard did not know what the writings said. But he sensed that the stone was very important. So, he brought it to the Institute of Egypt. There, history experts could study it.
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This simple discovery would help to solve ancient mysteries. What was this mysterious ancient stone? Why was it important? Today’s Spotlight is on this stone - the Rosetta stone.
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While in Egypt, the French Army discovered many important ancient objects. But, the British Army invaded Egypt a few years after the French Army. They demanded many of the ancient objects and artifacts. The French resisted. But, after many struggles, the British Army finally possessed the stone. They brought it to the British Museum. And the stone has been there since 1802.
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So, what exactly does the stone look like? Well, the stone is a kind of very hard rock called granodiorite. It is dark grey and pink in color. At its highest point, the Rosetta stone is over one hundred fourteen [114] centimeters tall. It is about seventy-two [72] centimeters wide. And it is almost twenty-eight [28] centimeters thick. The stone weighs just over seven hundred sixty [760] kilograms.
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So, what makes this stone special? First, the stone is very old. Experts believe that the Rosetta stone is over two thousand [2000] years old. And it has stayed in a good state for many years. Second, the Rosetta stone shows a message. The message on the stone is a royal command from an Egyptian Pharaoh. But the message is not the reason the stone is important. The stone is important because the message is in three separate languages.
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Two thousand [2000] years ago rulers of Egypt used these three separate ways of writing to communicate commands to their people. The Rosetta stone shows examples of each of these ancient ways of writing. The bottom part of the stone shows the Pharaoh’s message in the ancient Greek language. At that time, the rulers of Egypt communicated using Greek. The middle part shows the message in Demotic, the common written language of Egypt. And the top part shows the message in hieroglyphic. Demotic and hieroglyphic were different ways of writing the same spoken language. Hieroglyphic was the language the people used to write important or religious documents.
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Hieroglyphic is an ancient Egyptian writing system. In fact, it is one of the oldest forms of writing in the world. It was a common form of writing for almost thirty five hundred [3500] years. It uses small pictures and symbols to communicate a message. Writers often painted these pictures, or hieroglyphs, on different surfaces. Or, they cut them into stone. Hieroglyphic was a very complex language.
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Hieroglyphic was also a lost language. That is, by the fourth [4th] century, Egyptian writers used hieroglyphic less and less. And finally, no one used it to communicate. Before they found the Rosetta stone, history experts had found ancient examples of hieroglyphic writing. They attempted to translate the hieroglyphs. But each attempt ended in failure. Some experts even began to believe that the hieroglyphs did not mean anything! One of the reasons all the attempts failed was because experts had no clues to help them begin translation - until they found the Rosetta stone.
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Greek was a very common ancient language. So, experts could read the Greek writings on the Rosetta stone. They could compare the Greek writing to the hieroglyphic writing. But unlocking this ancient secret was still not an easy job!
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In 1808, French language expert Jean-Fran?ois Champollion received a copy of the Rosetta stone writings. He was eighteen [18] years old. For fourteen [14] long, hard years he worked to translate the hieroglyphics. After a time, he recognized that the hieroglyphs were symbols for the sound of the Egyptian language. And, finally in 1822, he succeeded in translating the hieroglyphs. This translation was like a key to unlocking many ancient secrets! Experts around the world celebrated the event.
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Since 1802, the stone has been at the British Museum in London with only one break. Near the end of World War One, the museum moved it. The stone stayed in a safe place for two [2] years to avoid harm. Then the museum brought it back.
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But many people say that Britain, and the British Museum, is not where the stone should be. In July, 2003, Egypt demanded the return of the Rosetta stone. Doctor Zahi Hawass is the Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. He works closely with many ancient artefacts. Doctor Hawass is leading the effort to get the stone back. He believes that the British took the stone illegally. He says:
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“The Rosetta stone is one of the most important pieces in the British Museum, but it is more important for Egypt. It is an important piece of our Egyptian national and historical identity and was shamefully and secretly taken out of the country.”
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But the British Museum does not want to get rid of the stone. Vivian Davies manages ancient Egyptian artifacts at the British Museum. He says that the Rosetta stone is too important to give away. The museum uses it to share Egyptian culture. It is a part of ancient human history.
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“...It is absolutely necessary to our purpose as a museum that not only presents Egyptian antiquities, but also Egyptian antiquities as a part of the civilization of the world.”
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So, who owns this important piece of history? Should the Rosetta stone stay in the British Museum? Or does the Rosetta stone belong in Egypt? Who is right in this struggle?
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Many museums and universities struggle over this question, and questions like it. Places in the West have many objects that they got through force. Many people enjoy the objects where they are now. But the countries that gave the objects have a right to them too. Sometimes problems like this do not have a clear answer. What do you think about these issues? Where do you think the Rosetta stone belongs?
