OC 009 · Inscribed stone · Africa

The Rosetta Stone

A dark granite slab carved with three bands of writing, in a museum case
Photographed in the British Museum. Photo: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number on this site
OC 009
What it is
Inscribed stone
Made
196 BC
Material
Granodiorite
Found
Built into a fort wall near Rashid (Rosetta), in July 1799. Rashid (Rosetta)
Now held by
The British Museum, London

A broken piece of a larger slab carved with one priests’ decree in three scripts: hieroglyphs, Demotic and Greek. With the Greek as a key, Champollion announced on 27 September 1822 that he could read hieroglyphs.1

Where it sits in human time

Made about 2,220 years ago. On this strip, each step to the right is ten times closer to today.

300,000 years ago10,0003,0001,000100nowThe Rosetta Stone

Seen in

Filed under

Sources for this page

Every number on this page comes from one of these. How we check.

Last reviewed 12 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

  1. Solly, M. (27 September 2022). Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt. Smithsonian Magazine. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rosetta-stone-hieroglyphs-champollion-decipherment-egypt-180980834/Used for: The Rosetta Stone: its decree, three scripts, finding, journey to London, and how Young and Champollion read it. Checked 12 November 2026.