Editing Rosetta Stone (section)

==Description==
The Rosetta Stone is listed as "a stone of black [[granodiorite]], bearing three inscriptions&nbsp;... found at Rosetta" in a contemporary catalogue of the artefacts discovered by the French expedition and surrendered to British troops in 1801.<ref>[[#Bierbrier99|Bierbrier (1999)]] pp.&nbsp;111–113</ref> At some period after its arrival in London, the inscriptions were coloured in white [[chalk]] to make them more legible, and the remaining surface was covered with a layer of [[carnauba wax]] designed to protect it from visitors' fingers.<ref name="Cracking23">[[#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;23</ref> This gave a dark colour to the stone that led to its mistaken identification as [[basalt|black basalt]].<ref>[[#Synopsis|''Synopsis'' (1847)]] pp.&nbsp;113–114</ref> These additions were removed when the stone was cleaned in 1999, revealing the original dark grey tint of the rock, the sparkle of its crystalline structure, and a pink [[vein (geology)|vein]] running across the top left corner.<ref>[[#Miller00|Miller et al. (2000)]] pp.&nbsp;128–132</ref> Comparisons with the [[Rosemarie and Dietrich Klemm Collection|Klemm collection]] of Egyptian rock samples showed a close resemblance to rock from a small granodiorite quarry at [[Gebel Tingar]] on the west bank of the [[Nile]], west of [[Elephantine]] in the region of [[Aswan]]; the pink vein is typical of granodiorite from this region.<ref name="MiddletonKlemm207">[[#Middleton03|Middleton and Klemm (2003)]] pp.&nbsp;207–208</ref>

The Rosetta Stone is {{Convert|abbr=on|112.3|cm|ftin|0}} high at its highest point, {{convert|abbr=on|75.7|cm|ftin}} wide, and {{convert|abbr=on|28.4|cm|ftin|0}} thick. It weighs approximately {{Convert|760|kg}}.<ref name="British Museum">[[#BMRS|The Rosetta Stone]]</ref> It bears three inscriptions: the top register in Ancient Egyptian [[hieroglyph]]s, the second in the Egyptian [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic]] script, and the third in [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]].<ref name="Ray3">[[#Ray69|Ray (2007)]] p.&nbsp;3</ref> These three scripts are not three different languages, as is commonly misunderstood.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Solly |first=Meilan |date=September 27, 2022 |title=Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rosetta-stone-hieroglyphs-champollion-decipherment-egypt-180980834/ |access-date=June 24, 2024 |website=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanguineti |first=Vincenzo R |title=The Rosetta Stone of the Human Mind: Three Languages to Integrate Neurobiology and Psychology |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-3-030-86414-9 |edition=2nd |location=Philadelphia |pages=xi |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-86415-6}}</ref> The front surface is polished and the inscriptions lightly [[Cutting|incised]] on it; the sides of the stone are smoothed, but the back is only roughly worked, presumably because it would have not been visible when the stele was erected.<ref name="MiddletonKlemm207"/><ref name="Cracking28">[[#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;28</ref>

===Original stele===
[[File:RosettaStoneAsPartOfOriginalStele revised.svg|thumb|upright=1.05|alt="Image of the Rosetta Stone set against a reconstructed image of the original stele it came from, showing 14 missing lines of hieroglyphic text and a group of Egyptian deities and symbols at the top"|One possible reconstruction of the original [[stele]]]]

The Rosetta Stone is a fragment of a larger stele. No additional fragments were found in later searches of the Rosetta site.<ref name="Cracking20">[[#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;20</ref> Owing to its damaged state, none of the three texts is complete. The top register, composed of Egyptian hieroglyphs, suffered the most damage. Only the last 14 lines of the hieroglyphic text can be seen; all of them are broken on the right side, and 12 of them on the left. Below it, the middle register of demotic text has survived best; it has 32 lines, of which the first 14 are slightly damaged on the right side. The bottom register of Greek text contains 54 lines, of which the first 27 survive in full; the rest are increasingly fragmentary due to a diagonal break at the bottom right of the stone.<ref name="Budgea2">[[#Budge69|Budge (1913)]] pp.&nbsp;2–3</ref>

<div>The full length of the hieroglyphic text and the total size of the original stele, of which the Rosetta Stone is a fragment, can be estimated based on comparable steles that have survived, including other copies of the same order. The slightly earlier [[decree of Canopus]], erected in 238 BC during the reign of [[Ptolemy III Euergetes|Ptolemy&nbsp;III]], is {{convert|2190|mm|ft|disp=x| high (|)}} and {{convert|abbr=on|820|mm}} wide, and contains 36 lines of hieroglyphic text, 73 of demotic text, and 74 of Greek. The texts are of similar length.<ref name="Mummy106">[[#Budgem|Budge (1894)]] p.&nbsp;106</ref> From such comparisons, it can be estimated that an additional 14 or 15 lines of hieroglyphic inscription are missing from the top register of the Rosetta Stone, amounting to another {{Convert|300|mm}}.<ref name="Mummy109">[[#Budgem|Budge (1894)]] p.&nbsp;109</ref> In addition to the inscriptions, there would probably have been a scene depicting the king being presented to the gods, topped with a winged disc, as on the Canopus Stele. These parallels, and a hieroglyphic sign for "stela" on the stone itself (see [[Gardiner's sign list#O. Buildings, parts of buildings, etc.|Gardiner's sign list]]),
:<hiero>O26</hiero>
suggest that it originally had a rounded top.<ref name="Ray3"/><ref name="Cracking26">[[#Parkinson69|Parkinson et al. (1999)]] p.&nbsp;26</ref> The height of the original stele is estimated to have been about {{Convert|149|cm|ftin}}.<ref name="Cracking26"/></div>